76 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
76 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
with the release of gattaca , i began to wonder why all science fiction films deal with destructive aliens , or aliens in general .
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hollywood has given audiences plenty of thrills with those alien films , but what was usually lacking was a good story . . .
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and good characters . . .
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and good acting , etc ( contact being the exception ) .
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and for some reason , hollywood has never taken a look at the aliens here on earth .
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the closest , that i have seen anyway , was 2001 : a space odyssey , which made mankind an alien race themselves , being dwarfed by the technology which they created .
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now comes gattaca , another film about technology reigning supreme , except here on our planet .
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the difference between 2001 and this one is simple : gattaca is more frightening .
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most of the concepts of this movie are based on recent discoveries in genetic engineering .
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using this premise , writer/director andrew niccol creates some genuine suspense and thrills .
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unfortunately , due to a lack of advertising , i fear gattaca may fair horribly at the box office .
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since seeing the film , i have been asking people if they have seen gattaca .
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lately , however , i have been asking them if they have even heard of gattaca .
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most people don't even realize that it is a film .
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despite this fact , i surely hope that the audience members who have seen this film will tell their friends about it .
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niccol's film deserves more than what independence day made because it is smarter , better produced , and more realistic .
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gattaca begins in the 21st century .
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procreating is now done in a petri dish , and genetic engineering is the normal way of doing it .
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natural child birth is considered old-fashioned .
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we are introduced to jerome morrow ( ethan hawke ) , an employee of the gattaca space program .
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one of the directors of the program has been murdered , and the main suspect is one vincent freeman .
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the only problem is that jerome morrow is vincent freeman .
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vincent was born the natural way when his parents decided on bringing their first child into the world through love .
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however , after his birth , and through several genetic tests , doctors tell his parents that he will have a 99% chance of a weak heart , as well as poor eye sight and a short life span .
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as a result , both parents decide to bring their next baby into the world via genetics .
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anton ( loren dean ) is produced without flaws , and the competition between brothers spawns .
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vincent has a dream to fly a solo-flight around the titan , the 14th moon of saturn , but because of his condition , gattaca , and society in general , forces him to do menial labor around the company .
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labeled an " in-valid , " vincent's dream seems impossible , until he meets a black-market dna specialist , german ( tony shalhoub ) .
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german introduces him to a " valid " who has been paralized from the waste down due to an automobile accident .
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jerome morrow ( jude law ) agrees to give vincent all the proper identification tools ( urine , blood , skin and hair samples , etc . ) that he will need to get past gattaca's tight security .
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in exchange , vincent will provide jerome with the rent money and friendship .
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after the murder , however , his dreams are put at risk due to one of vincent's eyelashes left at the scene of the crime .
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irene cassini ( uma thurman ) is a genetically flawed " valid " working for gattaca , and she begins to fall in love with vincent/jerome .
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gattaca is one of the best science fiction films i have seen in a long time .
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only two other intelligent science fiction films have come out in the past two years ( contact and the arrival ) and gattaca will rank among them .
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unfortunately , whenever one intelligent film comes out against special effects-laden films , it normally gets buried .
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the second best thing about gattaca is the production design by jan roelfs .
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the orange glow of gattaca's scenes are impressive , but the sets deserve most of the credit .
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the sets are very well done , creating a futuristic sense , but not too futuristic as to alienate viewers .
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as we look at the designs , we realize that these buildings aren't too far into the future .
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this brings the plot even more credibility as genetic engineering becomes more possible by every passing day .
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the best thing , however , is the plot .
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the story is more than your average sci-fi/thriller .
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at its heart , it develops a theme which is never overpowering but is always present .
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perhaps niccol is warning our race about the changes genetic tampering could bring .
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would our society become a bunch of soulless zombies ?
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maybe human nature is a result of mankind's flaws .
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if we get rid of flaws , do we get rid of dreams as well ?
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niccol's intelligent script handles all these questions extremely well , and the result is an incredibly smart thriller set against a dramatic story , or vice versa .
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the power of the actors brings a lot of credibility to flat characters .
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while flat may sound like a poor job on niccol's part , it actually enhances the meaning behind the story .
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ethan hawke has developed into a handsome adult actor , giving his best performance of his lifetime so far .
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his curiosity and motivation pushes his character past all the discouraging remarks from his parents and " valid " peers .
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uma thurman is . . . well , uma thurman .
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her character is slightly underdeveloped , but the story isn't about her .
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however , thurman gives a lot of depth to the flat character .
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jude law gives the most complex performance of the film with the most disturbingly realistic character .
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he provides several nice touches , and his final scene is a very touching and heartwrenching one .
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loren dean gives a nice performance in his well-developed character .
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dean is also responsible for some of the most suspenseful scenes in the movie .
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alan arkin portrays one of the detectives with a little less more excitement than with his psychiatrist in grosse pointe blank .
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still , he does a good job .
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gore vidal and xander berkeley both provide some very good supporting roles , and berkeley also gives a heartfelt discussion towards the end of the film .
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gattaca is rated pg-13 for brief violent images , language , some sexuality , and nudity .
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despite the somber and desolate mood of the entire film , i wasn't exactly prepared for the ending which left me feeling empty .
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it turned me off slightly , but then i realized that everything turned out the way it should have .
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if this had been a typical hollywood film , it would have ended much differently .
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however , with all the mindless science fiction films out there , it is nice to have a film which doesn't talk down to its audience ( i especially like the ironic title and how it consists of the four letters which make up the genetic coding : g , t , c , and a ) .
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instead , it provides some much needed entertainment which gives us science fiction fanatics just what we want : a science fiction film with morals behind it .
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whatever happened to giving the audience a lesson while entertaining ?
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hopefully more writers and directors will learn from gattaca . . .
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and hopefully audiences will too .
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p . s . personal note to p . j . gladnick : how dare you call this film the worst film of the year .
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i can't even begin to image what film you do like .
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that frightens me beyond anything .
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