One of the few science fiction films in the last 20 years to rival Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is Steven Spielberg's 2003 effort Minority Report. Guess what: they're both adaptations of stories by Phillip K Dick. I think Minority Report is in large part homage to Blade Runner (as is the Matrix, actually): the futuristic city, transport and all pervasive advertising is all there, but Spielberg (whilst making an undeniably wonderful film) hasn't mustered anything like the design, style or brooding atmosphere of Blade Runner: Scott's use of backlight (used to great effect in picking out the retinas of the replicants and - ha - Deckard) and constantly swishing spotlights, invading and infusing ones privacy through venetian blinds and grilles, holes and apretures, creates a real sense of resigned paranoia.
It's hardly a case of substance over style, though: the material, being Phillip K. Dick, is first rate - Dick's interest in exploring the irony of the human condition is well tapped, to leave you with a great deal to ponder as you leave the theatre. Is Deckard a replicant, then?
Performances are exemplarary throughout, particularly Sean Young and Rutger Hauer as superhumans with a real achilles heel. Even the Vangelis soundtrack, which no doubt went through a period in the early nineties of sounding horribly dated, has come back into fashion, and suits the mood of the film admirably.
Classic cinema.
