{"id":3433,"date":"2024-08-28T15:57:24","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T15:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=3433"},"modified":"2024-10-13T18:55:17","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T22:55:17","slug":"strange-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/28\/strange-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Strange Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Strange Days <\/strong>(1995)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th<\/sup> Century Fox\/Sci-Fi-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 145 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (intense disturbing violence, sexuality, pervasive strong language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Kathryn Bigelow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: James Cameron and Jay Cocks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Graeme Revell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 13, 1995 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D\u2019Onofrio, Glenn Plummer, Brigitte Bako, Richard Edson, William Fichtner, Josef Sommer, Joe Urla, Nicky Katt, Michael Jace, Louise LeCavalier, David Carrera, Jim Ishida, Todd Graff.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $7.9M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s funny how attitudes change over time. I didn\u2019t like Strange Days<\/strong> when it first came out, but now I think it\u2019s brilliant. I experienced something similar with Blade Runner in the 80s. It left me cold when I saw it at 14, but now it\u2019s my favorite sci-fi movie of all-time next to 2001: A Space Odyssey. While I wouldn\u2019t put Strange Days <\/strong>on that high a level, it easily makes my top ten. It\u2019s not an easy watch with its heavy ideas and brutal violence. The shaky camerawork in some scenes is dizzying. You may experience vertigo while watching it. If you can get past all this, you\u2019re in for one trippy ride.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Before I get into the plot, I should explain a few things about the tech-heavy\/noir-drenched world depicted in Strange Days<\/strong>. The drug of choice in then-futuristic 1999 is being \u201cwired\u201d or \u201cjacked in\u201d to other people\u2019s memories or experiences. They\u2019re recorded on small discs by a headpiece called a SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) that connects to the wearer\u2019s cerebral cortex. The discs are then sold for \u201cplayback\u201d by black marketeers like ex-cop Lenny Nero (Fiennes, Schindler\u2019s List) looking to make a buck off enabling customers to live vicariously through the experiences of others. Of course, it\u2019s highly illegal.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Set in the final two days of the millennium, Strange Days<\/strong> depicts a Los Angeles marked by crime, rioting, looting and heavy police presence. It\u2019s in turmoil over the execution-style murder of politically-charged rapper Jeriko One (Plummer, Showgirls). In the midst of the chaos, Lenny goes about his business as usual. He\u2019s a mess in every sense. He stays out all night dealing product. He comes home in the wee hours of the morning and drinks himself to sleep while viewing clips of his ex-girlfriend, nightclub singer Faith (Lewis, Natural Born Killers). He\u2019s still in love with her even though she left him for wealthy but psychotic music producer Philo Gant (Wincott, The Crow).<\/p>\n

\u00a0An old friend, a strung-out hooker named Iris (Bako, Dark Tide), desperately wants to speak with Lenny. She\u2019s being hunted by two dirty cops, Steckler (D\u2019Onofrio, Full Metal Jacket) and Engelman (Fichtner, Heat), who want a recording she made of them doing something terrible. Unfortunately, she\u2019s killed before she can say anything to Lenny. The fact that she\u2019s killed isn\u2019t anywhere near as bad as how she\u2019s killed. She\u2019s attacked by an unseen person that forces her to wear a SQUID so she can experience being raped and murdered from his POV. It heightens her fear which, in turn, heightens the killer\u2019s pleasure. Lenny sees it all on a disc somebody gives him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lenny decides to try and track down the person responsible. He gets help from his best friend Mace (Bassett, What\u2019s Love Got to Do with It), a limo driver who\u2019s in love with Lenny even though she vehemently disapproves of the dirty business he\u2019s in. In his defense, he doesn\u2019t deal in \u201cblackjack\u201d- i.e. snuff footage. Also in his corner, fellow ex-cop- turned-private investigator Max (Sizemore, Natural Born Killers) who\u2019s been hired by super-paranoid Philo to follow Faith. Together, they try to make sense of all that going\u2019s on as the clock ticks down to Y2K.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I can think of several adjectives to describe Strange Days<\/strong>: weird, perverse, edgy, intense, hypnotic, daring, dazzling, paranoid, prescient, provocative and smart. It all goes to describe a wholly unique cinematic experience that was totally misunderstood when first released. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break) and co-written by ex-husband James Cameron (The Terminator), it\u2019s an ambitious piece that nearly derailed her career when it tanked at the box office. Its meager $7.9 million take didn\u2019t even put a dent in its $42 million budget. It wasn\u2019t at all what I expected from the director of Near Dark (another unfairly overlooked movie), Blue Steel and Point Break. I didn\u2019t like it, but I never forgot it. When that happens, it means I need to give the movie in question another look. It doesn\u2019t always pay off, but this time it did.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Bigelow starts off Strange Days<\/strong> on just the right note with a high-kinetic scene of a robbery gone wrong. It\u2019s shown from the perspective of a participant wearing a SQUID. We see the robbers gearing up for the job in a car. We see them enter a Chinese restaurant through the kitchen with guns drawn, demanding money and roughing up victims until the police arrive. We watch as they\u2019re chased by the cops. We gasp when the unseen participant falls from a building rooftop to his death. All of it is filmed with a hand-held camera that gives the viewer the sense of being in the thick of the action. It\u2019s one of many visually exciting sequences in an atmospherically rich film that takes the viewer on a tour through dangerous city streets, grungy clubs and seedy hotels as Lenny divides his time between dealing product and trying to save Faith from the danger she\u2019s supposedly in. The action moves to a thumping techno-beat by composer Graeme Revell (The Crow). It\u2019s a wondrous blend of sight and sound. The innovative technical artistry that went into Strange Days<\/strong> is nothing short of AWESOME.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Bigelow couldn\u2019t have done a better job with casting. Fiennes imbues his character with equal parts charm and sleaze, cowardice and craftiness as he hustles, wheedles and cajoles his way through life. He\u2019s the very personification of the central paradox of VR (virtual reality). You can\u2019t experience somebody else\u2019s reality without abandoning your own. Scenes like the one where Lenny watches a virgin customer jack in for the first time serve as a critique of our society\u2019s ever-growing addiction to living through technology.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Bassett is in full bad ass mode here as Lenny\u2019s best friend and moral backbone. She refuses to mess around with \u201cthat wired s***\u201c, preferring to remain grounded in classical reality. Lenny\u2019s so immersed in reliving the past with his ex via clips, he doesn\u2019t see that Mace is in love with him. Lewis brings her spacy persona to Faith. She does her own singing and it\u2019s quite good actually. Wincott is at his slimy best. D\u2019Onofrio embodies pure evil as a racist L.A. cop. Sizemore turns in a solid performance as a PI who shouldn\u2019t be trusted. This is NOT a spoiler. Rather, it\u2019s a given by virtue of his profession.<\/p>\n

\u00a0What\u2019s most interesting about Strange Days<\/strong> now is how eerily relevant it is to today\u2019s times with its themes of racial injustice, police brutality and technology taking over. It\u2019s like Bigelow, Cameron and co-writer Jay Cocks (The Age of Innocence) looked into a crystal ball and saw the racial tensions, anti-police attitudes, cell phone videos and rioting in the streets that would come to define these times. It\u2019s crazy how Strange Days<\/strong> connects to the BLM movement and our complete dependence on technology. This is what makes great sci-fi. I love how the makers take it all and drench it in noir conventions like Blade Runner before it. It really is an extraordinary film on several levels. It\u2019s both entertaining and thought-provoking. In a word, it\u2019s BRILLIANT!\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strange Days (1995)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th Century Fox\/Sci-Fi-Thriller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 145 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (intense disturbing violence, sexuality, pervasive strong language)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Kathryn Bigelow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: James Cameron and Jay Cocks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Graeme Revell\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 13, 1995 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D\u2019Onofrio, Glenn Plummer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hidden-treasures","category-sci-fi-fantasy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Strange-Days-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3433"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5314,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3433\/revisions\/5314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}