Minority report

In the near future a scientist (Max Von Sydow) has created a perfect system by which to end murder. By utilising the psychic abilities of “precogs”—three individuals who have been rendered schizophrenic by being born to drug-addicted mothers—he can identify killers before they commit their crimes. The Precrime Unit, led by the zealous John Anderton (Tom Cruise), whose son was abducted years ago, has resulted in the apparent end of homicide in Washington DC. But on the eve of Precrime going national, John Anderton finds himself in an accidental encounter with one of the precogs, Agatha (Samantha Morton), which leads to his name being revealed as a future murderer. With only one day and night in which to prove his “innocence”, Anderton kidnaps Agatha and searches for the true secrets underlying the miracle of Precrime judgement. Based on a short fiction by Philip K. Dick, “Minority Report” is a darkly dystopic vision of the future. Echoing Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” in presenting a world divided into enclaves of privilege and vast slums of poverty and crime, the film works best in realistically conveying the architecture, technology and domiciles of a possible future. In this, Spielberg is assisted by state-of-the-art special effects and a wizard art production team. Spielberg’s career-long obsession with reconstituting the nuclear family finally delivers a narrative arc which differs wildly from Dick’s much bleaker vision. But for all his Capraesque desire for closure and hope, what remains with the viewer is the horror of a society which has abrogated to science the role of judgement, and which has therefore nullified the meaning of free will. This two disc special edition of “Minority Report” features a second disc with over an hour of special features. The film also stars Colin Farrell.