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The Movie:
Easily one of the worst sci-fi pictures of the last several years, I suppose "Johnny Mnemonic" can be looked at as sci-fi practice for Keanu Reeves before his success in the far better "The Matrix". "Johnny Mnemonic" takes place several years in the future, but the plot elements are strictly primitive. Keanu Reeves (in one of his worst performances) stars as the title character, one of many cyber-couriers that have started up in the future. Their role in society is simply to be messengers of data - they have information uploaded into their brain, which is downloaded when they arrive at their destination.
Some information has just been uploaded when the customers have been taken out by some criminals, who are after Johnny and what he's got in that mind of his. The only problem is that Johnny's mind has been over-loaded and if he doesn't download things quickly, his hard-drive is going to be corrupted and it's game over.
So, Johnny goes on the run with the help of a bodyguard (Dina Meyer) and the low-techs, a gang lead by Ice-T. Essentially, the movie is one long chase sequence. I haven't read the short story by William Gibson, but the screenplay by the writer is atrocious. Painfully cliched line after line are spewed by the actors, usually with a suprisingly straight face.
Worst of all, the production design is terrible. An unbelivable "futuristic" look, the sets and effects look cheap, with the exception of a few sequences where Johnny virtually surfs the internet. The team of Oscar-winner Lilly Kilvert and Kara Lindstrom came up with a far, far more imaginative and impressive vision of the future in director Kathryn Bigelow's infinitely better "Strange Days", which came out shortly after this film.
Reeves isn't helped by any of the supporting actors, who act on the same level he does. Dina Meyer, Ice-T, Dolph Lundgren and Henry Rollins hardly bring anything to the table. Director Robert Longo, on the other hand, never directed another feature after his this, his first - and I don't wonder why.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Johnny Mnemonic" is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen by Columbia/Tristar. Although many of the studio's earliest features looked splendid, "Johnny" comes across as appearing merely adequate. Sharpness and detail throughout the movie are simply fair; many scenes appear slightly on the softer side and some of the darker scenes are murkier than they should be.
Although edge enhancement does not pose a problem, there are other elements that concern throughout the movie. A handful of instances of pixelation - some traces, some more noticable instances, appeared. Also visible were print flaws. Infrequent marks, speckles and even a hair or two were noticeable on the print. Alone, the different problems didn't cause a distraction, but together, they did take the viewing experience down a few notches.
Colors are generally subdued with only a few exceptions, but they looked fairly solid throughout with no noticable problems. An early effort from the studio, this appeared rather mediocre, especially in comparison to some of Columbia/Tristar's other works. A pan & scan edition is included on the flip side.
SOUND: "Johnny Mnemonic" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The 1995 picture does not deliver terribly well when it comes to surround-sound. Although several sequences do slightly amp up the surround use, there are several occurances where the pictures misses opportunities to go further with envelopment. Unfortunately, there are also several lengthy passages where surrounds remain virtually silent. Audio quality remained acceptable, as the music and dialogue sounded crisp and clear and effects sounded fine, not coming through sounding thin or edgy.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus with simple film-themed images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:: Nothing.
Final Thoughts: "Johnny Mnemonic" is being replaced in October of 2001 with one of the studio's new "Superbit" DVD editions, bringing advanced video and audio quality. Although that edition may improve the presentation quality, I doubt anything is going to improve the movie itself. Fans of the film would be best waiting for that release, as this first edition only provides average quality.
Film Grade
The Film *
DVD Grades
Video 80/B- = (320/400 possible points)
Audio: 82/B = (328/400 possible points)
Extras: 0/F = (0/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C- = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 80/B- = (240/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1028/1600
DVD GRADE:D/64%
FILM GRADE: *
DVD GRADE: D
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