Minority Report: Spielberg's Morally-Intriguing Sci-Fi Outing Gets an Upgrade (4K)

The Film:

There are no doubt people who know the great Steven Spielberg primarily as a director of powerful dramas like "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan, "Lincoln," and many more, but then there are those who know him mostly for his more adventurous/fun/action-oriented side with films like the "Indiana Jones" series, "Hook," "Jurassic Park," and "Catch Me If You Can." One of those films that falls into the latter category, another that often falls between the cracks when his filmography is discussed, is 2002's "Minority Report," based on Philip K. Dick's 1956 novelette.

The Tom Cruise-starring actioner was a rather big hit both at the box office and with critics, with Roger Ebert even declaring it to be the best film of the year. 23 years later, the film is considered something of a minor footnote in the prestigious director's filmography, but it certainly does have its fans. To celebrate this often-overlooked flick, Paramount Pictures is giving it a marvelous 4K upgrade and packing it to the brim with a multitude of extras, so lets go back and revisit this intriguing sci-fi outing to see where it stacks up with the rest of Spielberg's extensive list of projects all these years later.

Taking place in 2054, we meet John Anderton (Tom Cruise), Chief of the "Precrime" unit in Washington D.C., a special program that uses clairvoyant humans called "precogs" to detect crimes before they're committed, allowing the team to arrest and detain criminals before any harm is done. While the program remains controversial, the Federal Government is ready to take it national after a six-year trial run. Soon after John discovers that one of the precog's viewpoints of a previous near-crime is missing, he is predicted by the group to commit a murder of someone he's never met in the near future, forcing him to go on the run while he tries to figure out what's going on. With Department of Justice Agent Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell) hot on his trail, will John be able to evade capture long enough to clear his name?

"Minority Report" is one of those films that's perhaps not most remembered for its action-packed story, but rather for the moral & ethical questions that its foundational premise brings up. Is it right to arrest someone before any crime has actually been committed? Can any such system ever be 100% accurate as to what is actually going to happen? How many innocent people would fall through the cracks given the possibility of different outcomes? Well, as we soon find out, these are questions that the program has to deal with, ones that become a driving point for its central murder mystery, as well as the would-be-murder mystery surrounding its main character.

As for the narrative itself, it is a mostly-compelling tale, one that feels as though it gets a little distracted along the way throughout its rather lengthy runtime, which clocks in at nearly two and a half hours. It may not go in any particularly surprising directions as to the reveal of Anderton becoming a victim of the very program he works for, or in its revelation of what's really going on, but it remains a pretty exciting story, filled with enough action & developments to keep it captivating enough.

Again, it may be more-so memorable for its thought-provoking ideas than anything else, but it still remains an entertaining watch that features some excellent visual effects & a tremendous cast that includes Oscar nominees Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow, and Samantha Morton. It's fair to say that the great Roger Ebert was probably going a little overboard by declaring it the best film of the year (in a year that contained such great works as "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," "Chicago," "Gangs of New York," "The Pianist," and Spielberg's own "Catch Me If You Can"), but "Minority Report" is most definitely worth revisiting (especially in 4K) if only to see its legendary director take another deep dive into the realm of science-fiction, a remarkable event that is always worth a second look.

Video/Audio:

"Minority Report" comes to 4K in a 2.39:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of outstanding quality. The 4K upgrade has sharpened the picture beautifully, perfectly highlighting the film's multitude of intriguing designs & visual effects. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and John Williams' score in excellent quality. Overall, Paramount Pictures has done an incredible job in both departments for the film's 4K debut.

Special Features:

The Future According to Steven Spielberg (18 Featurettes, 34 Minutes):

Inside the World of Precrime (10 Minutes)

Philip K. Dick, Steven Spielberg, and Minority Report (14 Minutes)

Minority Report: Future Realized (6 Minutes)

Minority Report: Props of the Future (10 Minutes)

Highlights from Minority Report: From the Set (9 Minutes)

Minority Report: Commercials of the Future (4 Minutes)

Previz Sequences (2 Sequences, 4 Minutes)

From Story to Screen (2 Featurettes, 19 Minutes)

Deconstructing Minority Report (5 Featurettes)

The Stunts of Minority Report (3 Featurettes)

ILM and Minority Report (6 Featurettes)

Final Report (4 Minutes)

Production Concepts (13 Featurettes)

Storyboard Sequences (3 Sequences)

Paramount has gone above and beyond by including a multitude of featurettes that cover just about every area of the film you could possibly want to know more about, including bringing the story to life, the various designs, the visual effects, the stunts, and much more. Fans of the film will no doubt be very pleased with the incredible selection of extras presented here.

Conclusion:

Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" may be more-so remembered for the intriguing moral quandaries posed by its central premise rather than its mostly-compelling narrative, one that features plenty of action & story/character development while also dawdling a bit over the course of its lengthy 145-minute runtime, but overall, it remains a rather captivating sci-fi outing that offers up a fair amount of excitement, some great visual effects, and a tremendous cast, ultimately making it worth a revisit as it debuts on 4K.

Score: 3.5/5

Now available on 4K.

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