One of the most influential films of this century is now old enough to drink. Minority Report, released in 2002, wasn’t just a decent adventure film. It was an honest look at what life could be like in 2052. While a lot of the film seems dated today, it stood for a decade or so as a look into the future that we either wanted or didn’t want. It was the first time that many of us had a look at multitouch interfaces, transparent displays, targeted advertising, in-ear phone headsets, and a lot of other little things that have become a big part of our lives now. We’re about halfway to the film’s start date, and I thought it might be fun to look back at what this film brought to the future.
Mini movie review
This isn’t really an article about a movie review, but I feel like I have to get that out of the way so here goes. Spoilers, obviously.
In the 2050s, crime in the nation’s capital has all but been eliminated thanks to a revolutionary program. There’s a system in place that can tell you about heinous crimes a day before they would be committed, so you can pre-arrest the person who’s going to do it. All is going well until the head of the “pre-crime” division finds out that he’s the one who’s about to murder someone a day from now.
Hilarity ensues, there are entertaining chase scenes, it turns out it’s all a big conspiracy, and in the end, while “pre-crime” ends up being a bust, we’ve all had a chance to think some big thoughts about privacy, free will, and whether it’s ever ok to take away one person’s rights even if it means a million other people will be safe.
The End.
If you want to find out more, see the film.
The tech
There are really two things to talk about here. First is the future, fictional technology. Director Steven Spielberg famously consulted with “futurists” (I don’t know what those are but I want to be one) to try to create a realistic view of our future. In 2052, we’ll all have self-driving cars. When we do take phone calls, we’ll use little in-ear headsets. Most manufacturing will be done by robots. When we shop, we’ll be accosted by personalized advertising. All computers will have big screens and our meetings will be done remotely with everyone being represented as a giant head on a screen.
Sounds pretty spot on.
If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that there’s a lot of detail that’s wrong. The future of Minority Report is littered with physical media. There are still newspapers. They’re electronic, but they are still newspapers. Phone calls are still really important. You need some sort of wacky glove to integrate with screens. People still shop in malls. It’s that sort of thing that makes you realize how quickly tech changes. Overall though, while the details don’t jibe, the basic concepts are pretty darn good. This movie has aged surprisingly well.
The tech of the actual movie
Now we come to the moviemaking technology itself. 2002 was a transition year for film. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones was the first major studio release to be shot with digital cameras and distributed digitally. For all its futurism, Minority Report was shot on film and it looks it. The special effects have a weak, painterly look to them. This is partially because tech wasn’t as good then and also because it all had to be composited to actual film when it was done.
While today we use simple filters to make something look bleak, back then they used bleach. Real bleach. They bleached out the negative. It seems pretty caveman-like today, right? But that’s how they did it.
The story
The early 2000s had a love affair with author Philip K. Dick. His first story to be adapted was Blade Runner, which came out in the 1980s. Blade Runner was a flop at release, but by the 1990s it was a cult classic. This led to a land rush to try to adapt more of Dick’s works. Some adaptations, like Total Recall and Minority Report, were hits. Others, like Payback and The Adjustment Bureau, were not. Dick’s works had paranoid people getting crushed by a faceless technocracy, and that seemed about right for the millennium.
The story gives you a lot to think about. It’s about free will, about treatment of underprivileged groups, and about the power of entrenched capitalists. It’s a warning about the perils of giving up control to computers. This film, more than anything, shows us a future we don’t want. Then it challenges us to make a future that we do.
Director Steven Spielberg’s career until the 1990s depended on relatable mass-market films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and ET. Spielberg reinvented himself as a prestige filmmaker throughout the decade with a series of depressing films. Yes, each one was about hope in some way. It just takes a long time for each film to get hopeful. By the time that Minority Report hit, audiences knew they were going to be in for a thoughtful experience. Spielberg’s previous project, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, was not a commercial success, though. It was a retelling of the Pinocchio tale that audiences said was a little too far “out there.” Minority Report amped up the action. It still didn’t crack the top 10 in the US, but in fairness 2002 was a stellar year for film.
The legacy
For about a decade or so, people referenced Minority Report as “this is the way the future looks.” When they got phones they could interact with via touch, it seemed like the movie was spot on. But as time wore on, we surpassed the films world in many ways. People don’t talk about it much now. That’s a shame because it’s still a very good film. It’s a little horsey in some ways, yes. The effects are far from special compared to what can be done now. Its obsessively bleak look is a little dated too. There have been too many films since that try to emulate it.
Still, if you haven’t seen the film lately, it’s worth a rewatch.
By the way, this article was inspired by this video, which I found when I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole the other day.
