Strange Days (1995)

Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, Point Break) joined forces with writer James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator 2, Avatar) to craft a dark vision of the future....this was released in '95 and the story takes place four years in the future on the eve of New Year's Eve '99.  This particular story takes place in a beleaguered Los Angeles beset with violence where the latest vice of choice are "squids" which are virtual reality discs that can deliver any number of visceral experiences for those who get "jacked" into experiencing them.  Lennny (Ralph Fiennes) is a purveyor of such squids as he sells them around the LA underworld....until one night, he is provided a mysterious one which portrays something horrible occuring to some one he knows.  Is it real?  Why did he receive it? And where does it lead?  And this kicks off a tense mystery thriller not only involving Lenny but his best friend Mace (Angela Bassett) and his former love Faith (Juliette Lewis) among several others....the stacked cast also includes Michael Wincott, Glenn Plummer, Vincent D'Onofrio, William Fichtner, and the late, great Tom Sizemore.      

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon

Editor: Ella Gershon

Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

STRANGE DAYS – 1995

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Michael Wincott, Vincent D’Onofrio, Glenn Plummer, Brigitte Bako, Richad Edson, William Fichtner, Josef Sommer, Joe Uria, Nicky Katt, Michael Jace, and Tom Sizemore

Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller (Audio clip)

I THINK I love this movie even though it's a bit much....especially during the first 40 or so minutes. :/ I mean WOW does this movie delve into the premise of getting jacked into someone else's experience....or reliving it.  And Bigelow even takes this experience to uncomfortable levels with a highly disturbing sexual assualt/murder scene told via the VR POV. This ends up being the inciting incident of the movie as it's passed off to Ralph Fiennes' Lenny Nero who's a future (well four years in the future as this was released in '95, taking place in '99) street hustler dealing VR "squids" to folks seeking that out-of-body rush in the form of a form-fitting facehugger-looking head set playing mini-disks of various experiences sold on the black market. By the way, all of the tech looks legit and is also explained well too, I'm sure James Cameron's screenplay helped with that. ;)

Bigelow is clearly going for a truly immersive ride here as we still have yet ANOTHER extended POV sequence presented to us even before the plot truly kicks in about an hour in....this being a lovesick memory of Lenny's that he's "experiencing" with his former girlfriend, aspiring rock singer Faith (Juliette Lewis just GOING for it from extensive screentime spent topless to performing real raspy vocals of PJ Harvey songs on-stage while in character). Even this scene goes in for uncomfortable lengths as we seem to be continually panning down to Lewis' midriff throughout....

I wanna think that much of this set-up serves a purpose as once we get through it, the remaining 90 minutes of this movie develops into a pretty kick-ass techno-mystery thriller where we get to see more of Angela Bassett's Mace as the main action heroine of this story. Always clad in stylish suits marauding about town in a fortified limo, Bassett just kills it as a fierce partner (and protector) of Fiennes' Lenny. Even saddled with some on-the-nose big picture dialogue (a long-time Cameron specialty), Bassett is a joy to watch and it's a shame that this movie flopped SO hard upon release...otherwise she might have gone the action route again. ☹️

Shame too for Fiennes as he was very effectively playing against type at the time - this was sandwiched in between more conventional upright protagonists in Quiz Show and The English Patient. And he was great in both of those movies too but this was one of his first opportunities (not sure if we're counting Amon Goeth in Schindler's List as that character is still very prim) to get more down-and-dirty, go the sleazy route for a change....and he's a kick to watch clad in leather jacket (and pants) along with a greasy mane of stringy hair over 9:00 shadow. 😏 His Lenny is a pretty pathetic character but he knows it too....he's an also an ex-cop with a conscience, making his pull into this life-threatening mystery all the more compelling.

Oh and speaking of cops....they don't come off too well within this story as most portrayed are ruthless thugs bent on dominating the local LA populace. But at least they're well-cast as well: you have svelte Vincent Donofrio and youngish William Fichtner both going full-on icy creepy as two main villains so how can you go wrong? :) Throw in Glenn Plummer as outspoken hip-hop/community leader Jericho One, Richard Edson as a more addicted squid dealer, early (and bald) Nicky Katt as a henchman, and Uber-'90's villain-master Michael Wincott (he played Top Dollar in previous episode The Crow) as a creepy record label owner (who now owns Lewis' Faith apparently)...and you can see just how well Bigelow fills out this looney cast of characters, giving this pseudo-dystopian LA hellscape REAL flavor!

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Talk about a strangely forgotten soundtrack during a PEAK time period for them....I think because this movie has TWO subplots involving musical performers whom we see actually perform on-screen, it was easy to overlook an assortment of needle-drops throughout from an assortment of acts who were VERY much of this time: Tricky, Skunk Anansie….which was always a band name I had extreme difficulties pronouncing…and probably my favorite guilty pleasure from this era and their music was ALL over every wanna-be edgy club and/or movie at the time…Lord of Acid. (Audio clip)  

But you wanna talk mid ‘90’s….how’s THIS for a collaboration which has a very catchy song playing over the closing credits….Peter Gabriel and Deep Forest BOOM.  Gabriel born in Chobham, England and formerly of the band Genesis before he became a breakout solo artist in the late ‘80’s – I have always been a huge fan, definitely one of THE best live performers I ever saw in concert.  This was just a PEAK era for him having recently sung smash hits like “In Your Eyes” and “Sledgehammer.  And Deep Forest were a French electronic duo…often mixing various instruments and/or chants from the world with dance or “chill-out” beats.  Together, Deep Forest and Peter Gabriel deliver a rousing musical close-out for the film playing over sharp black and white closing credit images of each of the main cast….this danceable ditty is called, “While The Earth Sleeps.” (Audio clip)  

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film): 

In the very critical role as an ex-cop buddy of Lenny's who's protecting Faith - I actually watched this the day before his passing was revealed - that would be the late, great Tom Sizemore as Max, RIP. :( Just another striking reminder of how Sizemore could just always deliver his own uniquely darkly comic outsized presence to any setting....he's perfect for this, even clad with a distractingly bad wig! And this was in '95 which might have been PEAK Sizemore - he did this right after Devil In Blue Dress and just before his iconic role in Heat. Just amazing how he could STILL own the screen even when going up against heavyweights like DeNiro, Denzel, Bassett, Pacino, or Fiennes - he was one hell of a talent who will be missed.

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

The film opens with a pretty jaw-dropping action sequence from the POV of someone robbing a convenience store, then trying to evade authorities by jumping rooftops – this is clearly jacked-in tape, though even moreso it’s actually a “snuff film” because of how it end.  It's kind of astounding how well director Kathryn Bigelow and DP Matthew Leonetti pull off some of this footage, several years before the introduction of the GoPro no less – there were no cameras in existence at the time which could just be hand-held to pull off such shots so they had to pretty much invent them.  It’s a high-intensity table-setter for the film which follows… (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

At the time of release, this was her direct follow-up to previous episode and beloved ’90’s action staple Point Break….and apparently at the screenplay level, this was a more conventional action thriller focusing more on the love triange between between Lenny, Mace, and Faith.  Once she took the reigns, she was determined to make it more topical and this being just a few years after the Rodney King incident and subsequent riots in Los Angeles, she inserted that whole whole Jeriko One suplot to address that…and other hot button issues of the day.  And what resulted was a much headier movie than the studio was expecting so they really didn’t know how to market it….though I have always LOVED that teaser trailer with Ralph Fiennes talking directly to the audience.  Sadly this film flopped BIG-TIME….almost derailing her career no less – it made only $17 million worldwide on a $42 million budget….ooooh not good.  Fortunately  it has endured over time and for sticking to her guns, Kathryn Bigelow is the MVP.       

Final Rating: 4.3 stars out of 5 

All of the pieces are in place there for a great movie and even though there MIGHT a BIT too many of them, Strange Days holds up overall as a balls-out techno-thriller packed to the gills with both impressive set-pieces and social commentary. It's not as efficient as Near Dark nor as effective as Zero Dark Thirty but it's still one strong entry in the filmography of the Oscar-winning Bigelow....who clearly needs to direct more often....and to return to pure genre filmmaking.  And apparently she is….THIS Fall with a nuclear thriller House of Dynamite?? Cannot wait….

Streaming on Hulu & The Criterion Channel 

And that ends another JACKED IN review!