DNA (1997)
DIRECTOR: William Mesa
CAST: Mark Dacascos, Jurgen Prochnow, Robin McKee, Tom Taus
REVIEW:
DNA is the product of two special effects technicians—-director William Mesa and screenwriter Nick Davis—-who developed loftier filmmaking aspirations while seemingly lacking the talent (or originality) to chew what they’ve bitten off. DNA is a patchwork quilt shamelessly derivative of other, better movies (most blatantly but not limited to the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action flick Predator). Its producers Interlight Pictures——heard of them? Me neither—-rather hilariously oversold it as “Alien meets Indiana Jones”. That said, DNA is still a fun little diversion (if one can forgive it for practically plagiarizing swaths of Predator along with bits and pieces of other flicks along the way including Jurassic Park) with a humble 97 minute runtime that doesn’t overstay its modest welcome.
Continue readingStrange Days (1995)
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow
CAST:
Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D’Onofrio, William Fichtner, Brigitte Bako, Josef Sommer, Glenn Plummer
REVIEW:
A murder-mystery with the backdrop of a vivid and fascinating slightly futuristic sci-fi visionary thriller, Strange Days is entirely worthy of anything with James Cameron’s name attached, and director Kathryn Bigelow (Cameron’s ex-wife) is entirely up to the task of helming Cameron’s story. Strange Days is the whole package: thinking man’s entertainment while appealing equally to the brain and the visceral. Continue reading
Virtuosity (1995)
DIRECTOR: Brett Leonard
CAST: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Kelly Lynch, William Forsythe, William Fichtner, Louise Fletcher, Stephen Spinella, Kevin J. O’Connor
REVIEW:
Virtuosity, from director Brett Leonard (playing in virtual reality for the second time after 1992’s The Lawnmower Man) and screenwriter Eric Bernt, is another in the mid-90s fad of “high-tech” thrillers, following Sneakers and The Net, and like the latter Sandra Bullock vehicle, it fails to offer up anything very original or creative, using a “futuristic” premise for a cheesy thriller long on generic action sequences and bad action movie dialogue and deficient on intelligence or thrills.
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