Review of Strange Days (1995) by Ole Bjørn L — 12 Aug 2011

What an amazing surprise. Outside of Blade Runner, this is easily the best cyberpunk film I've ever seen, finally living up to all the promise of the genre, from the social implications of just-out-of-reach technology, to the savvy noir overtones.

It's like Brainstorm meets Johnny Mnemonic, but made by serious artisans for grown-ups. The world of the film is incredibly stylized and amplified, but it never seems implausible or less than real.

I can believe in this time and place. Speaking of time and place, this film is MORE relevant today, right now, than it was in 1995 when it was made, or 1999, when it's set. It's almost strange to watch this film after having seen the likes of 'Freejack,' only to find yourself having an actual emotional reaction to a film in a genre that can ordinarily be best enjoyed as earnest camp.

Instead, this film is technically marvellous and continuously engaging, with a pace that feels desperate without becoming grating, and an emphasis on the human stories over the technobabble. Thank you, Kathryn Bigelow, for giving cyberpunk the film it deserved, even if it had to be the exception rather than the rule.