Virtuosity
August. 04,1995 RThe Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre (LETAC) has developed SID version 6.7: a Sadistic, Intelligent, and Dangerous virtual reality entity which is synthesized from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers, and only one man can stop him.
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Reviews
Best movie ever!
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre has developed SID version 6.7: a virtual reality entity which is created from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers. LETAC wants to train police officers by putting them in VR with SID, but they must prove the concept by using prisoners as test subjects. One such prisoner is ex-cop Parker Barnes. When SID manages to inject his personality into a nano-machine android, it appears that Barnes might be the only one who can stop him............The film is total rubbish from beginning to end, and Washington allegedly only starred in it because his son wanted him to do it, but to see two wonderful actors star in such exploitative nonsense, you cannot help but love every second of it.Crowe has a mouthful of scenery in every frame he's in, and he appears to be channelling every comic book villain portrayed before 1995. There are elements of The Joker, Simon Phoenix, and even Karl from Die Hard in his persona, and although he's hamming it up to major bacon levels, he's a joy to watch.Washington is playing it deadly serious though, and few quips wouldn't have gone a miss, but it's Washington, and I'd watch him paint a room.The special effects are awful, some of the set pieces are really strange, and the concept of the film, and the way the narrative plays out is just so bonkers, it's actually quite ingenious.Don't get me wrong, Bret Leonard is an awful director, more concerned about the concept of VR rather than actual reality, and this is a really stupid film, but my word, is it entertaining to see Crowe do something so ridiculous.It's the second best film that Washington and Crowe have starred in together.......
Yet another example of a high budget, low intelligence blockbuster movie where the plot suffers at the expense of an action sequence inserted in every ten minutes, usually involving lots of shooting and special effects. While I have nothing against action films, I usually like a bit of intrigue and clever plotting to help move things along. Not so in this film.The sole reason to watch is for the special effects, of which there are lots, as the film uses virtual reality as a basis (much like its predecessor, THE LAWNMOWER MAN). The best scenes are the ones where SID is maimed/badly injured, and his limbs regenerate with the help of glass. These scenes are cleverly done, although of course they do borrow from TERMINATOR 2 (speaking of borrowing, the green blood inside SID is strangely reminiscent of the green-blooded androids in FORTRESS). At the end of the film there is a brilliant bit where SID is thrown through glass ceilings and his arms and legs are all cut off. However, they begin to grow back again.Denzel Washington is the star of this film, somewhat surprisingly. Firstly I thought he only appeared in high-class, intelligent movies, but obviously not. The second surprising fact is his muscular, perfect physique. Now the slim Washington is not someone I would immediately suspect of possessing a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger's, so I presume that it was in fact a bodysuit that the actor was wearing. Still, I can't be sure. Washington is a good actor and is fine in his role, but Russell Crowe, as the villain, is very obnoxious (intentional) to the extent that he made me want to switch off. Not the intended reaction I'm sure. Crowe is another Freddy Krueger clone who continually makes stupid, lame wisecracks which will appeal to moronic teenagers, which I for one am not.Kelly Lynch is the expected love interest but is not given much to do, appearing more like a second-rate Scully than anything else. And there we have it. While the action and special effects aren't half bad (in fact, they're quite enjoyable), the film is a clichéd mess to be watched with the brain switched firmly off. And if Crowe hadn't been quite so irritating it might have got a higher score.
I would have been happy to give this sci-fi a 6 for creating a gloriously cheesy 90's flick. It is a cross between the Thirteenth Floor and Demolition Man - both of which I found really fun to watch.Unfortunately, the script was lacking and, with the exception of Denzel, the acting was middling at best. Russell unfortunately ruined what should have been the main focus of attention in this film by hideously overacting the VR serial killers persona. You might say he killed the killers character off himself even before the film had reached the 5 minute mark.Worth a watch only if you are a fan of 80/90's cheesy sci-fi.
In the futuristic world of 1999, former policeman Denzel Washington (as Parker Barnes) is released from prison to help catch "virtual reality" android run amok Russell Crowe (as S.I.D. 6.7). At a disadvantage with only a bionic arm, Mr. Washington makes up the difference in determination. He is assisted by Los Angeles blonde Kelly Lynch (as Madison Carter), who comes with a vulnerable nine-year-old daughter. Watch out, Kaley Cuoco, for the man from the cable company. Washington and others keep trying to stop Mr. Crowe with ordinary bullets. Crowe bares his firm buttocks for Stephen Spinella (as Daryl Lindenmeyer). Crowe gets a kick out of killing people, and eats glass to rejuvenate.***** Virtuosity (8/4/95) Brett Leonard ~ Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Kelly Lynch, Stephen Spinella