Strange Days (1995)

not as good as all the hype

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

In 1999, Los Angeles is racial war zone with the army and LSPD and SWAT officers fighting Afro-American people. The former cop Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) is a dealer of illegal recording in CDs that gives the memories and sensations of the recorder to the user. He buys the recordings from the supplier Tick; he misses his former mistress Faith (Juliette Lewis), who was a hooker and now is a singer; his best friend is the private eye Max Peltier (Tom Sizemore) and the limousine driver Lornette 'Mace' Mason (Angela Bassett), who has unrequited love for him. Two days before the turn of the century, the black rapper Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer) is murdered. The hooker Iris (Brigitte Bako) seeks Lenny out but there is an incident and they do not talk to each other. However she drops a recording into Lenny's car while he unsuccessfully tries to meet Faith at a night-club. However her boyfriend Philo Gant (Michael Wincott) does not let them talk. When Lenny learns that Iris was sadistically raped and killed, he gets involved in a sick scheme and discovers dirty hidden secrets. "Strange Days" is a strange action film with a weird story. Lenny Nero is a complete loser and non-charismatic character. Angela Bassett and Ralph Fiennes do not have any chemistry. Despite the confused screenplay and the flaws, the story is intriguing. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Estranhos Prazeres" ("Strange Pleasures")

"Strange Days" is a movie that has a bit of everything and ends up being a terrific cinematic experience. Set in a near future, the story deals with classic themes like virtual reality, thought control or the share of memory, providing and exciting and engaging cyberpunk adventure. Director Kathryn Bigelow creates a futuristic LA that manages to be both sophisticated and believable, avoiding the over-the-top, Utopian and not very realistic depictions of future societies presented in other sci-fi films. Although "Strange Days" is basically a thriller, it is way above many run-of-the-mill movies of its genre, as it succeeds at combining its key elements perfectly. The direction is dynamic, unique and fast-paced, adding style and energy with an excellent sense of rhythm, flow and tension. The acting is also a plus, since Ralph Fiennes is unforgettable as the flawed anti-hero Lenny and Angela Basset shines as his sister-in-arms Mace. This duo makes for an odd, yet original and memorable couple, delivering some enticing and moving scenes. It's also interesting seeing the female character protecting the male for a change, making for a clever reverse of the predictable and typical scenario of most action flicks. Juliette Lewis is also convincing as the dark and feral femme-fatal, especially when she sings a P.J. Harvey song to perfection (one of the many excellent and remarkable moments of this movie).The only problem is the script, which in its determined liberalism (the LAPD isn't really rife with racism, oh no, it's just a couple of loose cannons here and there) is at odds with the basically scary premise. In the end, it relies on the concept of The Good Cop and Real Love Conquering All. I don't suppose it could've been any other way, but...really.Although I am a fan of thrillers and sci-fi, a good story (giving the viewer a range of feelings and emotions) regardless of the genre is what truly sells to a wide audience. I believe that Strange Days is a good story told extremely well by the director, Kate Bigelow, using film.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

One of the best films of the 90s and this should be next on Criterion releases. Highly overlooked. See this film. Great job Katheryn Bigelow!! If any of you are fans of the first Matrix (an OK movie) you will notice that Neo tries to sell clips before he finds the Matrix. One of our finest actors gives her best performances in this film. Angela Basset plays the tough character protecting the weak clip dealer. A wonderful flip of gender strengths! I cant recommend this too highly but I can catergorize it under the file called "you had to be there". Seeing the teaser of this before it came out had everyone talking. "OMG, WHAT IS THIS? It set in 1999, thats so far away! What will happen!!!???" Id be ashamed if I did not mention it has another great performance by Michael Wincott. See this now and get the amazing soundtrack. "Are you beginning to see the possibilties here??"

And if your memories could be recorded in a disc and you could see and feel everything again as you were right back on that specific moment? That's the premise for STRANGE DAYS! We are in L.A. at 30th December of 1999 and the new millennium is about to begin. In the black-market you can buy a new "drug" which can drive you into POV experiences of other people's lives, seeing, hearing and feeling what that person recorded. And it could be anything, from someone making sex, running at the beach, making an assault or even the "blackjacks": violations, murders and even the death of the person who was recording! That's a voyeuristic kind of experience but also an addiction that could be easily compared to a drug...But that's just the premise of the movie, and the most interesting part of it in my opinion (In fact I watched this film for the first time back in 1996 and that was the only thing I remembered from it...). So the 2000's new years eve and this "new drug" are just the context to what is in fact an action thriller about cops, the abuse of authority, and the tension between cops and black people in L.A...I enjoyed the movie, but also the soundtrack! It has some nice kicking rock songs of the 90's (including the ones sung by Juliette Lewis!) and it made me feel like 20 years ago listening to those songs. The acting is also fine, especially from Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett. I score it 7/10.