Johnny Mnemonic (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Johnny Mnemonic | |
|---|---|
 Film poster for Johnny Mnemonic |
|
| Directed by | Robert Longo |
| Produced by | Staffan Ahrenberg, Don Carmody, Victoria Hamburg, Robert Lantos |
| Written by | William Gibson |
| Starring | Keanu Reeves Dolph Lundgren Takeshi Ice-T Dina Meyer Henry Rollins |
| Cinematography | François Protat |
| Editing by | Ronald Sanders |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | May 26, 1995 |
| Running time | Japan - 107 min (video version) USA - 96 min |
| Country |  Canada United States |
| Language | Japanese & English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Johnny Mnemonic is a 1995 cyberpunk film, loosely based on the short story of the same name by William Gibson, in which Keanu Reeves plays the title character, a man with a cybernetic brain implant designed to store information. It portrays Gibson's standard dystopian view of the future with the world dominated by large corporations and with strong East Asian influences.
The film was directed by Robert Longo on location in Canada, with Toronto and Montreal filling in for Newark, New Jersey and Beijing. A number of local monuments feature prominently, such as Toronto's Union Station and Montréal's Jacques Cartier Bridge.
The film is notable for the presence of Takeshi Kitano, whose role in the Japanese version of the film was greatly expanded.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Johnny is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. His brain can carry nearly 80 gigabytes worth of data, or 160 gigabytes if he uses a doubler. Johnny uses this implant to act as a courier between contracting parties. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits (and will thus kill him if the data isn't removed in time), but also proves to contain information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. He has to remove the data and avoid being killed by assassins sent after him by the company who owns the data.
[edit] Differences from the short story
The story in the movie significantly deviates from the short story, most notably turning Johnny, not girlfriend Molly, into the protagonist. In fact, the movie transforms this girlfriend from Molly into "Jane", as the film rights to Molly were owned by a company unaffiliated with the film's producers.[citation needed]
Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS) is a fictional disease in the film, which is not present in the short story. NAS, also called "the black shakes", is caused by an overexposure to electromagnetic radiation from omnipresent technological devices, and is presented as a raging epidemic affecting the world in the future. The plot of the film revolves around the one pharmaceutical corporation that has found a cure but chooses to withhold it from the public in favor of a more lucrative treatment program.
[edit] Critical reception and influence
 |
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. |
On its release, the movie was scorned by film critics, who mocked what they saw as mediocre acting, hardly-believable characters (including a drug-addicted dolphin and a hitman who patterns himself after Jesus Christ), and lack of substance/coherence. At one point in the film, Johnny loses his temper and launches into an over-the-top, selfish tirade ("I want room service!") that earns the character as much derision as sympathy.[citation needed]
Basically what happened was it was taken away and re-cut by the American distributor in the last month of its prerelease life, and it went from being a very funny, very alternative piece of work to being something that had been very unsuccessfully chopped and cut into something more mainstream.
—William Gibson, in interview with The Peak magazine, 19th October, 1998.[2]
Despite negative critical reaction, the film was a modest success and could be considered influential on a number of subsequent films.[citation needed] Because it is considered to be one of the better portrayals of the cyberpunk genre, it is considered a cult classic by some fans.[3][citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Johnny Mnemonic Japanese release 1995, 103 minutes, Color, English/Japanese.
- ^ the peak (19/10/1998) arts: Cyberpunk on screen - William Gibson speaks
- ^ "DVD Verdict - Case Number 00210: Johnny Mnemonic". David Rogers. 10 Dec 1999
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
