Strange Days (1995)

14 June 2019

Strange Days (1995) is a scifi thriller starring Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett and Juliette Lewis. Written by James Cameron, it's a film set in LA just before the turn of the century (2000), where there's a black market product called SQUID discs (like Minidiscs if you remember those) that let people record and play others' memories and sensations. One of these discs happens to record something that makes Fiennes' character a target, and on the eve of the new Millennium, LA is a powder-keg for rioting and chaos.

This film definitely feels like a 90s film, and visually it feels dated (between the special effects and camera styles). The acting from the main characters is good, though getting past the headliners... notsomuch. But the movie works well to draw you in. I don't know if I'd call it a great film, but it was a good one.

I originally learned about it when I was searching the internet for "weird movies", and I think it fits in being a very different scifi movie than I'm used to, with some deep political roots and dark themes that we very different. And with early Voldemort starring in it, it was worth a shot. 8/10, maybe higher marks than it deserves, but it is pretty unique, and it's out of print (I found a DVD of it on Amazon; Blu-Rays were only in the UK :/ ). 8/10