Strange Days (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Strange Days

Directed by	Kathryn Bigelow
Produced by	James Cameron
Written by	James Cameron, Jay Cocks
Starring	Ralph Fiennes Angela Bassett Juliette Lewis Tom Sizemore Michael Wincott Vincent D'Onofrio
Music by	Graeme Revell
Cinematography	Matthew F. Leonetti
Editing by	James Cameron Howard E. Smith
Distributed by	20th Century Fox Lightstorm Entertainment
Release date(s)	October 13, 1995
Running time	145 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$42,000,000 (USA)
Gross revenue	$7,919,000 (USA)
IMDb profile

Strange Days is the title of a 1995 science fiction film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and produced and co-written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks, starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film contains a dystopian view of the near future, moral ambivalence of many of its characters and the technological and social issues raised make it an example of the cyberpunk genre in film^{[citation needed]}.

1 Plot summary
2 Cast list
3 Soundtrack
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

In December 1999, Los Angeles has become a dystopic urban nightmare beneath a heightened police tensions and civil unrest, stemming largely from the brutal murder of Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer), a hip-hop artist strongly critical of the LAPD and police brutality. Against the remaining days of the millennium, former police detective turned street hustler Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) deals in 'SQUID' recordings; experiences taken directly from the cerebral cortex which when played back through a MiniDisc-like device allow a user to experience all recorded sensory inputs (sight, hearing, smell, and touch) as if experiencing it themselves. Despite his charm and suaveness, Lenny yearns for his ex-girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis), constantly reliving their happier times through his SQUID recordings of her or relying on his friend and bodyguard Lornette "Mace" Mason (Bassett) for emotional support.

While dealing erotic SQUID recordings, Lenny receives a snuff ("black jack") disc portraying the excruciating rape and murder of Iris (Brigitte Bako), a street prostitute he is acquainted with who recently met with him before her death. Deeply troubled by both the tape and warnings Iris had made about Faith's safety (the two having been friends), and convinced that the killer will strike again, Lenny follows the leads to music industry mogul Philo Gant (Michael Wincott), Faith's new boyfriend.

As he receives more snuff tapes, Lenny and Mace eventually discover that the case is tied to both a cover-up of the murder of Jeriko One, and dark rumours of a top-secret "death squad" operating within the LAPD. As they are hunted by Philo's goons and two sinister police officers, Lenny and Mace find themselves in a race to uncover the full truth before the murderer catches up with them, and before civil war descends on Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Lenny and Mace's relationship begins to deepen and intensify as he finds out the truth about Faith, while trying to protect her.