My Review of Strange Days (1995) · 9:37pm Jul 23rd, 2023
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today! This afternoon, I will be reviewing "Strange Days" from 1995! This is yet another 90s movie I checked out for the first time not too long ago; I watched this on Max with an open mind as I wanted to see Ralph Fiennes play the main protagonist role in a R-rated movie.
I am quite impressed with the way this film turned out: a well-directed, thrilling, exciting story that captivates the viewer with its interesting storytelling and worldbuilding. But I'm frankly shocked that it was a box office bomb because Kathryn Bigelow did a great job directing this movie. Seeing that not many people have heard of this movie, I'll be more than happy to explain what this is about.
This movie is about a black marketeer who uses a series of recordings that allows the user to see through a person's memories and experiences the physical sensations of the first person. Later on, he discovers the gnarly murder of a prostitute through that same technology; this prompts him and Mace Mason to uncover the mystery and find out who committed the crime.
Like I said, I really liked how they wrote this story; what's even more interesting is how they boldly tackled the themes of racism, abuse of power, rape, voyeurism, and even police brutality. While in some departments, they managed to execute their themes properly, but in others--such as racism and rape--it was somewhat poorly tackled on. The movie focused so much on trying to uncover the mystery behind the murders of our named characters while throwing in some hints of heated subject matters I've mentioned. Some of the named themes were reflected on more than others which makes it a little partial and unfair as all these subjects are equally serious and should be handled more carefully.
Another thing I like to point out is the pacing; it wasn't terrible exactly, but it seems like the movie has some trouble in focusing on which antagonist is more important for the plot. The main villains are Philo Gant (played by Michael Wincott) and Max Peltier (played by Tom Sizemore); despite how excellent they acted their parts in their respective roles, they were overshadowed by the involvement of other antagonists: LAPD officers Burton Steckler and Dwayne Engelman.
The reason I say this is that these corrupt officers played a crucial role in keeping their murderous scheme in the dark which would later on influence other characters and move the story. In my opinion, they were much more important to the story than the main villains, and crowding all these villians together threw the pacing off and made it longer than it was necessary.
Those are the only issues I have with the movie. With that aside, I really enjoyed the premise and the concept behind this underrated gem. James Cameron did exceptionally well in writing the screenplay and the story.
Ralph Fiennes was pretty good as the main character Lenny Nero. I wouldn't say he was unique or compelling in any way, but I still liked his backstory and what he tried to do for the people he cared about. The same can be said for Mace Mason; Angela Bassett killed it throughout her performance. Seriously, Bassett is an underrated actress as she has a lot of charisma and passion in her acting.
The soundtrack is kinda forgettable, but the choreography was definitely something nice to see.
Overall, I find this to be a good experience worth remembering. In light of the fact that Bigelow was inspired from learning of the incidents of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the Lorena Bobbitt trial, I can see why she wanted to make a film that reflects on these themes and wanted to inspire other people to stand up against injustice and remain strong no matter what happens. Therefore, I will rate this movie a solid 8/10. Highly recommendable to anyone interested in seeing this flawed yet epic film.
Peace out!
