Strange Days is one of my favorite films of all time. Katherine Bigelow may have won an Oscar for The Hurt Locker, but this earlier film of hers is criminally underrated.
It's a great film until the last Act reveal of the killer. How many times do we have to see "the BFF is really the bad guy" cliche? The acting, though, is wonderful. The direction is perfect (between Strange Days & Point Break, Bigelow really proves she is just as good as any male director when it comes to helming an action project). The film really entertains you!
Spoilers… The only thing I wish they did differently was explore the cop death squad idea, which turned out to be a red herring (even though it applies to the two featured officers very literally and who knows how many more), as I find it would have strengthened the need for a people’s revolution as well as made the Max reveal more gripping. I thought it was amazing as is though.
Old-Guy-Rants Well, her films are usually about ppl living on fringe of society, bad ppl, mostly bad men. And she doesn't write the films just directs em
@@emilepelletier8176 I'm going to guess it's because none of these actors are actors people normally go to see a movie for. And also because of the adult nature of this film, it's unlikely to be shown to kids. So people have to hope they hear about it after they become adults when they're probably not spending as much time watching movies.
@@jedijones when this movie came out Angela basset was huge from what's love got to do with it and waiting to exhale, Juliette was big from natural born killers and from dusk till dawn among other movies, Michael Madison still had s cult following from reservoir dogs and Ralph finnes was big from Schindler's list and the English patient..these were all big actors from big movies in the 90s..it was kinda shocking it didn't do better considering the cast alone. If I remember also it was not marketed very well for what it was and the reviews for it wasn't that great, and not a lot of people were seeing it. People also took kids to see r rated movies all the time back then. I was 12 when pulp fiction came out and if you were accompanied by an adult you could get into an r rated movie..I'm not saying it's a good thing but people let their kids watch pretty much anything back then.
Neither one of them mentioned that Strange Days was a movie where the "main action hero" was a flawed character, trying to rescue someone that had no interest interested in being rescued, and in the end it would take a stronger character to rescue him, a concept that was far from cliche at the time this film was made.
Saw it opening weekend in a big theater. I was blown away and actually thought it would win the Oscar for Best Picture! And a nod at least for Bigelow who clearly has an eye for pulse-thumping action. Ralph Fiennes is an amazing actor, especially here. A complex and passionate character who is forced to regain integrity by the end. One of my all time favorite movies. Angela Bassett and Tom Sizemore also great in this.
Strange days definitely kinda predicted the future in a way I loved it and I loved the chemistry between Bassett and fienes. Gosh Julianne Moore looks so young and remember when Banderas was the it guy in the mid 90s
Cuz it was ahead of it's time and I don't think it was ready to come out when it did, I feel if it came out in 2005 it would've done better in theaters
I actually read the first draft of Strange Days and Assassins well before they were produced into films and both were better scripts then they were movies. A funny thing about the script for Strange Days, director Kathleen Bigelow demanded it as part of her divorce from James Cameron!! He and Jay Cocks wrote it years before, but Bigelow fell in love with the project and thought that she was the only director could do it justice!!
“Dead Presidents” is a great film with one of the best music soundtracks of any movie ever made. I haven’t seen “Strange Days” but I’m thoroughly intrigued.
Strange Days rules. Great acting, Interesting plot, It sucks you into the movie and you loose track of time. It's to bad they dated it with Y2K because if they didn't you really wouldn't be able to tell when this movie was made. A lot of the plot points are still valid. I give it 9.5 out of 10
@Dickum N Lickum the V: Emperor Of CZcams. Actually, there's a scene where a rapper is on TV declaring the end of the world. I interpreted that as Y2K!
The whole backstory, which is only hinted at in the film, of how Lenny helped Macey after her drug dealer boyfriend was arrested. He got her into security work and she became stronger and independent. Then, they switched roles and Lenny became the weaker one. They saved each other. It was brilliant how you could green the whole story from just one flashback. Also, it is another techno-cautionary tale like Blade Runner. Lenny could never move on past Faith because he relived his best memories with her every night. Macey said it best, 'Memories were meant to fade, they're designed that way for a reason."
I loved Dead Presidents!! Strange Days, I just couldn’t get into. I remember thinking at the time, all this is supposed to happen in four to five years?? I know it’s scifi, which I love, but I just couldn’t detach when I saw it. Both films have OUTSTANDING soundtracks!!
That was my same reaction. It also came at the tail end of a bunch of other dystopian movies that came out that same year. And it was just like, "Okay enough. I get it. The future sucks."
While I'm more in agreement with Ebert on "Strange Days" -- it's too thought-provoking and interesting of a film to give a thumbs-down to -- I do agree with some of Siskel's criticisms, like Juliette Lewis being miscast, and the plot not quite living up to the sensational premise. Ebert is right that Ralph Fiennes is tremendous, however, and carries the film with ease.
These critics shared some interesting points on Strange Days. But as for me I absolutely loved the film. It also had a kick-ass soundtrack. One of Bigalow's best.
Just wanted to add movies in the 90s are amazing . Even these 3 films are great compared to today my dad loves dead presidents like loves it . I want to see it.
I have two big problems with Strange Days: one is that setting it explicitly in 1999 dated the movie in a way that keeping it ambiguous similar to what most Black Mirror episodes do. The second is the rape/murder scene. I understand the point that the movie is trying to make but it's too much and it feels somewhat gratuitous. Also, on a structural level, this is the most upsetting/disturbing moment in the movie and it comes almost an hour before the movie ends. The problem is that the most disturbing point SHOULD be the recording of the black people being murdered by the cops that happens at the end of the second act. This should be the lowest point of the movie when the heroes witness this crime but also realize just how dangerous their predicament is not to mention that it's the main plot of the film. However, because we saw a far more horrifying moment in an earlier subplot, the main plot loses the impact it should have had. I truly believe that if these two aspects had been fixed, especially the second one, then the movie would have made a lot more money and would be remembered a lot more.
We should all agree that an innocent person being raped and an innocent person being executed are both horrible acts of violence and injustice, and it seems strange to split hairs over which is worse or "too much, even for a movie." Although it is interesting that the execution is treated as the footage that could turn the world upside down, and a brutal rape isn't I think the entire movie attempts to glorify and stylize violence, showing the similarities between customers buying 'squid' videos of extreme experiences, and the appetite of movie/entertainment audiences seeking out the same thing I'm assuming the year 2000 was really important to Boomers and Xers because a lot of pop singers and other entertainers of the day treated it like a symbolic threshold. And the movie is clearly not set in the 21st century, where an incriminating video could be near-instantly uploaded online for the whole planet to see
@@gc3k oh my God. Yeah the coming of the year 2000 was such a big deal especially when someone casually mentioned it to me as a kid in 1983. I didn’t realize that it was the near future. I was bad at math. Still am. But the number alone, because it was part of all these sci fi tropes, evoked this idea that we'd all be instantly transported to a world with flying cars. That's basically the sleight of hand this movie does. Somehow the year 2000 will have this technology that wasn't even remotely on the horizon in 1995. In actual 1999 all everyone could talk about was "the new millennium". But there was the fear of the havoc the Y2K bug would wreak. Instead of the future world we were all hoping for this computer glitch would instantly transport us back to the 1300s Instead. As you may imagine January 1st 2000 was basically like December 31st, 1999.
I wonder what the production behind Assassins was like. It sounds like the Wachowskis wrote a Hollywood John Woo movie, but were hamstrung by the studio and other influences, and the movie ended up being flat and boring
Assassins was a garbage movie, Dead Presidents was not a bad film i gave that a moderate thumbs up cuz of the performances of Larenz Tate, Keith David & Chris Tucker & I'm with Roger Strange Days was a terrific film
havent seen the film dont know what they are talking about. but i can certainly tell you that here in Oklahoma i have 100% seen huge violent windy storms that literally came out of nowhere in just seconds on bright sunny days and just completely blow by and vanish in 15 minutes.
I can understand both of their opinions on Strange Days. The film is a technical masterpiece but the plot is deeply flawed and the final twist is seriously underwhelming
I definitely agree with Siskel about the characters being subservient to the production and concepts and obscure music from the 1990s. The movie is still good but it's more concerned with its "big ideas" than with storytelling The funny thing is the movie keeps bloviating about how scary the new year is gonna be and how the world's about to end-- but on Dec 31 1999, at 3am Los Angeles time, it's already 2000 somewhere, so it didn't end did it
These left brain oriented critics like Siskel could never understand something this creative like Strange Days and before it's time. Hell, they hated Blade Runner and both movies are now classics.
So, real talk- who the fuck remembers Persuasion, compared to how many remember Strange Days? Hell, who the fuck remembers Persuasion compared to Dead Presidents? There's a clear split between shit that's daring and takes a chance and actually delivers (or big ambitious films that sometimes don't work because they're so big and ambitious) and milquetoast middle-of-the-road pablum that makes one thing memorable and the other thing forgettable. Or, to put it another way, Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network, True Grit, and Winter's Bone all lost to The King's Speech.
I have walked out onto movies in my lifetime. One was The Empire Strikes Back during its original theatrical run when I was 4 years old and got scared. The other was Strange Days. The premise of the technology was the best part, and the movie didn't even do as much to sell us on the possibility as the trailer did. The characters were obnoxious stereotypes who behaved without anything resembling sense. Finally, it had the single worst rape scene I've ever seen in a movie. The idea of what was happening in the scene - a woman being raped and killed while plugged into the rapist/murderer's experience and pleasure - was so horrifying that it didn't need to be shown. If it was going to be shown, the idea should have been to emphasize the pain and suffering. Instead, it was shot just like a sex seeing and thereby just completely missed the storytelling Point as well as being just ethically twisted and gross.
Strange Days is one of my favorite films of all time. Katherine Bigelow may have won an Oscar for The Hurt Locker, but this earlier film of hers is criminally underrated.
way better than Hurt Locker too
Strange Days is one of my favorite films of all time.
For a Sci Fi film made 23 years ago it's even more relevant for today, its one of my favourite films as well.
It's a great film until the last Act reveal of the killer. How many times do we have to see "the BFF is really the bad guy" cliche? The acting, though, is wonderful. The direction is perfect (between Strange Days & Point Break, Bigelow really proves she is just as good as any male director when it comes to helming an action project). The film really entertains you!
Spoilers…
The only thing I wish they did differently was explore the cop death squad idea, which turned out to be a red herring (even though it applies to the two featured officers very literally and who knows how many more), as I find it would have strengthened the need for a people’s revolution as well as made the Max reveal more gripping. I thought it was amazing as is though.
Ditto!!
Strange Days was ahead of its time. Basset is a badass. Film is good.
Agreed. I think there are flaws, but its a very bold and exciting film. Love the cast and am a big Bigelow fan.
Si Pero, no Yeah and Siskel couldn't of been more wrong. Roger knew what's up, be wrote a great review for this film too.
It is a good film...I just hate that the director...Kathryn Bigelow seemed to have a rape fetish...Remember Blue Steel...
Old-Guy-Rants Well, her films are usually about ppl living on fringe of society, bad ppl, mostly bad men. And she doesn't write the films just directs em
Touche'
Strange Days in one of those good scifi flicks lost in the pile.
Yeah i don't know why it hasn't become a cult sci-fi classic like The Matrix... almost no non-cinephiles or non-sci fi fans know about this movie
@@emilepelletier8176 I'm going to guess it's because none of these actors are actors people normally go to see a movie for. And also because of the adult nature of this film, it's unlikely to be shown to kids. So people have to hope they hear about it after they become adults when they're probably not spending as much time watching movies.
@@jedijones when this movie came out Angela basset was huge from what's love got to do with it and waiting to exhale, Juliette was big from natural born killers and from dusk till dawn among other movies, Michael Madison still had s cult following from reservoir dogs and Ralph finnes was big from Schindler's list and the English patient..these were all big actors from big movies in the 90s..it was kinda shocking it didn't do better considering the cast alone.
If I remember also it was not marketed very well for what it was and the reviews for it wasn't that great, and not a lot of people were seeing it.
People also took kids to see r rated movies all the time back then. I was 12 when pulp fiction came out and if you were accompanied by an adult you could get into an r rated movie..I'm not saying it's a good thing but people let their kids watch pretty much anything back then.
Neither one of them mentioned that Strange Days was a movie where the "main action hero" was a flawed character, trying to rescue someone that had no interest interested in being rescued, and in the end it would take a stronger character to rescue him, a concept that was far from cliche at the time this film was made.
Ebert actually says he isn't a normal hero at 14:20
Saw it opening weekend in a big theater. I was blown away and actually thought it would win the Oscar for Best Picture! And a nod at least for Bigelow who clearly has an eye for pulse-thumping action.
Ralph Fiennes is an amazing actor, especially here. A complex and passionate character who is forced to regain integrity by the end. One of my all time favorite movies. Angela Bassett and Tom Sizemore also great in this.
I'm glad to say I saw it in a theater too. I was watching S&E heavily then so I believe I went on Ebert's recommendation.
The Academy hates genre pictures.
mad respect to Ebert for seeing the unique value of Strange Days, and especially the great and (flawed) characters!
Strange Days sucked so Ebert is wrong this time
Solid and thoughtful critique. @@CR055FIRE
Strange days definitely kinda predicted the future in a way I loved it and I loved the chemistry between Bassett and fienes. Gosh Julianne Moore looks so young and remember when Banderas was the it guy in the mid 90s
Love Strange Days.
Strange Days is still my favorite film. I traditionally watch it every New Year’s Eve, just like Planes Trains and Automobiles every Thanksgiving.
The cast of Strange Days KILLED IT DEAD! It's a gem of a movie. Get your hands on it!
Strange Days is criminally underrated ! I still can't understand why it failed to ignite the box office 🔥
Cuz it was ahead of it's time and I don't think it was ready to come out when it did, I feel if it came out in 2005 it would've done better in theaters
Perhaps, a bad ad campaign?
Alexandre Dion no stars. Ray is not a movie star.
Loved this version of Persuasion - my favorite of the Austen stories.
Nice to hear Gene and Roger speak about my favourite film, Persuasion - a fabulous movie.
I love Roger repeating, "I don't think so but they do it in this movie."
That was a highlight for me too! Actually think they were a bit unfair on Assassins. Just think what they would make of today's action films lol.
Made me laugh, but I loved Assassins. Watched it as a 10 year old and it was exhilarating to me. Still enjoy it now.
Persuasion is a great movie. I met Ciaran Hinds by chance and he was a sweet, nice guy.
Dead Presidents does not end with the caper...the caper sets up the real ending in court. Great movie.
Strange Days was really special, it wasn't convential in its storytelling with a lot of shades of grey characters
Keith David is such a good actor! Even in small bit parts he does a great job.
Has the best male voice too. He was the voice of the short lived Spawn animated series for HBO. Great stuff.
I actually read the first draft of Strange Days and Assassins well before they were produced into films and both were better scripts then they were movies. A funny thing about the script for Strange Days, director Kathleen Bigelow demanded it as part of her divorce from James Cameron!! He and Jay Cocks wrote it years before, but Bigelow fell in love with the project and thought that she was the only director could do it justice!!
She was right
“Dead Presidents” is a great film with one of the best music soundtracks of any movie ever made. I haven’t seen “Strange Days” but I’m thoroughly intrigued.
Strange Days rules. Great acting, Interesting plot, It sucks you into the movie
and you loose track of time. It's to bad they dated it with Y2K because if they didn't you really wouldn't be able to tell when this movie was made. A lot of the plot points are still valid. I give it 9.5 out of 10
@Dickum N Lickum the V: Emperor Of CZcams. Actually, there's a scene where a rapper is on TV declaring the end of the world. I interpreted that as Y2K!
"And strange days" - Roger Ebert hahaha what a great way to end it.
The whole backstory, which is only hinted at in the film, of how Lenny helped Macey after her drug dealer boyfriend was arrested. He got her into security work and she became stronger and independent. Then, they switched roles and Lenny became the weaker one. They saved each other. It was brilliant how you could green the whole story from just one flashback. Also, it is another techno-cautionary tale like Blade Runner. Lenny could never move on past Faith because he relived his best memories with her every night. Macey said it best, 'Memories were meant to fade, they're designed that way for a reason."
This again reiterates why I always preferred Ebert as a reviewer over Siskel. I can't believe he did not rate Strange Days.
Strange Days is my favorite film. You go Ebert! Love you man!
I loved Dead Presidents!! Strange Days, I just couldn’t get into. I remember thinking at the time, all this is supposed to happen in four to five years?? I know it’s scifi, which I love, but I just couldn’t detach when I saw it. Both films have OUTSTANDING soundtracks!!
That was my same reaction. It also came at the tail end of a bunch of other dystopian movies that came out that same year. And it was just like, "Okay enough. I get it. The future sucks."
While I'm more in agreement with Ebert on "Strange Days" -- it's too thought-provoking and interesting of a film to give a thumbs-down to -- I do agree with some of Siskel's criticisms, like Juliette Lewis being miscast, and the plot not quite living up to the sensational premise. Ebert is right that Ralph Fiennes is tremendous, however, and carries the film with ease.
Assassin's is unique in that it's a big budget Hollywood film in which neither lead actor has had complete command of the English language!!!
These critics shared some interesting points on Strange Days. But as for me I absolutely loved the film. It also had a kick-ass soundtrack. One of Bigalow's best.
Strange Days is one of my favorites.
Persuasion! I sought this episode after I finally watched it.
Strange days is the only reason I watched this..
Just wanted to add movies in the 90s are amazing . Even these 3 films are great compared to today my dad loves dead presidents like loves it . I want to see it.
Here to say that Strange Days predicted EVERYTHING. Prescient masterpiece.
I've watched a lot of these now, and I always think the note at the start of the theme music sounds strangely eerie.
Strange Days is one read I cannot get over the 90s.
For shame, Siskel. Strange Days is a great flick.
Every film has it's problems but overall I loved Strange Days. Was glad when Lenny finally forgot Faith and found real love with Mace.
I have two big problems with Strange Days: one is that setting it explicitly in 1999 dated the movie in a way that keeping it ambiguous similar to what most Black Mirror episodes do.
The second is the rape/murder scene. I understand the point that the movie is trying to make but it's too much and it feels somewhat gratuitous. Also, on a structural level, this is the most upsetting/disturbing moment in the movie and it comes almost an hour before the movie ends. The problem is that the most disturbing point SHOULD be the recording of the black people being murdered by the cops that happens at the end of the second act. This should be the lowest point of the movie when the heroes witness this crime but also realize just how dangerous their predicament is not to mention that it's the main plot of the film. However, because we saw a far more horrifying moment in an earlier subplot, the main plot loses the impact it should have had.
I truly believe that if these two aspects had been fixed, especially the second one, then the movie would have made a lot more money and would be remembered a lot more.
We should all agree that an innocent person being raped and an innocent person being executed are both horrible acts of violence and injustice, and it seems strange to split hairs over which is worse or "too much, even for a movie."
Although it is interesting that the execution is treated as the footage that could turn the world upside down, and a brutal rape isn't
I think the entire movie attempts to glorify and stylize violence, showing the similarities between customers buying 'squid' videos of extreme experiences, and the appetite of movie/entertainment audiences seeking out the same thing
I'm assuming the year 2000 was really important to Boomers and Xers because a lot of pop singers and other entertainers of the day treated it like a symbolic threshold.
And the movie is clearly not set in the 21st century, where an incriminating video could be near-instantly uploaded online for the whole planet to see
@@gc3k oh my God. Yeah the coming of the year 2000 was such a big deal especially when someone casually mentioned it to me as a kid in 1983. I didn’t realize that it was the near future. I was bad at math. Still am. But the number alone, because it was part of all these sci fi tropes, evoked this idea that we'd all be instantly transported to a world with flying cars. That's basically the sleight of hand this movie does. Somehow the year 2000 will have this technology that wasn't even remotely on the horizon in 1995.
In actual 1999 all everyone could talk about was "the new millennium". But there was the fear of the havoc the Y2K bug would wreak. Instead of the future world we were all hoping for this computer glitch would instantly transport us back to the 1300s Instead. As you may imagine January 1st 2000 was basically like December 31st, 1999.
Day of the Jackal is still awesome.
I have seen the film and read the book it was based on. Both are superb.
That was the thing.....many of their reviews were much better than the movies....
Personally I watch Strange Days every New Years eve Since 2000.😏😏🎆🎆🎆
Strange days is criminally underrated
Ok I liked How to Make An American Quilt and Strange Days was defintely ahead of it's time and had one killer soundtrack!
Persuasion is so romantic
James Cameron wrote strange days
as did Jay Cocks
I wonder what the production behind Assassins was like. It sounds like the Wachowskis wrote a Hollywood John Woo movie, but were hamstrung by the studio and other influences, and the movie ended up being flat and boring
Assassins was a garbage movie, Dead Presidents was not a bad film i gave that a moderate thumbs up cuz of the performances of Larenz Tate, Keith David & Chris Tucker & I'm with Roger Strange Days was a terrific film
Back in the day we didn't care about spoilers alert
12:31 Right here! Right Now! Right here! Right Now! Right here! Right Now! Right here! Right Now!
I loved Strange Days and Dead Presidents
20:49 "Be David Caruso in Jade."
"Okay. I know exactly what you're talking about."
Too many people were SO WRONG about Strange Days. Damn.
havent seen the film dont know what they are talking about. but i can certainly tell you that here in Oklahoma i have 100% seen huge violent windy storms that literally came out of nowhere in just seconds on bright sunny days and just completely blow by and vanish in 15 minutes.
I want to see strange days in imax 3D, especially the 1st scene.
Siskel was right about Juliette Lewis and it's the reason she didn't make it out of the 90s.
Jordan Rios, ENunn this only one at 21:40
I like equating the dark web to the digital underground. Shock g would be proud.
Amen. Peace- and Humptiness 4-ever
@@earlygail well, he was the one who put the satin in yo panties
Is it possible to make a boring movie about Assassins? They do in this movie 😏
12:27 Angela Bassett looks like she could whoop some @$$!!!
And 2 years later there would be a remake of that video pick.
Oh really? What was that?
The Jackal, featuring Richard Gere, Bruce Willis, Sidney Poitier and Jack Black.
jedijones Also one of the worst movies of the 90s
"One of" the worst you say
But the original is awesome
tragic that a great filmmaker like Fred Zinnemann is barely remembered/discussed today
I love how Ebert is constantly just ruining the ending of these movies. Spoilers. Lol
SD: 👍
11:25 there ya go. 🙂
Cult Classic
I can understand both of their opinions on Strange Days. The film is a technical masterpiece but the plot is deeply flawed and the final twist is seriously underwhelming
Jordan Calver What about the plot is flawed? Agreed about the 'twist' though
I definitely agree with Siskel about the characters being subservient to the production and concepts and obscure music from the 1990s. The movie is still good but it's more concerned with its "big ideas" than with storytelling
The funny thing is the movie keeps bloviating about how scary the new year is gonna be and how the world's about to end-- but on Dec 31 1999, at 3am Los Angeles time, it's already 2000 somewhere, so it didn't end did it
@@gc3k And yet a lot of nutsos really believed in that Y2K stuff at the time
@@gc3k Maybe there was a big wave of world-ending fire rolling across the planet in sync with the time zone changes.
Truly one of the worst years in the history of movies
Assasins idiotic script, to which I agree, was written by the Wachowsky
These left brain oriented critics like Siskel could never understand something this creative like Strange Days and before it's time. Hell, they hated Blade Runner and both movies are now classics.
Blade Runner is overrated crap. Just because a film asks "what is life ?" It doesn't mean it's provocative.
So, real talk- who the fuck remembers Persuasion, compared to how many remember Strange Days? Hell, who the fuck remembers Persuasion compared to Dead Presidents? There's a clear split between shit that's daring and takes a chance and actually delivers (or big ambitious films that sometimes don't work because they're so big and ambitious) and milquetoast middle-of-the-road pablum that makes one thing memorable and the other thing forgettable.
Or, to put it another way, Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network, True Grit, and Winter's Bone all lost to The King's Speech.
I have walked out onto movies in my lifetime. One was The Empire Strikes Back during its original theatrical run when I was 4 years old and got scared. The other was Strange Days. The premise of the technology was the best part, and the movie didn't even do as much to sell us on the possibility as the trailer did. The characters were obnoxious stereotypes who behaved without anything resembling sense. Finally, it had the single worst rape scene I've ever seen in a movie. The idea of what was happening in the scene - a woman being raped and killed while plugged into the rapist/murderer's experience and pleasure - was so horrifying that it didn't need to be shown. If it was going to be shown, the idea should have been to emphasize the pain and suffering. Instead, it was shot just like a sex seeing and thereby just completely missed the storytelling Point as well as being just ethically twisted and gross.
Dead presidents was a sophomore slump that the Hughes Bros never recovered from. Big waste of talent.