Strange Days is an extremely violent and profane, loud, obnoxious, in-your-face tale of a thoroughly decadent society in 1999 in which people use computer technology to experience other people's orgasms, murders, and mayhem through virtual reality, and all the while is there racially espoused brutality on the streets a la the beating of Rodney King and the prospect of race riots when the clock changes to year 2000. Thoroughly depressing and overlong film, replete with racism, sadism, and voyeurism, professing to be making a statement against these while glorifying them and appealing to the worst instincts of viewers. Alien and Blade Runner envision a gloomy future but have redeeming qualities, such as the symbolism of "the other" in the alien organism or the Biblical undertones in the Tyrell Corporation. This film appears to have no such aspects. If some do exist, they are drowned out in the revolting visuals and sounds. Enough with dystopia. Enough with Cyberpunk. To someone who is weary of these trends in science fiction and who always wished for a brighter future at the close of 1999, this movie rankles terribly.
Review of Strange Days
