DVD review: Strange Days

Remember Strange Days? No? Even sci-fi fans might have missed this 1995 movie, despite the fact it was written and produced by James Cameron, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, stars some well-known actors and has a kick-ass soundtrack. It tanked at the box-office for reasons that are beyond me.

I watched it for the first time this week and I want to sing its [qualified] praises. It's set in a then-futuristic 1999 just at the flashpoint of the Millennium. Society is barely holding it together and in LA the law is stretched thin. Ralph Feinnes stars as Lenny, a weasley seller of illegal VR experiences recorded direct from peoples' brains, who is still pining for his dead-eyed ex-girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis), who ditched him for an even slimier low-life music producer.

 Angela Bassett plays his best friend Mace, who puts up with Lenny's shit WAY above and beyond the call of duty.

"There there, you useless idiot. Who made you the hero FFS?"

There's a plot involving a secret SQUID recording that Must Not Fall Into the Wrong Hands, a serial killer who tapes his snuff adventures, and much hanging about in neon-lit clubs or next to burning cars. It's beautifully shot, and though Lewis isn't the greatest actor she sure belts out a song:

But what really makes the movie now is its unnerving prescience. Without giving too much away, its tangled plot resonates with the current Black Lives Matter movement and eyeballs a racially divided America. When Mace asks if maybe they shouldn't just let full scale revolt kick off and burn everything to the ground, you've really got to wonder if the old system is worth preserving , and at what cost, to whom?

Caveats: This might not be the movie for you if you are sensitive to cinematic violence - and particularly sexual violence. It's a hardboiled thriller. Also, at this stage even middle-aged white peeps like me are wondering "Why's the protag a white guy? Can't Mace be the main character?" ... but that's 1990s Hollywood for you.

You should really watch it for Angela Bassett though, because she is DA BOMB.