Distributor: |
Tri Star |
Release Year: |
1995 |
Run Time: |
98 Minutes |
Aspect Ratio(s): |
Wide Screen (1.85:1) & Full Screen (4:3) |
Audio Tracks: |
English - 5.1; English Dolby Surround; French Dolby Surround; Spanish Dolby Stereo |
Subtitles: |
English; Spanish |
Extras: |
Scene Access |
DVD ROM Content: |
N/A |
Media: |
Single Layer/Dual-sided |
Rating: |
R |
Johnny |
Keanu Reeves |
Jane |
Dina Myer |
J |
Ice-T |
Spider |
Henry Rollins |
Overall: |
2.5 |
Clarity/Sharpness: |
3 |
Color: |
3.5 |
Audio: |
3.5 |
Menus: |
2 |
Extras: |
2 |
DVD-ROM Content: |
0 |
Sigh, yet another example of a good movie rushed out on a mediocre DVD. Johnny Mnemonic was a fairly early DVD release, and suffers from the fate of many early releases. The transfer is tolerable, certainly much better than any videocassette, but not spectacular. Colors are quite vivid in a couple of scenes, but seem a bit washed out in others -- which might be more a fault of the original film than the transfer.
Audio is decent, with a 5.1 Dolby Digital mix. It lacks much low frequency punch, however, and could benefit from a bit more surround separation. Unfortunately, the DVD goes downhill quickly after this. The menus are static, with poor coloration. Options are bare bone and scene access (while divided into a generous 36 chapters) is presented via a text-only menu. A few extra languages are included, but that's hit. Both full screen and widescreen are presented on the disk, but it's only 1.85:1 widescreen, after all.
Overall: |
3.5 |
Concept/Idea: |
4.5 |
Script: |
3 |
Acting: |
3 |
Action: |
3.5 |
Comedy: |
1 |
Romance: |
2 |
In the 21st century, the most important and sensitive data will be
transferred via mnemonic carriers -- humans who have been "wet-wired"
to store digital data. Our unlikely hero is Johnny (Keanu Reeves), a
free-lance courier who is trying to run one last big job.
Johnny uploads the data he is supposed to carry, but it turns out to be a bigger job than he expected -- in more ways that one. Everyone wants the data that Johnny carries, and he has only a matter of hours to get the data out of his head before it kills him. It soon become a race against time as Johnny and his new tech'd-up bodyguard (Dina Meyer) must find away to unlock the data sealed in his brain before it's too late.
Johnny Mnemonic was not a big hit, but it is a very cool story. Based on one of William Gibson's (Neuromancer) short stories, Johnny Mnemonic is a natural classic for cyber-punk fans. Overall, I really like this movie, and enjoy watching time and time again. The ending, which briefly involves a dolphin and some mediocre computer graphics, weakens the rest of the movie a bit, but it's fairly easy to overlook. This would have been a great DVD to sport an awesome VR-style menu set and some neat extra features, perhaps even a bunch of DVD-ROM content -- sadly, this is not the case. It is a lackluster DVD, with a film on it that deserved more.
