Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

A data courier, literally carrying a data package inside his head, must deliver it before he dies from the burden or is killed by the Yakuza.

Director:

Robert Longo

Writers:

William Gibson (screenplay), William Gibson (short story)

Stars:

Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Dina Meyer

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keanu Reeves	...	Johnny Mnemonic
Dina Meyer	...	Jane
Ice-T	...	J-Bone
Takeshi Kitano	...	Takahashi (as Takeshi)
Denis Akiyama	...	Shinji
Dolph Lundgren	...	Street Preacher
Henry Rollins	...	Spider
Barbara Sukowa	...	Anna Kalmann
Udo Kier	...	Ralfi
Tracy Tweed	...	Pretty
Falconer Abraham	...	Yomamma
Don Francks	...	Hooky
Diego Chambers	...	Henson
Sherry Miller	...	Takahashi's Secretary
Arthur Eng	...	Viet

Storyline

In 2021, the whole world is connected by the gigantic Internet, and almost a half of the population is suffering from the Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS).Johnny with an inplanted memory chip in his brain was ordered to transport the over loaded information from Beijing to Newark. While Pharmakom Industries supported by yakuza tries to capture him to get the informaiton back, the Low-tech group led by J-Bone tries to break the missing code to download the cure of NAS which Johnny carries.

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Plot Keywords:

implanted memory | erased memory | virtual reality | cyberspace | yakuza | 

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Taglines:

The hottest data on earth. In the coolest head in town.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PA

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

26 May 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Johnny Mnémonique

Filming Locations:

Casa Loma - 1 Austin Terrace, Casa Loma, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$19,076,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Alliance Communications Corporation, Cinévision

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character Molly Millions, from the original story, was changed to Jane for the film. They are very similar characters except that Molly had retractable razor blades under her fingernails and augmented vision. It is believed that the change was due to the "Molly" character being attached to the rights for any possible future Neuromancer film adaptation.

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Goofs

When Spider is explaining to Johnny the cause of NAS.

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Quotes

Johnny Mnemonic: I want room service!

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Connections

Referenced in Nirvana (1997)

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Soundtracks

3AM INCIDENT
Performed by Cop Shoot Cop
Lyrics written by Tod A.
Music written by T. Ashley, J. Coeman, P. Puleo, Nantz and S. McMillen
Published by Sony Songs, Inc. / Cat and Mouse Musice / Polygram Music
Publishing Group (BMI)
Produced by David Sardy and Cop Shoot Cop
Mixed by Greg Gordon and Cop Shoot Cop
Recorded at Magic Shop Studio; NYC, NY
Cop Shoot Cop appears courtesy of Interscope Records

User Reviews

Why do I keep coming back to this movie?

I saw half of this movie on television once, and since I am a avid sci-fi fan, the story intrigued me. A couple of weeks later I went out to pick up a copy of this movie for myself, and ever since I've been watching it every now and then. Not every month, but at least once every 4 or 5 months. Sometimes more. There's just something about it that I like. Well, lets start from the beginning:

It is the year 2021 and the world has been taken over by large coorporations that do pretty much what they want to. Most of them are out to make money, however, and will do anything to achieve that goal. One of these coorporations is PharmaCom, a coorporation that deals in medicine and exists pretty much all over the world. From Beijing to Newark. 'Johnny' is a Mnemonic courier who carries an implant in his brain which allows him to carry a large amount of data there. But when he accepts a job where he is overloaded with data, he is not only experiencing trouble with getting rid of the data, but also finds that several bounty hunters and crime organizations are after his head and the information stored within. Over 24 hours he jumps around in the city of Newark, trying to find a way to get rid of the data and the bounty hunters.

A touch in this movie that many might recognize from the film 'The Matrix' is that in this movie they tend to hook themselves up to the internet, which has become a virtual reality like, àlà The Lawnmower man. But in the end of the film, Keanu's character completly hooks himself up to the internet for a short amount of time, walking around in it and controlling his actions as if he was in another world. Pretty much like he did in the Matrix. Wierd, huh?

The film presents a very interesting vision of the future. Coorporations, crime syndicates, virtual-reality, futuristic weapons and the like. The sets look authentic and the look and feel of the film is top-notch. The music seems to fit the mood at all times, too, which is a big plus. The characters are likeable and unique in their own way, but with one exception. Keanu Reeves plays 'Johnny' without any life or energy put into it and delivers his lines flat and in the most boring way. His worst acting job ever? Perhaps. You could tell he didn't like this movie very much.

Overall, its a very interesting sci-fi flick which has its ups and downs. The upsides is the setting, the music, the vision of the future etc. etc. while the downsides are Keanu Reeve's acting and sometimes lack of interest in what happens next in the movie. I give it a 7/10.