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

2 wins & 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 | virtual reality | cyberspace | erased memory | based on story | 

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Taglines:

A pulse-pouding cyber-slam

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sci-fi violence, and for language

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

26 May 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fugitivo del futuro

Filming Locations:

95 Villiers St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,033,850, 28 May 1995

Gross USA:

$19,075,720

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,075,720

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 unbounded spread of the Internet in the early 1990s, and the consequent rapid growth of high technology culture, had made cyberpunk increasingly relevant, and this was a primary motivation for Sony Pictures' decision to fund the project in the tens of millions.

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Goofs

Most of the guns are actually paintball guns. Brand names of several paintball makers are clearly visible at several points in the movie and you can often see CO2 blasts when the guns are fired.

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Quotes

Hooky: [Street Preacher submerges his prosthetic hand into liquid nitrogen and then smashes it]
[looking at what is left of his shattered hand]
Hooky: [groaning] Why did you do that?

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Alternate Versions

The Japanese version (director's cut) is rather different from the international re-edited cut. It runs ca. 10 minutes longer (the additional scenes focus mostly on Takeshi Kitano's character Takahashi), some additional scenes are intact whereas they were committed in the other version), in other scenes different camera angles were used. It also has a different score composed by Mychael Danna (Brad Fiedel was brought on later re-score the picture) and more violence.

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Connections

Featured in Gamesmaster: Episode #5.13 (1995)

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Soundtracks

VIRUS
Performed by KMFDM
Written by Sascha Konietzko, En Esch and Svet Am p1994 KMFDM
Enterprises US (BMI) / Freibank (ROW)
Produced and Mixed by KMFDM Inc.
KMFDM appears courtesy of Wax Trax! Records Inc. / TVT Records

User Reviews

I cut this movie a lot of slack because it is based on a W. Gibson short story.

Why does everyone hate that movie so much!?! All the reviews I have read called it "confusing". How could it be confusing?

1. Takes place in a world created in William Gibson's many works of fiction. 2. Man has data in head. 3. Others REALLY want data. 4. Man tries to get data out of head before it kills him -- or the people chasing him do.

Along the way there are some colorful characters, cool gadgets and cityscapes from Gibson's 2021, and even a smidgen of romance (but not enough to bother anyone). I mean what's the problem!?! The movie is very faithful to Gibson's vision and even asks the main character to wrestle with an ethical dilemma or two while all the action is going on...