Virtuosity (1995)

When a virtual reality simulation created using the personalities of multiple serial killers manages to escape into the real world, an ex-cop is tasked with stopping its reign of terror.

Director:

Brett Leonard

Writer:

Eric Bernt

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Kelly Lynch

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Denzel Washington	...	Lt. Parker Barnes
Kelly Lynch	...	Madison Carter
Russell Crowe	...	SID 6.7
Stephen Spinella	...	Lindenmeyer
William Forsythe	...	William Cochran
Louise Fletcher	...	Elizabeth Deane
William Fichtner	...	Wallace
Costas Mandylor	...	John Donovan
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Clyde Reilly
Kaley Cuoco	...	Karin Carter
Christopher Murray	...	Matthew Grimes
Heidi Schanz	...	Sheila 3.2
Traci Lords	...	Media Zone Singer
Gordon Jennison Noice	...	Big Red (as J. Gordon Noice)
Mari Morrow	...	Linda Barnes

Storyline

The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre (LETAC) has developed SID version 6.7: a Sadistic, Intelligent, and Dangerous virtual reality entity which is synthesized from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers. LETAC would like to train police officers by putting them in VR with SID, but they must prove the concept by using prisoners as test subjects. One such prisoner is ex-cop Parker Barnes. When SID manages to inject his personality into a nano-machine android, it appears that Barnes might be the only one who can stop him.

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | virtual reality | android | los angeles police department | artificial intelligence | 

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Taglines:

Justice needs a new program

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong futuristic violence, some brutal beatings and some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Asesino virtual

Filming Locations:

Harbor Freeway Station, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$24,048,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Denzel Washington took a role in the film because his son asked him to do so.

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Goofs

When Sid steals the police cruiser and dumps Parker off he spins and does a 180, while taking off the light-bar on the cruiser is missing all but it's outer rotating lights but when the cruiser is approaching the tanker for a standoff with Parker all the lights are intact and functioning.

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Quotes

[first lines]
John Donovan: Oh, man. I can't get over how different we look.
Lt. Parker Barnes: Maybe it's the uniforms?
[they suddenly run off in pursuit]

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits when the producers thanks technology companies for providing tools, one tools is listed as HSC Kal's Power Tools. This is a typo, since the product is Kai's Power Tools. They typo is even archived in TCM's movie information database (http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/7915492%7C0/Hsc-Kal-S-Power-Tools-Bryce/)

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Alternate Versions

Despite the "Not under 18" rating, the German video version is heavily edited to reduce violence. The uncut version is available only on DVD (it was approved by the juristic commission of the Head Organization of the German film industry (SPIO)).

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Connections

References Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

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Soundtracks

Ka-Pow
By Richard Rudolph (as Richard Rudolph) & Michael Sembello
Performed by U.P.F.
Produced by Richard Rudolph (as Richard Rudolph) & Michael Sembello
Courtesy of Rudolph Productions

User Reviews

Fairly interesting, although both stars have done better.

For the most part, "Virtuosity" is basically another virtual reality-themed movie so full of action that it almost hurts. But interestingly enough, there is a little bit of a plot here. Denzel Washington plays Lt. Parker Barnes, who has to help find SID 6.7 (Russell Crowe), a virtual serial killer who has escaped into the real world in 1999 LA.

Yes, that certainly sounds like it could degenerate into the kind of garbage that Hollywood usually turns out. Much of the movie is in fact vaguely reminiscent of movies like "Demolition Man". But maybe we can interpret the movie as looking at the dangers of letting technology get too powerful, like what "2001: A Space Odyssey" looked at. Obviously, this isn't even remotely in the same league as that one, but given that it was released in 1995, it almost seems like a prediction of how computer-centric the world would become.

Not a masterpiece by any stretch - both Washington and Crowe have done much better work (and now they're both Oscar winners) - but worth seeing, if only once.