Mimic (1997)

Three years ago, entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease. Now, the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind.

Director:

Guillermo del Toro

Writers:

Donald A. Wollheim (short story "Mimic"), Matthew Robbins (screen story)

Stars:

Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Alexander Goodwin

3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mira Sorvino	...	Dr. Susan Tyler
Jeremy Northam	...	Dr. Peter Mann
Alexander Goodwin	...	Chuy
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Manny
Charles S. Dutton	...	Leonard
Josh Brolin	...	Josh
Alix Koromzay	...	Remy
F. Murray Abraham	...	Dr. Gates
James Costa	...	Ricky
Javon Barnwell	...	Davis
Norman Reedus	...	Jeremy
Pak-Kwong Ho	...	Preacher
Glenn Bang	...	Yang (as Glen Bang)
Margaret Ma	...	Chinese Woman
Warna Fisher	...	Bag Lady

Storyline

A disease carried by common cockroaches is killing Manhattan children. In an effort to stop the epidemic an entomologist, Susan Tyler, creates a mutant breed of insect that secretes a fluid to kill the roaches. This mutant breed was engineered to die after one generation, but three years later Susan finds out that the species has survived and evolved into a large, gruesome monster that can mimic human form.

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Plot Keywords:

giant insect | insect | disease | entomologist | cockroach | 

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Taglines:

For thousands of years, man has been evolution's greatest creation... until now.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for terror/violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The escalator in Delancey Street subway station is shown as dismantled for maintenance because the scene was filmed on a Toronto subway station platform that was closed in 1966, so its escalator was removed (See also Thrill Seekers (1999)).

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Goofs

When Susan (Mira Sorvino) takes her pregnancy test, she and Peter (Jeremy Northam) move around and shake the test. This often results in false readings.

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Quotes

Susan Tyler: When I increased the Judas's metabolism, I must have sped up its breeding cycle. I mean, we're talking tens, hundreds of thousands of generations, who knows how many mutations...
Peter Mann: I don't get it, I just don't fucking get this. How could the Judas evolve into this?
Susan Tyler: Think generations, not years, okay. It took only 40,000 generations for apes to turn into humans.
Peter Mann: So?
Susan Tyler: We changed its DNA, Peter! I mean, we don't know what we did!

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Alternate Versions

Guillermo del Toro released a director's cut in 2011. It runs for 112 minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Bingo (2015)

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Soundtracks

The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell)
(uncredited)
Music by Benjamin Britten

User Reviews

Good for this type of movie

I must confess I'm not a big fan of these type of movies, but since Mira Sorvino was in it, and John Sayles and Steven Soderburgh both worked on the script, I thought I'd give it a shot. This was actually pretty good, because they paid attention to the science without becoming clinical about it, and it was more interesting and credible than I expected (then again, science was never my subject). The second half of the movie is pretty much a chase movie, but that's well done for the most part, though Charles S. Dutton wears out his welcome pretty quickly in a thankless role. Sorvino is as good as I expected.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

22 August 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Judus

Filming Locations:

Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,818,208, 24 August 1997

Gross USA:

$25,480,490

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,480,803

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Miramax

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 112 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1