The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

A computer scientist running a virtual reality simulation of 1937 becomes the primary suspect when his colleague and mentor is murdered.

Director:

Josef Rusnak

Writers:

Daniel F. Galouye (book) (as Daniel Galouye), Josef Rusnak (screenplay)

Stars:

Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Craig Bierko	...	Douglas Hall / John Ferguson / David
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Hannon Fuller / Grierson / Jane's father
Gretchen Mol	...	Jane Fuller / Natasha Molinaro / Jane
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Jason Whitney / Jerry Ashton
Dennis Haysbert	...	Detective Larry McBain
Steven Schub	...	Detective Zev Bernstein
Jeremy Roberts	...	Tom Jones
Rif Hutton	...	Joe
Leon Rippy	...	Jane's Lawyer
Janet MacLachlan	...	Ellen
Brad William Henke	...	Cop #1 (as Brad Henke)
Burt Bulos	...	Bellhop
Venessia Valentino	...	Concierge
Howard S. Miller	...	Chauffeur
Tia Texada	...	Natasha's Roommate

Storyline

Computer scientist Hannon Fuller has discovered something extremely important. He's about to tell the discovery to his colleague, Douglas Hall, but knowing someone is after him, the old man leaves a letter in the computer generated parallel world his company has created (which looks like the 30's with seemingly real people with real emotions). Fuller is murdered in our real world the same night, and his colleague is suspected. Douglas discovers a bloody shirt in his bathroom and he cannot recall what he was doing the night Fuller was murdered. He logs into the system in order to find the letter, but has to confront the unexpected. The truth is harsher than he could ever imagine...

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Plot Keywords:

neo noir | hologram | lovecraftian | reference to rene descartes | alternate reality | 

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Taglines:

Question reality. You can go there even though it doesn't exist.

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Genres:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story of Simulacron-3 was first used in World on a Wire (1973) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

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Goofs

The length of Tom Jones's cigarette in the lobby.

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Quotes

Detective McBain: [after repeatedly informing McBain throughout the film that he doesn't smoke, Hall fishes a cigarette out of his pack and lights it while being interrogated] Man, you're picking up bad habits left and right.
Douglas Hall: Must be the stress.
Detective McBain: Then you'll need a carton.

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Crazy Credits

Before the opening credits, this René Descartes quote is seen on screen: "I think, therefore I am".

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Virtual Reality Movie Moments (2015)

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Soundtracks

St. Louis Blues
Written by W.C. Handy
Performed by Johnny Crawford and his Dance Orchestra

User Reviews

Entertaining and thought-provoking....very underrated

The Thirteenth Floor is one of those films that has gotten lost under all the more well-known films of the late nineties; and this is a shame, because it's a damn sight better than a lot of the films that always receive praise from the critics. Not everything in this film works, and for that reason and others; it's no masterpiece, but you've got to admire The Thirteenth Floor for it's originality, and it's ability to pull a coherent plot out of a scenario that has 'disaster' written all over it. The film is based on the book "Simulacron-3" by Daniel F. Galouye, which is the same book that inspired Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "World on a Wire". Whether or not this version is better, I can't tell you having not seen Fassbinder's version; but I can tell you that this version is worth seeing. The film follows the death of a computer programmer. He was working on a computer simulated world before his death, and his colleague; Douglas Hall, believes that the programmer left the key to discovering his murderer inside the virtual world...prompting him to go in search of it.

The film works both as an entertaining science fiction flick, and a thought provoking drama. The film asks questions about the value of life and the ills of playing God; and although these questions have been asked by many films many times before; here, it's done so well that you forget that and ask yourself these questions all over again. The twist at the centre of the movie extremely well worked, and after it hits you'll ask yourself how you didn't guess it sooner - and that is testament to the excellent plotting preceding it. Despite being a science fiction film, there is very little in the way of special effects in this film. However, the movie makes up for this with the excellent way that 1937 Los Angeles is created - it's easy to buy into the film's multi-world plot, and for that reason; it doesn't need special effects to work. The acting is largely good, with Craig Bierko impressing in the lead role. Vincent D'Onofrio, Gretchen Mol and 24's Dennis Haysbert, who is excellent in his small role, support him. On the whole, this isn't brilliant or a masterpiece; but as far as modern Sci-Fi goes; this is one of the best I've seen.

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 May 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

The 13th Floor

Filming Locations:

777 S. Figueroa Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,322,416, 30 May 1999

Gross USA:

$11,916,661

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,564,088

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Centropolis Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1