Brave New World (1998)

In a futuristic totalitarian utopian society, babies are created through genetic engineering, everyone has a predestined place in society and their minds are conditioned to follow the rules. A tragic outsider jeopardizes the status quo.

Directors:

Leslie Libman, Larry Williams

Writers:

Aldous Huxley (book), Dan Mazur (teleplay)

Stars:

Peter Gallagher, Leonard Nimoy, Tim Guinee

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Gallagher	...	Bernard Marx
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mustapha Mond
Tim Guinee	...	John Cooper
Rya Kihlstedt	...	Lenina Crowne
Sally Kirkland	...	Linda
Patrick J. Dancy	...	Henry Foster
Steven Flynn	...	James
Wendy Benson-Landes	...	Fanny (as Wendy Benson)
Steven Schub	...	Beta Clerk
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Ingram
Miguel Ferrer	...	Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
Angela Oh	...	Delta Coffee Server
Jacob Chase	...	Gabriel
Nicholas Belgrave	...	Alpha Student Boy #1 (as Nick Belgrave)
Katie DeShan	...	Alpha Student Girl #1

Storyline

In a futuristic totalitarian utopian society, babies are created through genetic engineering, everyone has a predestined place in society and their minds are conditioned to follow the rules. A tragic outsider jeopardizes the status quo.

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Plot Keywords:

futuristic | genetic engineering | one world government | sins of the father | taking responsibility | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brave New World

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dan Wigutow Productions, HOF Productions, Michael R. Joyce Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The book, "Brave New World" that this movie's based on, has been banned in many places, including Ireland in 1932. It was Huxley's 5th novel. It was also based on many people, including Freud and Jung, and each character is based off of someone as well. Also, the book has many references to Shakespeare, and some of his banned works.

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Connections

Referenced in Gen RX (2014)

User Reviews

hugely disappointing

'Brave New World', the 1932 novel by Aldous Huxley, told of a new world where babies were decanted as Alphas, Betas, Deltas, Epsilons, or Gammas, all designed to know their places in society, and in the case of the lower classes, decanted as multiple identical twins to staff entire factories and production lines. Their God is Ford (as in Henry) and their motto is 'history is bunk'.

In the book, Bernard Marx is a fish out of water, an Alpha of stunted growth who has dangerous ideas, who refuses to act like he is expected to, and is generally despised. The film's Bernard is Peter Gallagher, a kind of magnetic Romeo figure, popular with the girls, and a confident success. Already there's been some tampering done with the source.

With Rya Kihlstedt as a colourless Lenina (again nothing like the book's character, who is conventional to a 't') and Leonard Nimoy as the Controller, Mustapha Mond, the film loses impact and goes downhill very quickly.

Nods can be given (grudingly) at the attempts to develop computer generated conditioning forms, and to give some sense of a futuristic world. It just doesn't come off. The savage reservation is simply full of young Americans out to pick a fight, while John (the savage child of Linda, a Beta stranded in the reservation) does speak Shakespeare, but is otherwise of little interest and very unlike the book.

A disappointment and a huge bore, missing both the humour and the science-fiction/faction innovations of Huxley's novel.