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Johnny Mnemonic in Black-and-White
- DoneWithAllThat 4y agoI feel like the time is so right for a true-to-the-material film or series adaptation of Gibson’s works. I would pay so much money to see Neuromancer or Bridge trilogy adapted for the screen.
- geraldcombs 4y agoAmazon is working on an adaptation of The Peripheral, but don't seem to have announced a release date. Hopefully they'll pick up the rest of the Jackpot trilogy as well.
- 0x6c6f6c 4y agoBut where can I watch it?
- mikewhy 4y agoIt recently released on bluray
- throwaway787544 4y agohttps://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Mnemonic-Black-White-Blu-Ray/dp/B0B6JRVYTY/ref=mp_s_a_1_3 https://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Mnemonic-Black-White-Blu-Ray/d... I don't have a Blu-ray player; time to find a torrent...
- wildzzz 4y agoGet a copy of the original, turn down saturation and turn up film grain in VLC.
- thanatos519 4y agoThat would be nice as a first approximation, but a bit more work went into it: "So, I got the hi-res footage from the studio, and we graded it into black-and-white. I worked with Cyrus Stowe, who was the colorist on this version. Basically, we went through it scene-by-scene, and he was really great. He's really a very talented guy."
- qbasic_forever 4y agoSounds like it was a pet project of the director's and had a few small art-house film screenings. If we're lucky maybe they'll take it on the film festival circuit, drum up interest, and have a wider independent/art house film release. Who knows maybe it eventually gets out to more theaters, kind of like the Mad Max Fury Road chrome edition (black and white) some years back.
- mav88 4y agoMaking the movie black and white will not gloss over how awful it is. Still, it did give us this wonderful Jabootu evisceration: http://jabootu.net/?p=590 http://jabootu.net/?p=590
- iancmceachern 4y agoI think it's a great movie, I've always enjoyed it.
- SideburnsOfDoom 4y agoI think it's a awful mess of a bad movie, I've always enjoyed it.
- vernon99 4y agoI think we all can agree that this is a sort of a movie that benefits from lack of any judgement so we can enjoy it for what it is in its own ways :)
- BLKNSLVR 4y agoI often pair it with Hackers. Both awful and great in equal measure. Exemplary of what society at large are just incapable of understanding about the (not-quite-so) new electronic frontier. The chain of commentary above just perfectly describes Hackers as well.
- whywhywhywhy 4y agoHackers has only gotten better with age. Same with Johnny Mnemonic actually.
- cjk 4y agoIt's not hard to understand why some people think it's terrible, but I've always adored this movie. I think it was maybe my first experience with anything “cyberpunk.” Looking forward to watching this black and white version. (Note: available on Amazon for anyone else looking for it.)
- tmm84 4y agoI remember watching it in the theatre as a kid and was blown away by it. I find it interesting that it had Cronenberg's editor working on it as well. Aside from stuff like Robocop and a couple of other things this was a cyberpunk movie I really got into. Ice T, Keanu and a dolphin all in one movie. I can wait for it to get released internationally so I can see it in my region in black and white.
- doopy1 4y agoI always find it weird when film makers decide to change the movie years later. Might be fun though.
- wst_ 4y agoFinal movie was not what he wanted from the very beginning. So it kind of make sense. At least in this case.
- coldtea 4y agoWhy weird? Musicians change songs in subsequent albums and live versions (done with different arrangements etc, not just being slightly different) all the time. And they don't have as heavy external influence as film-makers do, where tens or hundreds of millions are at stake, to the point that they're often denied certain decisions, frequently denied final cut, have different scriptwriters brought in by the producer, and so on. So they often end up with an end result that it's not what they'd wanted (and that's aside from technical and other issues).
- dudul 4y agoWhen you understand the relationship between directors, producers and studios it's not surprising at all. Directors rarely see their version of the movie on the screen. Sometimes they don't even see the final product before it is on the screen. It is easier afterwards to work on a directors cut/version since studios see that as an opportunity for an additional cash grab after the 1.0 is no longer generating money.
- qbasic_forever 4y agoIf you read the article and more about the backstory of the production, the director did not get to make the film he really wanted to make. From the very start the producers demanded he turn it into a summer blockbuster and changed all kinds of script and other sequences to be more cheesey action movie fluff. It's actually pretty rare that a director has complete creative freedom on a film. Only huge names like Kubrick, Scorsese, Spielberg, etc. once they gained acclaim could put any damn thing they wanted on film and know that no one would question or change a thing
- neilv 4y agoIn the late-90s, in a grad student seminar class at the MIT Media Lab, one of the wearable computing students brought in a clip from Johnny Mnemonic, as part of conveying how jarring they thought the experience of switching on biologically-interfaced intelligence augmentation might be.
- gonzo41 4y agoI really liked this movie as a kid. I feel it won't live up to my memory. Though I do like the premise. I think there could be a cool remake there.
- stormdennis 4y agoI haven't seen it (I think). Looking at its entry on Rotten Tomatoes, it appears to be one of those films where the newer reviews tend to be more positive. Why would there be newish reviews anyway unless it's a film that's still attracting significant attention?
- simonh 4y agoProbably due to the blueray release. Also it’s set in 2021, so there’s a recent anniversary of sorts.
- stormdennis 4y agoGood points!
- blihp 4y agoSome of the better sci-fi movies aren't received well initially and take time to pick up a following. If they're lucky they go on to be 'sleeper hits' or 'cult classics'. Sure, re-releases help but a lot of it is there's a small group of people, like those commenting here, who remember a film/series and sing their praises long after the critics and mass audiences have forgotten about them. Also, there are people like myself who are always scouring recommendations lists to see what we've overlooked. I find some very interesting movies that way.
- stormdennis 4y agoThanks. I feel myself that l am too influenced by critics. Years ago I used to go to Blockbuster and come away with random movies based on blurb on the back of the dvd case. Nowadays I'm wary of watching a movie unless it has a great score and lots of reviews on rotten tomatoes. I feel like i'm probably missing out on a lot of hidden gems.
- misterflibble 4y agoI loved the start of this film; it's an onslaught of super advanced wetware technology, cybernetics, comic book weaponry, corporate dystopia and (frankly) a little bit too much violence lol. I agree with the others comments: it might not live up to my mid 90s memory of it. Could we look forward to a reboot perhaps? :-D
- Cthulhu_ 4y ago> Could we look forward to a reboot perhaps? :-D Well, Keanu Reeves has been revisiting some of his older films (Matrix, Bill & Ted), so there is a chance...
- bryanrasmussen 4y agoI suppose that he is rather visiting the large pots of money that they have sitting besides them. Not sure if Johnny Mnemonic is going to have something so enticing for him.
- actionfromafar 4y agoBill and Ted was hardly a large pot of money in Keanu terms.
- imbnwa 4y agoHe did voice work for the game Cyberpunk 2077 which has somewhat similar plot device around information lodged in a neural implant proving fatal, maybe he was thinking of Johnny when he signed on for that
- __void 4y agoregardless of the posthumous negative judgment on the film, when jhonny came out our brains melted: before then we had only seen "the matrix" on TRON and the Lawnmower the flight scene in hyperreality was mindfuck on the same level as the wormhole in Stargate, absolutely a must-see for a nerdy 90s kid
- BLKNSLVR 4y agoThe Lawnmower Man? I was just the right age for that to be a mind-blowing movie. Have me a lot of enthusiasm for our technological future, which I primarily squandered on gaming...
- __void 4y agoyes, that movie! I'm told it has aged badly with its grotesque-erotic... I don't even remember, only the scenes in VR remain in my mind
- leonroy 4y agoI last saw Lawnmower Man in the 90s and rewatched it recently with my partner who hadn’t seen it. It seems in 2017 a new director’s cut was made which seems to be the default version you get on Amazon Prime at least. As a result of the re-added footage it makes more sense and feels more cohesive, especially Jobe’s story and holds up fairly well IMO.
- sdfjkl 4y agoI absolutely hate monochrome. The trend of removing colour from something and calling it an improvement. In photography, in film, everywhere. Is it just me? Is there something different with my visual perception that makes me prefer colour over monochrome after we worked so hard to evolve the right photoreceptors in our eyes and the colour in photography, film and computer screens? Or is it just my general low tolerance of pretentious bullshit?
- hotcoffeebear 4y agoIf you think film as an art; it’s being colour or monochrome is become just a medium of choice and not improvement. IMHO It’s even better now since RAW image information gives freedom to translate it in a monochromatic in a way director likes. Each monochromatic films has it’s rendition and contrast different, and you must use filters while filming if you want some different rendition than that (photographic) film intended. Aside from that, I don’t know many examples films shot in colour film and reverted to monochromatic (schindler list maybe?). Instead saw more film shot in digital but converted into monochromatic (Eva, great polish film comes into my mind). Color grading has its effects so monochromatic conversion as well imho.
- MichaelCollins 4y agoI don't mind monochrome; I haven't watched much that was filmed and color and converted to monochrome but watching old black and white movies doesn't bother me at all. But what really does bother me is when modern movies have all the colors shifted to make everything look drab, or blue, or green. The blue-shifting is the worst. I've even seen it done to re-releases of old movies that didn't look like that originally, presumably to make it "feel HD" or something.
- sdfjkl 4y agoYeah, absolutely hated the Ozark (TV Series) look. Heavily desaturated, brightness turned down and shifted heavily into blue. Ruined what looks like pretty scenery in the background on photos. Compare that to Outlander, a cheesy romance show I mostly just kept watching because of the beautiful (saturated) landscape shots.
- justsomehnguy 4y agoThe most amusing (for me) thing about JM is what it was based on really short story (~40Kb) which I discovered years later after the film. The film itself left almost nothing in my mind (well, 20 years passed), except a couple of scenes (the tv column, war hacker dolphin, some minor shots, yakuza with the monowire) and as I looked at the shorts from it on Youtube.. yeah, I really thought of it way better than it deserved. Though I wouldn't mind a re-watch with a couple of beers and some friends, for shits and giggles. Probably along with '12 monkeys'. Not sure if I would prefer coloured or black-and-white version, though. For sure I wouldn't try to watch them both, that would an overkill *grin*
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- pSYoniK 4y agoI remember seeing it in 96 or maybe 97. It blew my mind and it was my first experience with cyberpunk and a "sci-fi" movie that really clicked with me. It was the first that modeled the future the way I was seeing it from my corner of the planet. I was annoyed and angry at all the happy-go-lucky variants that were presented almost all the time, I was tired of this oppressive optimism regarding technology and this was a breath of fresh air to my young mind. A lot of things from it made their way to The Matrix for me visually and thematically and I was so sad that the movie never got the recognition it deserved. It felt the closest it would get to something that had that negative feeling and vibe that I get whenever I watch Ghost in the Shell again. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this black and white edition!
- illwrks 4y agoI first saw it around 1998 I think, in my early teens, and it made the same impression on me. So many of the ideas were amazing! It was also around this time I saw Terminator 2, RoboCop and The Fifth Element for the first time also. And then another few years later when my english teacher in secondary school had us watch the Matrix on VHS. It wasn't until I watched it in my own time I appreciated it. So many good films, rose tinted glasses!
- zfxfr 4y agoI am pretty sure I already watched the movie a long time ago. I can't say whether it is good or bad because I forgot the story. Maybe I 'll watch it again because I really like Keanu Reeve. But I don't think I will watch this black and white version. Also I don't understand why it seems to be such a feat to have removed the colors from this movie ? I am not a computer graphic expert I just do some coding for fun and play with image editing software (I dabbled in the demoscene) and I don't think it is that hard to turn a picture into grayscale or is it ? >The black-and-white knocks several million dollars off of the price tag. Yes I bet it does ! But I genuinely don't understand why would people will watched a degraded version of a movie ?
- rendall 4y agoThe article didn't go into too many details about why it worked better, but these excerpts gesture at why: "dialing up Gibson’s cyberpunk paranoia" "the three computer graphic sections become quite coherent in black-and-white" "it has this kind of a dreamy, 16mm feel to it. It reminds me of Tetsuo and Eraserhead, and all these great, kind of dreamy, black-and-white movies." "the color graphics now look all pretty retro, but in black-and-white, it has its own quality to it for sure." "I take inspiration from films like Alphaville, La Jetée, things like that" My impression is that the color version sets an expectations that Longo never meant. It was always intended as a B&W art film, and not as a summer block-buster. The colors and expense were a distraction. So, if you haven't yet, check out the movies mentioned. Ironman: Tetsuo, Eraserhead, Alphaville and La Jetée. They are definitely not Hollywood blockbusters.
- BLKNSLVR 4y agoI'm not sure that Eraserhead has any overlap with Johnny Mnemonic in anything other than this mention of dreamy colours (military-bleak is how I'd describe Eraserheads palette). I can't speak for the others in your list, but Eraserhead is an art experience that requires some... endurance of the horrific, depending on how much one invests themselves into what's going on on screen.
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- tuyiown 4y agoI grew up with the Johnny Mnemonic name being familiar, only to watch it a few years ago, but I discovered Strange Days, which I've hard never heard of, just a bit later. Strange Days has its flaws, but is much much more modern and reflects the cyberpunk literature much more accurately.
- BLKNSLVR 4y agoStrange Days is a movie I go back to every now and then. It's bleakly great. Trivia: Angela Bassett saying "right here, right now" from this movie is the sample used by Fatboy Slim on the song of the same name. Movie scene: https://youtu.be/JmL5uWrvUUM https://youtu.be/JmL5uWrvUUM Full song: https://youtu.be/ub747pprmJ8 https://youtu.be/ub747pprmJ8
- actionfromafar 4y agoOhhh, I have wondered for a very long time where that sampling came from!
- lttlrck 4y agoI have never seen Strange Days but if I had, the second she yelled that I would have jumped out of my seat astonished! Always wondered where that sample came from! Thanks.
- Quequau 4y agoI really enjoyed the book, actually all of William Gibson's work from that era. I didn't think that the movie was great but reading this interview, it really does seem like the things I didn't like about it were the result of studio interference. So I look forward to finding this new version on a platform I have access to.
- awiesenhofer 4y agoAnother great movie if you loved Johnny Mnemonic is Strange Days (1995). Its directed by the great Kathryn Bigelow and it too has MiniDiscs in it! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/
- keiferski 4y agoNot sure if this is still the case, but -- this film wasn't available anywhere to stream. I ended up buying a DVD player and the DVD version just to watch it.
- vidarh 4y agoStrange Days is fantastic. It worked particularly well at just that moment in time, with the LA riots fresh in mind and the millennium coming up. It's one of the best cyberpunk movies I know of, and horribly underrated.
- Paul_S 4y agoI must be more jaded than all of you, I see it as a simple money grab at no cost that could be done by anyone applying a B&W filter to previous releases. Even if they really changed the colour sliders for each scene as they claim there have been more ambitious fan edits than this. Also, of all the problems with the film, the colour palette was not very high on the list.
- kleiba 4y agoWell, as he says in the interview, he originally planned to just put this version out on youtube... Then came the producer.
- fullshark 4y agoThe entertainment industry is now about finding your most devout + hardcore fans and extracting what you can from their pocket with bonus editions/features/DLC/power ups.
- causality0 4y agoWithout altering a line of dialogue or shot sequence, So, without doing any actual work.
- kleiba 4y agoNot quite: So, I got the hi-res footage from the studio, and we graded it into black-and-white. I worked with Cyrus Stowe, who was the colorist on this version. Basically, we went through it scene-by-scene, and he was really great. I understand there is more involved than running the whole movie through a black-and-white filter with the default settings.
- causality0 4y agoOk, so it was an afternoon's work. To fix studio butchery that deprived audiences of writer William Gibson and director Robert Longo’s ambitious vision.
- kleiba 4y agoI think you might underestimate the time it took. Would you only be satisfied if a year's worth of work had been spent? He discussed that he considered a number of different things he could have done but since the original plan was not to commercialize the result (but instead just put it out on youtube) there probably was not a lot of budget and time available. No-one's forcing anyone to watch this version.
- nevster 4y agoI always loved the cyberspace sequence. I was like "hey wow, this is actually a really good and doable representation of what the metaverse could be like!" For reference : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzRjtvMQds4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzRjtvMQds4
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- croes 4y ago"I've had it with them, I've had it with you, I've had it with ALL THIS - I want ROOM SERVICE! I want the club sandwich, I want the cold Mexican beer, I want a $10,000-a-night hooker!"
- croes 4y agoKeanu Reeves just fits in such movies.
- e40 4y agoStreaming ... nowhere. Would love to see this, too. EDIT: IMDB doesn't even list this version.
- bennysomething 4y agoSo no changes have been made apart from being in black and white? I tried watching it a few months ago. It was awful (imo), I turned it off half way through.