Impostor (2001)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

An Exercise In Nonsense

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I tried watching this film, but instead had it on the background as I found it cliché on a number of levels. A future Earth is in the throes of a military conflict with another world; Alpha Centauri, and the methods of war know no rules; all's fair in love and war, as the saying goes. When conventional means and methods fail to breach Earth defenses, more subtlety is called for.I had a hard time with this film because it portrays one cliché after another; a future fascist like Earthly society where people live a regimented lifestyle where things are either drab gray or in black and white. There is no hope when war is waged, is the message here, and the action sequences to inject energy into this film are taken from all the other formulaic films that have been in the theatres over the last twenty years. Guns, martial arts, super-spy devices, pseudo-SWAT behavior, the list goes on and on of one action film cliché after another. The only thing missing was a car chase.The actors did a fine job. You can't fault them. The story by Phillip K. Dick was an interesting premise, and I think it works too. But the art direction and screenplay needed major adjustments, as well as some of the general direction. In short, the man guiding things behind the camera is not a sci-fi film maker, but an action film maker in Hollywood styleings given a sci-fi script to shoot.To me this film comes across as an elaborate episode of CSI with a dash of a futuristic war to set the stage. I never got the sense that I was experiencing a future society so much as an alternate reality with the notion of a war tacked on as an after thought to give the story plausibility. And, again, we have space Nazis; Hollywood's favorite fetish for bad guys on the big silver screen, including a reference to "storm-troopers" Might not the Centauris just be aliens who want something we have? That's pretty much why wars are fought. And did future Earth have to have their version of fascist society? Could there not have been lots of free people just wanting to throw off the threat of the aliens? But no. Instead we get the evils of fighting for survival alongside your fellow man against an exterior threat because, hey, what civilization would take things from an innocent people?The director tries to give us an anti-war film with all the espionage intrigue and unhealthy paranoia that he can muster, and in a loose dramatic vein it almost works. I got myself a cut rate used copy, and I'm glad that's all it was. I would have been highly disappointed had I paid a full ticket price to sit in a theatre to watch this thing. Highly disappointed. If you like noire-ish futuristic films, then maybe consider seeing this. But, be warned, where this thing wanted to "Blade Runner" it winds up being more like "Streets of Fire" in terms of philosophical vision by the director; i.e. one cliché after another.Watch at your own risk.

Seriously, this is terrific Sci-Fi and oh what an ending. Superb.Considering the budget, I felt this movie was fantastic. The actors all perform really well and without a doubt the Philip K Dick in this movie shines through, ever so true to his vision.A movie I will want to watch again with friends who haven't seen it.Sadly this movie fell under the radar, which is a shame as it's 3 times the movie that say Paycheck was.Well worth watching.Terrific twists and it really drew you into the story and the universe.Recommended even if you only see it the once. If your a Philip K Dick fan, your going to really enjoy this movie.

It's 2079 the world has been at war with an alien race from Alpha Centauri for 45 years. A secret government weapons designer Spencer Olham is forced to go on the run when he accused of being a replicant assassin created by the aliens to kill the Chancellor.Impostor is an overlooked adequate science fiction based on a story by Philip K. Dick. Due to the source material it's reminiscent of Total Recall, Blade Runner, Minority Report to name a few. Coincidently Stephen King's novel the Running Man shares a lot of similarities.Directed adequately by Gary Fleder and despite an abundance of unnecessary slow motion shots, the special effects, futuristic sets and gritty locations are well realised and executed. In addition, it has a fitting score, the camera work was ahead of its time using a style that has become common place since.Wisely Imposter doesn't feature the Alien race and the action follows Spencer Olham (Gary Sinise) on his search through the domed protected city and outskirts to find out the truth while being tracked down by Major Hathaway excellently played by Vincent D'Onofrio. There's a cast of familiar faces including Gary Dourdan, Tony Shalhoub, Shane Brolly and Madeleine Stowe who is at her peak here as Maya Olham.It's a drawn-out mystery, that said it has some nice ideas, touches, a few twists and a satisfying downbeat conclusion. Overall, an entertaining science fiction that oozes atmosphere.

Based on a K.Dick 's short story ,a writer who was fascinated by false doubles.The first story I had read by him was "the father-thing" where a boy discovered his father had been "changed" :it scared me to death."Impostor" is more of the same.An Earthman who might be an Alien.The combination of stunning visual effects ,Gary Sinise's great talent and Madeleine Stowe's beauty is quite awesome at times.It's only when the story turns to a banal chase with the usual quota of violence -and I do not even mention an unbearable scene of torture- that a sense of disappointment pervades.How absorbing the movie could have been ,had the director focused on the husband-and-wife relationship (with such first-class actors such as Sinise and Stowe ,it would have been a winner)!the finale is admittedly surprising enough,but without any "psychological" side ,it does not make much sense.