Strange Days (film)
Encyclopedia
Strange Days is a 1995 cyberpunk
science fiction
film
directed by Kathryn Bigelow
and produced and co-written by James Cameron
and Jay Cocks
, starring Ralph Fiennes
, Angela Bassett
, Juliette Lewis
, Tom Sizemore
, Michael Wincott
and Vincent D'Onofrio
. Despite positive reviews, the film was a commercial failure, earning only a fraction of its production cost in its domestic release. The film has garnered a cult following
over the years for its dystopian and cyberpunk
themes.
has become a dangerously volatile war zone of crime and violence. As a group of criminals rob a Chinese restaurant, the whole event is recorded by a robber wearing a 'SQUID
' recorder or "Superconducting Quantum Interference Device", a device that records events directly from the wearer's cerebral cortex
, which, when played back through a MiniDisc
-like device, allow a user to experience the recorder's memory as if was his or her own experience. Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes
), who viewed the whole thing, is a former LAPD officer turned black marketeer who deals in bootleg SQUID recordings. His main supplier, Tick (Richard Edson
), tries to sell the clip to him. Lenny initially refuses due to the recording ending with the wearer's death, but eventually agrees to buy it at a reduced price, intending to edit the death out himself.
Meanwhile, a woman named Iris (Brigitte Bako
) is being chased by two police officers as she flees to the subway, jumping aboard one of the trains. As the train departs, one of the officers shatters a window and grabs Iris; her wig is pulled off as she struggles, revealing a SQUID recorder headset inside.
While Lenny acts smooth with his clients, in private he pines for his ex-girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis
), while relying on his two best friends, bodyguard Lornette "Mace" Mason (Angela Bassett
) and private investigator Max Peltier (Tom Sizemore
), for emotional support. Mace's relationship with Lenny is strained, due to her unrequited feelings for Lenny and her disapproval of his SQUID-dealing business. While the three are drinking together at a bar, Iris arrives, drops a disc through the sunroof of Lenny's car and attempts to explain her predicament to him, but flees when she sees police nearby. Lenny's illegally-parked car is towed away before Lenny can find the disc.
Hours later, Lenny receives a "blackjack" (snuff
) SQUID from an anonymous sender, showing Iris getting raped and murdered. Troubled by the recording and Iris's warnings about Faith's safety, Lenny tries to get Faith away from her new boyfriend, music industry mogul Philo Gant (Michael Wincott
), but to no avail.
Lenny later receives more snuff tapes. He and Mace discover that the case is tied to a cover-up of the murder of rapper and social commentator Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer
) and one of his band mates by two LAPD officers. As they are hunted by the two policemen, Burton Steckler and Dwayne Engelman (Vincent D'Onofrio
and William Fichtner
), Lenny discovers that Iris witnessed (and her SQUID recorded) the murders.
Lenny, Mace, and Max meet at Tick's on New Year's Eve, only to discover that Tick has been rendered brain-dead from exposure to highly amplified SQUID recordings. Mace insists that the truth behind Jeriko's murder go public, but Max insinuates that if it did, the city would destroy itself from within. Lenny concludes that the assault on Tick was committed by the same person that killed Iris and fears Faith will be next.
Lenny and Mace confront Faith about the truth behind Jeriko's death. Faith mentions that Philo has been monitoring his inner circle. Concerned that Jeriko might be looking for a new manager, Philo hired Iris to spy on him. Realizing that Philo must have ordered the killer to murder Iris, Lenny convinces Faith to escape with them, but Philo's henchmen stop them.
As midnight approaches, Lenny and Mace sneak into a private New Year's party at the Bonaventure Hotel that Philo is hosting for the city's wealthy elite. Lenny gives the disk to Mace so she can deliver it to Deputy Police Commissioner, Palmer Strickland (Josef Sommer
). Upon entering Philo's penthouse suite, Lenny finds another SQUID disk which shows Faith apparently being raped and killed. Refusing to watch anymore, Lenny finds a body covered in bedsheets and pulls the sheets aside to find Philo, whose brain has been damaged in the same manner as Tick's. Lenny watches the remainder of the clip and discovers the killer is Max. He hadn't killed Faith and it becomes apparent that the two have become lovers. In the clip, Philo enters the room and Max forces him to run the amplified recording. After the clip ends, Max and Faith enter the room. Max disarms Lenny and shoots Philo with Lenny's gun, explaining that he set Philo up because he wanted to have Faith killed for what she knew about Jeriko One's death, and that he now intends to frame Lenny for Philo's murder. As Max is about to shoot Lenny, Faith has a change of heart and attacks Max. In the ensuing fight, Lenny tries to throw Max off the balcony and Max grabs Lenny's necktie, leaving both of them dangling from the railing over the street below. Lenny manages to grab Max's knife and cut his tie off, and Max falls to his death.
Outside the hotel, Mace is pursued by Steckler and Engelman. She manages to subdue both of them, cuffing them to a scaffold, only for other nearby police officers to begin brutally beating her, triggering a riot in the crowd. Commissioner Strickland appears and restores order, having watched the recording of the murders, and orders the riot cops to arrest the two officers. As they are read their rights, Engelman takes a pistol from one of the officers and commits suicide, and Steckler is gunned down by the police when he tries to shoot Mace. As Lenny and Mace are being treated for their wounds, Faith is arrested for Philo's murder. At the stroke of midnight (which begins the new millenium), Lenny and Mace share a passionate kiss.
Roger Ebert
gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "The movie is a technical tour de force ... The pacing is relentless, and the editing, by Howard Smith, creates an urgency and desperation". In her review for The New York Times
, Janet Maslin
praised the performances of Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett: "Mr. Fiennes gleefully captures Lenny's sleaziness while also showing there is something about this schlockmeister that is worth saving, despite much evidence to the contrary. As for Ms. Bassett, she looks great and radiates inner strength even without the bone-crunching physical feats to which she is often assigned". Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a "B-" rating and Owen Gleiberman
wrote, "Strange Days has a dazzling atmosphere of grunge futurism, but beneath its dark satire of audiovisual decadence lurks a naggingly conventional underworld thriller". Rolling Stone
magazine's Peter Travers called the film Bigelow's "magnum opus", and wrote, "In a film of striking performances, Bassett's is the standout -- she is fierce, funny and heart rending". In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle
, Edward Guthmann wrote, "Strange Days wants to say something about faith and redemption -- about the importance of maintaining one's humanity in a darkened world. That's a worthy intent, but Bigelow is so enamored of high-tech thrills, and so mesmerized by the violence she seeks to condemn, that her efforts at 11th-hour moralizing seem limp and halfhearted". In his review for the Los Angeles Times
, Kenneth Turan wrote, "No matter how much thought may have gone into Strange Days, terribly little has come out the other end".
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark , the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break , the science fiction/film noir Strange Days , the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water and the war drama The Hurt Locker...
and produced and co-written by James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
and Jay Cocks
Jay Cocks
Jay Cocks is a film critic and motion picture screenwriter.He is a graduate of Kenyon College. He was a critic for Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines, before moving into film writing....
, starring Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
, Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
, Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
, Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
, Michael Wincott
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...
and Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
. Despite positive reviews, the film was a commercial failure, earning only a fraction of its production cost in its domestic release. The film has garnered a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
over the years for its dystopian and cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
themes.
Plot
In the last days of December 1999, Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
has become a dangerously volatile war zone of crime and violence. As a group of criminals rob a Chinese restaurant, the whole event is recorded by a robber wearing a 'SQUID
SQUID
A SQUID is a very sensitive magnetometer used to measure extremely weak magnetic fields, based on superconducting loops containing Josephson junctions....
' recorder or "Superconducting Quantum Interference Device", a device that records events directly from the wearer's cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...
, which, when played back through a MiniDisc
MiniDisc
The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record...
-like device, allow a user to experience the recorder's memory as if was his or her own experience. Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
), who viewed the whole thing, is a former LAPD officer turned black marketeer who deals in bootleg SQUID recordings. His main supplier, Tick (Richard Edson
Richard Edson
Richard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
), tries to sell the clip to him. Lenny initially refuses due to the recording ending with the wearer's death, but eventually agrees to buy it at a reduced price, intending to edit the death out himself.
Meanwhile, a woman named Iris (Brigitte Bako
Brigitte Bako
Brigitte Bako is a Canadian actress known for her role on Red Shoe Diaries. She also wrote, produced and starred in the adult comedy G-Spot.-Life and career:...
) is being chased by two police officers as she flees to the subway, jumping aboard one of the trains. As the train departs, one of the officers shatters a window and grabs Iris; her wig is pulled off as she struggles, revealing a SQUID recorder headset inside.
While Lenny acts smooth with his clients, in private he pines for his ex-girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
), while relying on his two best friends, bodyguard Lornette "Mace" Mason (Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
) and private investigator Max Peltier (Tom Sizemore
Tom Sizemore
Thomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
), for emotional support. Mace's relationship with Lenny is strained, due to her unrequited feelings for Lenny and her disapproval of his SQUID-dealing business. While the three are drinking together at a bar, Iris arrives, drops a disc through the sunroof of Lenny's car and attempts to explain her predicament to him, but flees when she sees police nearby. Lenny's illegally-parked car is towed away before Lenny can find the disc.
Hours later, Lenny receives a "blackjack" (snuff
Snuff film
A snuff film is a motion picture genre that depicts the actual death or murder of a person or people, without the aid of special effects, for the express purpose of distribution and entertainment or financial exploitation. For-profit snuff films are generally regarded as an urban legend, whose...
) SQUID from an anonymous sender, showing Iris getting raped and murdered. Troubled by the recording and Iris's warnings about Faith's safety, Lenny tries to get Faith away from her new boyfriend, music industry mogul Philo Gant (Michael Wincott
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...
), but to no avail.
Lenny later receives more snuff tapes. He and Mace discover that the case is tied to a cover-up of the murder of rapper and social commentator Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer
Glenn Plummer
Glenn E. Plummer is an American film and television actor.Plummer was born in Richmond, California. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, primarily in supporting roles or small bit parts, such as High Top in Colors. His prominent roles came in the films Menace II Society, Speed,...
) and one of his band mates by two LAPD officers. As they are hunted by the two policemen, Burton Steckler and Dwayne Engelman (Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
and William Fichtner
William Fichtner
William Edward Fichtner is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, as Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, as William Sharp in Armageddon, and as Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.- Early life...
), Lenny discovers that Iris witnessed (and her SQUID recorded) the murders.
Lenny, Mace, and Max meet at Tick's on New Year's Eve, only to discover that Tick has been rendered brain-dead from exposure to highly amplified SQUID recordings. Mace insists that the truth behind Jeriko's murder go public, but Max insinuates that if it did, the city would destroy itself from within. Lenny concludes that the assault on Tick was committed by the same person that killed Iris and fears Faith will be next.
Lenny and Mace confront Faith about the truth behind Jeriko's death. Faith mentions that Philo has been monitoring his inner circle. Concerned that Jeriko might be looking for a new manager, Philo hired Iris to spy on him. Realizing that Philo must have ordered the killer to murder Iris, Lenny convinces Faith to escape with them, but Philo's henchmen stop them.
As midnight approaches, Lenny and Mace sneak into a private New Year's party at the Bonaventure Hotel that Philo is hosting for the city's wealthy elite. Lenny gives the disk to Mace so she can deliver it to Deputy Police Commissioner, Palmer Strickland (Josef Sommer
Josef Sommer
Josef Sommer is an American film actor.He was born Maximilian Josef Sommer in Greifswald, Germany and was raised in North Carolina, the son of Elisabeth and Clemons Sommer, a professor of art history at the University of North Carolina. He studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology...
). Upon entering Philo's penthouse suite, Lenny finds another SQUID disk which shows Faith apparently being raped and killed. Refusing to watch anymore, Lenny finds a body covered in bedsheets and pulls the sheets aside to find Philo, whose brain has been damaged in the same manner as Tick's. Lenny watches the remainder of the clip and discovers the killer is Max. He hadn't killed Faith and it becomes apparent that the two have become lovers. In the clip, Philo enters the room and Max forces him to run the amplified recording. After the clip ends, Max and Faith enter the room. Max disarms Lenny and shoots Philo with Lenny's gun, explaining that he set Philo up because he wanted to have Faith killed for what she knew about Jeriko One's death, and that he now intends to frame Lenny for Philo's murder. As Max is about to shoot Lenny, Faith has a change of heart and attacks Max. In the ensuing fight, Lenny tries to throw Max off the balcony and Max grabs Lenny's necktie, leaving both of them dangling from the railing over the street below. Lenny manages to grab Max's knife and cut his tie off, and Max falls to his death.
Outside the hotel, Mace is pursued by Steckler and Engelman. She manages to subdue both of them, cuffing them to a scaffold, only for other nearby police officers to begin brutally beating her, triggering a riot in the crowd. Commissioner Strickland appears and restores order, having watched the recording of the murders, and orders the riot cops to arrest the two officers. As they are read their rights, Engelman takes a pistol from one of the officers and commits suicide, and Steckler is gunned down by the police when he tries to shoot Mace. As Lenny and Mace are being treated for their wounds, Faith is arrested for Philo's murder. At the stroke of midnight (which begins the new millenium), Lenny and Mace share a passionate kiss.
Cast
- Ralph FiennesRalph FiennesRalph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
as Lenny Nero - Angela BassettAngela BassettAngela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
as Lornette 'Mace' Mason - Juliette LewisJuliette LewisJuliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
as Faith Justin - Tom SizemoreTom SizemoreThomas Edward "Tom" Sizemore, Jr. is an American film and television actor and producer. He is known for his roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Strange Days, Pearl Harbor, Heat and Black Hawk Down....
as Max Peltier - Michael WincottMichael WincottMichael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...
as Philo Gant - Vincent D'OnofrioVincent D'OnofrioVincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
as Burton Steckler - William FichtnerWilliam FichtnerWilliam Edward Fichtner is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, as Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, as William Sharp in Armageddon, and as Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.- Early life...
as Dwayne Engelman - Glenn PlummerGlenn PlummerGlenn E. Plummer is an American film and television actor.Plummer was born in Richmond, California. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, primarily in supporting roles or small bit parts, such as High Top in Colors. His prominent roles came in the films Menace II Society, Speed,...
as Jeriko One - Brigitte BakoBrigitte BakoBrigitte Bako is a Canadian actress known for her role on Red Shoe Diaries. She also wrote, produced and starred in the adult comedy G-Spot.-Life and career:...
as Iris - Josef SommerJosef SommerJosef Sommer is an American film actor.He was born Maximilian Josef Sommer in Greifswald, Germany and was raised in North Carolina, the son of Elisabeth and Clemons Sommer, a professor of art history at the University of North Carolina. He studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology...
as Palmer Strickland - Nicky KattNicky KattNicholas Lea "Nicky" Katt is an American actor known for his role as unorthodox teacher Harry Senate on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public.-Career:...
as Joey Corto - Richard EdsonRichard EdsonRichard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
as Tick - Michael JaceMichael JaceMichael Jace is an American actor. He starred in State of Play with Russell Crowe. He is best known for his role as the bisexual Los Angeles Police Officer Julien Lowe in the FX drama The Shield...
as Wade Beemer - David PackerDavid PackerDavid Packer is an American actor. He was born in Passaic, New Jersey.His first starring role was as the human traitor Daniel Bernstein in the 1983 NBC miniseries V. He reprised the role in the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle....
as Lane
Soundtrack
- Skunk AnansieSkunk AnansieSkunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin , Cass , Ace and Mark Richardson .Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009...
– "Selling Jesus" - Lords of AcidLords of AcidLords of Acid is a Belgian-American post-industrial/techno band, led by musician Praga Khan. They debuted with the controversial new beat single "I Sit on Acid" in 1988...
– "The Real Thing" - TrickyTrickyTricky is an English musician and actor. As a producer and a musician, he is noted for a dark, rich and layered sound and a whispering sprechgesang lyrical style. Culturally, Tricky encourages an intertwining of societies, particularly in his musical fusion of rock and hip hop, high art and pop...
– "Overcome" - Deep ForestDeep ForestDeep Forest is a musical group consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats or chillout beats...
– "Coral Lounge" - Strange Fruit – "No White Clouds"
- Juliette LewisJuliette LewisJuliette Lewis is an American actress and musician. She gained international fame for her role in the 1991 thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress...
– "Hardly Wait" - Me Phi MeMe Phi MeMe Phi Me is a multiplatinum selling American rapper from Flint, Michigan. Me Phi Me is both the name of the musical group and the name of its lead performer....
/Jeriko One – "Here We Come" - Skunk AnansieSkunk AnansieSkunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin , Cass , Ace and Mark Richardson .Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009...
– "Feed" - Prong/Ray ManzarekRay ManzarekRaymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek , is an American musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, Nite City from 1977–1978 and Manzarek-Krieger since 2001.Manzarek is listed #4 on Digital Dreamdoor's "100...
– "Strange Days" - SatchelSatchel (band)Satchel is an alternative rock band from Seattle, featuring Shawn Smith , Regan Hagar , John Hoag and Mike Berg , who replaced original bassist Cory Kane in 1995.-History:...
– "Walk In Freedom" - Kate Gibson – "Dance Me to the End of LoveDance Me to the End of Love"Dance Me to the End of Love" is a 1984 song by Leonard Cohen. It was first performed by Cohen, on his 1984 album Various Positions. It has since been recorded by various artists, and has been described as "trembling on the brink of becoming a standard"....
" - Lori CarsonLori CarsonLori Carson is a singer/songwriter. She has released several solo albums, appeared on many soundtracks, and collaborated with artists such as The Golden Palominos. She performed lead vocals on the song "In the Middle of the Night" on French producer Hector Zazou's album Strong Currents...
/Graeme RevellGraeme RevellGraeme Revell is a New Zealand film score composer.Revell attended Auckland Grammar School, where he finished his final year in 7A...
– "Fall in the Light" - Deep ForestDeep ForestDeep Forest is a musical group consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats or chillout beats...
feat. Peter GabrielPeter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
– "While the Earth SleepsWhile the Earth Sleeps"While the Earth Sleeps" is a song written by Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez of Deep Forest and Peter Gabriel. The song was performed by Deep Forest with Peter Gabriel and appeared on the soundtrack for the film Strange Days and is played over the film's end credits...
"
Release
Strange Days was given a limited release on October 6, 1995 in only one theater and grossed $31,062 on its opening weekend. It was given a wide release on October 13, 1995 in 1,691 theaters and grossed $3,656,012 on its opening weekend. The film went on to make $7,959,291 in North America, little more than a sixth of its $42 million production cost.Reception
The film received praise for its gritty, serious view of a possible future, which slowly began to take shape even after its release and its becoming a cult classic.Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "The movie is a technical tour de force ... The pacing is relentless, and the editing, by Howard Smith, creates an urgency and desperation". In her review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
praised the performances of Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett: "Mr. Fiennes gleefully captures Lenny's sleaziness while also showing there is something about this schlockmeister that is worth saving, despite much evidence to the contrary. As for Ms. Bassett, she looks great and radiates inner strength even without the bone-crunching physical feats to which she is often assigned". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a "B-" rating and Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
wrote, "Strange Days has a dazzling atmosphere of grunge futurism, but beneath its dark satire of audiovisual decadence lurks a naggingly conventional underworld thriller". Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's Peter Travers called the film Bigelow's "magnum opus", and wrote, "In a film of striking performances, Bassett's is the standout -- she is fierce, funny and heart rending". In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Edward Guthmann wrote, "Strange Days wants to say something about faith and redemption -- about the importance of maintaining one's humanity in a darkened world. That's a worthy intent, but Bigelow is so enamored of high-tech thrills, and so mesmerized by the violence she seeks to condemn, that her efforts at 11th-hour moralizing seem limp and halfhearted". In his review for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Kenneth Turan wrote, "No matter how much thought may have gone into Strange Days, terribly little has come out the other end".