It is the total and convincing immersion in a future world that makes this one of the strongest science fiction films I've ever seen.

That is a bold statement I know, but for me it is a fact, it just took me a while to realise it. See, the first time I saw it I was distracted by the meandering third act in which the plot drudgingly treads towards its excpected resolution.

And while that problem still exists I was struck this time by two things. For a film that is almost 15 years old it still looks absolutely stunning and it does what any film in this genre should do. It takes away all suspension of disbelief by presenting…

Film #73 of Project 90

”It's funny, you work so hard, you do everything you can to get away from a place, and when you finally get your chance to leave, you find a reason to stay.”

Andrew Niccol starts Gattaca by picturing a “not too distant future” where genetic engineering has changed everything, it has revolutionized the way people think and act and it has brought a new social order to the society, people are no longer divided to rich and poor or educated and uneducated, you are either a child of god or a child of science, genetic modification has become a routine part of the cycle of life and now everything works differently. That exceptionally alarming and…

“I got the better end of the deal. I only lent you my body. You lent me your dream.”

In Andrew Niccol’s directorial debut we are invited to imagine a world where humans are categorized according to their genetic make-up. In this world, genetic engineering is not only a possibility, but a very common thing. Society now classifies people according to their DNA, and social classes are determined by it. It is not a future too hard to envision considering over history we have categorized people according to the color of their skin, their race, or their gender. Niccol creates an interesting sci-fi premise by using this sort of allegory of our society and combining it with some action and…

Top 10 90's Sci-Fi

I love Gattaca more each time I see it. This is my third time through it and this time I realized it basically has the same strengths and weaknesses as Blade Runner, another sci-fi favorite of mine. The acting is wooden and the pacing is slow enough to put an insomniac to sleep. This was Andrew Niccol's first time directing, and while he still hasn't done much to prove himself as a director (In Time, The Host...) I think some of Gattaca's failures can be chalked up to inexperience. Personally I just don't care about them.

I'll be damned if this isn't high concept science fiction at its best. Every detail of the story is designed…

Gattaca es una película extraña. No desfallece, transmite su mensaje de forma efectiva, consigue ser creíble incluso cuando es obvio que plantea una situación justa dentro de un sistema injusto —que no permitan ir al espacio a un hombre que puede morir en cualquier momento por un defecto congénito está lejos de ser discriminación genética sin sentido— y tiene cuatro escenas que bien podrían considerarse dignas de pasar a la historia del cine.

Pero eso no quita para que haya infinidad de elementos cuestionables. Desde una investigación policial rayano lo idiota hasta una relación romántica puesta ahí más por obligación que por contenido.

Nada de eso quita para que todo lo que ocurre entre su brillante introducción y su brillante…