This ingenious and intricately plotted story brings to mind the motto of the few who flew in former days. Truly gripping and romantic. A genetically challenged adventurer, Ethan Hawke, who has been randomly conceived, inspires his alter ego, a failed suicide played by Jude Law, to make a success of his death. It is relatively easy to eliminate racism. But the problem discussed in this film is how do you eliminate competition ? Astronauts compete for their place on a space crew. How could they not ? The answer proposed by this stylish story appears to be that they should cheat. It's only in Wonderland that everyone is given a prize for running in a caucus race, presumably all hitting the finishing tape in a dead straight line.However the tale is stimulating, moving and touching. Uma Thurman presents an unusually beautiful and elegant presence. The sets are highly stylish: neo-Corbusier buildings, with personnel reminding me of the pictures of Magritte. The crew prepare for their launch wearing double-breasted suits, neatly worn shirts and ties. Ernest Borgnine appears in a downbeat role. Gore Vidal is a skittish heavyweight. It is disconcerting that the final urine test is not automated, and approval is left to an old-fashioned human factor. While it is possible that Vincent will not return from his Titanic excursion, he may nevertheless have left a little ex-genetically engineered souvenir on his home planet.

Gattaca is a smart and stimulating science fiction film that succeeds on the basis of its story rather than reliance on special effects. The theme in this film revolves around one man's fight to overcome a very unique kind of discrimination. In the 'near future' world of Gattaca, there is no glass ceiling. The ceiling of the future, though invisible, is known to everyone. It is an individual's genetic code. As aptly stated in the film, this future society has "discrimination down to a science". In Gattaca, Ethan Hawke, plays Vincent Freeman a young stargazer aspiring to man a flight to Titan, one of the moons of Jupiter. The problem is that space travel is reserved for the genetically engineered elite and Vincent is a 'natural born' individual with myopia and a heart condition. All that natural birth individuals can hope for in the world of Gattaca is jobs involving menial labor.Vincent is not one to give up on his dreams. With the help of a genetic broker, Vincent has a plan to assume the identity of Jerome Morrow, played by Jude Law, who is a genetically engineered athlete who was paralyzed in an accident outside of the country. Much of the plot involves Vincent's attempts to assume the identity of Jerome and avoid having his true identity discovered, so that he can accomplish his goal of interstellar travel. The opening scenes of the movie subtly capture the viewer's attention as we see nail clippings and hair follicles fall to the floor with thundering reverberations. This serves to prime the audience for the weighty role these biological identifiers will play in the remainder of the movie. This film is full of smart and artful story telling. The director makes skillful use of montages to fill in substantial details about the character's background and struggles without stalling the forward progression and steady pace of the story. The mix of internal and external conflict that Vincent goes through, pulls the viewer in and makes his character so engaging.In addition to the struggle to overcome genetic discrimination this film also has thematic elements showing the power of the human spirit and the bravery those willing to challenge the social norms that attempt to keep individuals pigeonholed in certain roles. This movie has such an interesting mix of science fiction, suspense, noir, and inspiration. I view it as a must-see movie. Enjoy!

Gattaca can be enjoyed on unusually many levels, including a very Hitchcock-like murder mystery subplot. The main focus is however sharply on the relationship of the individual and expectations of the larger society, a classic theme set in a sci-fi setting veering quite a bit in the direction of Philip K. Dick's work. Arguably you could watch the entire film just admiring the well-crafted cinematography and enjoying all the odd visual and verbal details and colors thrown in.Now that we live in a weird era when social media helps the morons take over in many countries Gattaca seems a different film than when it was made. Surely meant to be a frightening dystopia at the time it now seems not the worst possible future at all. But utopia it is not. In Gattaca parents can and do have genetically engineered children with superior health and qualities. A blood test will reveal their future potential. This makes it easy for employers to pick out an elite work force. Some of the consequences are thoughtfully explored in the film. The main character capably portrayed by Ethan Hawke fools the system to become a space navigator - the word astronaut is not used in the film.The one annoying element of the film are the repetitive blood tests the would-be space pilots have to pass every single day, over and over. Although part of the core plot, you find yourself thinking: please don't test him AGAIN. On with it! Gattaca is a dream for those people who go to movies to pick out holes in the plot. There are a lot of inconsistencies and contradictions but I do not really see what would be the point of rooting them all out. In this kind of film, intentional and unintentional oddities are part of the flavor, like a spice. To me, one very memorable scene is where Hawke walks into his space ship, all dressed up in a dark suit and tie instead of a space suit and helmet. Really weird but quite intentional. Or the one where Jude Law slowly drags himself up a spiral staircase, an obvious but pleasant homage to the great Alfred Hitchcock and his Vertigo. As for acting, this future is a very cool one where emotions are not shown. The lead trio of Hawke, Thurman and Law play it very low-key and you will have to be alert to try and track what is going on in their minds. Which is where the action is in this rather slow film. As many have noted, this is a film rich in not-so-obvious detail. Watch it another time, see different things.

I just watched this film again tonight. It's truly incredible. It's hard to believe that this film isn't in the top 250 of IMDb considering that most people who have seen it agree that it's a great film (at least from my experience). The film has excellent performances, beautiful production design and cinematography, a great script, and fantastic direction. Many ideas in this film are genius and gives the film a bit of a Terry Gilliam vibe at times. Nothing wrong with that of course. It's a tragic yet beautiful depiction of the future and the best science fiction film of the 90s. Kicks Terminator 2 in the ass.