Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg’sMinority Reportasked important questions about free will, and just four years later, a different sci-fi action-thriller starring Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer explored similar ideas:Déjà Vu. Tom Cruise’s Precrime Chief John Anderton and Denzel Washington’s ATF Special Agent Douglas Carlin are both law enforcement agents who push technology further than anyone else ever has to change the future. WhileMinority Report 2never happened, the thematic link between the two films makesDéjà Vua spiritual successor.
Based onthe novellaThe Minority Reportby Philip K. Dick,Minority Reporttakes place in the near future, set in 2054, and using Precogs to predict a crime that is yet to be committed is a technology so well-established that it’s about to be expanded nation-wide.Déjà Vuis set in the present of 2006, where a metaphysical breakthrough allows for the same ideasMinority Report’s storyposits aboutdestiny and predetermination to be played out by looking back in time rather than forward.
Déjà Vu’s Time Travel Story Flipped Minority Report’s Premise
Minority Reportis built around the idea of stopping something that has not yet happened. Through the Precogs, Precrime agents know who and when crimes are committed, but not where or why.Déjà Vuintroduces “Snow White,” a space-time bridge between the present and a very specific past, exactly four days and six hours previous. InDéjà Vu, Denzel’s Carlin is recruited to help solve a bombing that has already occurred. Using Snow White, Carlin uses clues of when and how to solve who, essentially working off of the inverse information that the red balls provide the Precrime Unit.
Minority Reportlooks to the future to stop a crime that is believed to be inevitable from happening, butDéjà Vudoes the reverse…
InDéjà Vu, because Carlin approaches Snow White’s abilities from a cop’s angle instead of a scientist’s, he pushes past the mathematical probabilities to prove it is possible to not just observe the past, but interact with it.Carlin first sends a note back and then eventually himself,changing the course of the future and preventing the bombing from succeeding.Minority Reportlooks to the future to stop a crime that is believed to be inevitable from happening, butDéjà Vudoes the reverse: looking at the past to create a different future.
Minority Report vs. Déjà Vu: Which Time Travel Movie Was Better?
History Remembers This Major Collaboration In Minority Report
After many rumoredcollaborations between Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg,Minority Reportwas a highly anticipated summer blockbuster between these two film titans. Even with a high budget for the era,Minority Reportwas a box office success, recuperating over three and a half times its budget. Critics and audiences responded well toMinority Report, with the sci-fi film even winning an Oscar for Best Sound Editing. By comparison,Déjà Vuhad a decent box office total, making back more than double the budget, but overall had mixed reviews – despite being the third ofDenzel Washington’s films with director Tony Scott.
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Minority ReportandDéjà Vupose similar questions but approach the topic with different tonesand genres.Minority Reportis hard sci-fi with a cyberpunk aesthetic and elements of horror as well, andMinority Report’s iconic use of AIis shockingly ahead of its time.Déjà Vuis more of a crime thriller with a time-travel hook. BothMinority ReportandDéjà Vuare excellent movies about fate, butMinority Reportis the time travel story film history remembers.
