Why were the cheating wife and her lover not arrested for adultery? Last time I checked, that was a crime in the United States. [Currently there are some US states where adultery is still a crime, but they don't really prosecute people for that any more. Plus this is set in the future, so the laws could easily have changed.]
Minority Report (2002) - 18 questions
Directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow, Samantha Morton, Tom Cruise (add more)
The "questions" section is for any random questions that occurred to you while watching this film, or anything you didn't entirely understand, and which Google or the IMDb can't help with. Submit them as a question, and hopefully someone will answer (the bold comments in brackets) - check back regularly. If the answer is wrong, or missing information, please use the "clarify answer" option. Don't feel limited - want to know what music played in a certain scene? Whether this was the first film to use a certain effect? Here's the place to ask!
Why were the cheating wife and her lover not arrested for adultery? Last time I checked, that was a crime in the United States. [Currently there are some US states where adultery is still a crime, but they don't really prosecute people for that any more. Plus this is set in the future, so the laws could easily have changed.]
After the pre-cops are unsuccessful in their search for Anderton at Rufus Riley's virtual-reality/fantasy club, they search the other parts of the shopping mall with much determination, and eventually get a glimpse of him, almost catching him afterward. How could they possibly have known that Anderton was still in the mall, or that he even went to the mall and the fantasy club in the first place? Sure, they were right, but isn't that just a little convenient/lucky? A possible plot hole, perhaps? [The "Pre-Cogs" (stands for pre-cognitive) are not zeroing in on Anderton only. Since he has Agatha with him, and she is the stronger of the three, as well as telepathically linked to the other two, it is much easier to locate him while he is with her. As far as knowing where he was "going" to be, that is how the whole process works in the first place. The Pre-Cogs see the "near future" and the police investigate these visions for clues to a location. If the Pre-Cogs could only see where someone is at that moment, and not where they are going to be in the near future, the whole idea of Pre-Crime would be impossible, as the crime would be happening "at the time" the police watch the visions, which would only show them who committed a crime, but the victim would be dead. The idea of Pre-Crime is to prevent the "victim" from being a victim, and to save their life.]
Perhaps I'm a little dense, but why does John still kill Crow after realising he didn't actually kill his son. Was it because Crow wouldn't tell him the name of the person setting him up? Because I'm sure a little more interrogation would sort that out. [Anderton didn't kill Crow. His remarkable self-control made him want to arrest him instead (as you know). Crow then grabbed Anderton's hand as it was holding the gun and either forced Anderton's finger to pull the trigger or wedged his own finger inside his hand to pull the trigger himself.]
Why would a cop use a handgun with a design that's over 50 years old, the Beretta 9000 has only just come into service at this time? [Cops today use .45 Kimber handguns which is based on the Colt M1911. That design is over 70 years old. The Beretta 92F pistol and M16A1 rifle designs used by the US Army are 30 years old.]
In the movie there are two different types of eye-scanners. The cops and the spiders use a beam of light that has to scan a person's eye for 1-4 seconds to identify the person. Yet advertisements, stores, and the subway use eye-scanners that can identify a person in what seems like 1/16th of a second (similar to a camera). Does anyone know if both types of eye-scanners exist, and if so, why are they different? [Retinal scanning does exist and is actually in use, but not at the level shown in the movie. The "Ad" scanners are less accurate and not definitive, while the police scanners can provide absolute identification. It's the difference between identifying someone by their face vs. running their fingerprints.]
When Anderton is viewing the images of the Leo Crow murder, he describes the building as "federal housing." But when he and Agatha get there, the guy at the desk says, "Rooms are $95 a night" (or whatever the price was). Is it federal housing, or is it a hotel? It can't be both, can it? [It could be both. "Federal Housing" could be a description of the style - it might originally have been built as federal housing, but converted into a hotel at a later date.]
When Anderton, after his eye surgery, has his dream about the day he lost his son, look carefully at the people shown at poolside after Anderton discovers that his son is gone. For about a second, the camera follows a suspicious-looking man wearing a fairly wide-brimmed hat, and a towel around his shoulders. While we see this man, the video suddenly becomes "choppy," as though something significant were happening. The camera also zooms in toward his face. This all happens in about one second. Are we to assume that this is the man responsible for kidnapping Anderton's son? [Open to debate - I opened a topic on this question IMDb, please view it here http://www.uk.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/board/thread/7108250.]
What is the story behind the cop who seems to enjoy chasing Anderton? He talks to Fletch in the Hotel (the Spyder scene) about Fletch not trusting him alone with Anderton, because he might (according to my subtitles) 'futz' him. He also seems to take some delight when they arrest Anderton at the cottage near the end. I never understood this. [He's the one who Anderton rode around on during the jetpack chase and who was eventually knocked out by Anderton. As such, he understandably feels somewhat aggrieved towards his old boss.]
OK, let's see: Lamar Burgess set Anderton up; he Hired Leo Crow and sent him to be killed in a hotel. But How did exactly Burgess plan the meeting of Anderton with Crow? Anderton arrived at the crime scene by a chain of events that began with the pre-vision of his destiny. It was clear that Lamar did not fake the pre-vision, because this became true just like it was predicted; besides, when Anderton was being chased, he arrived to crime scene by a coincidence; so what did Burguess have to do to make sure the existence of the pre-vision and this possible future? I don't see a simple solution. [Well, there isn't really a simple solution, but here goes. For a pre-vision to form, there have be two things present within the range of the precog ability (which appears to be limited to the Washington area - regardless of the stated plan to take the programme countrywide, there's never any indication that the precogs can sense beyond that range). Firstly, someone with the intent to kill. Secondly, there has to be a target for that intent within the range of the precogs. Anderton is present, and has the intent within him to kill the man who took his son, but has no target - the real kidnapper is presumably either dead or beyond the precog ability. Burgess, by bribing Crow to pretend to be that man, has provided a viable target for Anderton's intent within the range of the precog ability, thus triggering the prevision, and beginning the chain of events.]
What exactly is Leo saying to Anderton when he "confesses" to kidnapping his son? I can't make out most of what he's whispering in this scene - I caught something about pretzels when he first started speaking, then when Anderton asks if he's still alive, he said something about a barrel. [Leo: "I told him I was a policeman. I told him I needed his help. It wasn't so bad. I sang him a song, I bought him a pretzel. I bought him a pretzel! He was happy. He was happy." Anderton: "Is he alive? He's alive? Where have you got him? Is he all right? Tell me, you f**k! Where is he?" Leo : "I put him in a barrel. I sunk him in the bay. It floated back up. I took him out. I was gentle (3 times). I'm sorry (4 times). I'm so very sorry." Anderton: "How could you do that to my boy?" They fight. Anderton points his gun at Leo. Leo: "I'm sorry" Agatha: "You can choose. You can choose." Anderton: "You have the right to remain silent...", etc.]
Why all the build up of John having sent the Russian eye-surgeon guy to jail, suggesting that he will hurt John; only to have him successfully complete the operation, and take care of John afterwards? [It's what's known as a McGuffin; a plot element that seems to be important when introduced, but serves no purpose other than to intrigue/distract the audience. The term was popularised by Alfred Hitchcock.]
Dr. Solomon and his assistant talk to each other in a foreign language. What language are they speaking, and can anyone translate roughly what they're saying to each other throughout the scene? [When Anderton hands the credit card to the doctor: "Grete, get the f**k out of here", then he says something I can't understand and ends the sentence with "hurry". Grete comes out singing the song and when she sees Anderton she says: "my God". The doc is by the phone checking Anderton's credit and says: "let's see". After the doc has fitted the strap thing on Anderton's head Grete says: "So so little darling, now the doctor is finished. Now its Greta's turn to... (the rest of the sentence is inaudible to me)". The doctor is explaining which rope goes where and Greta is mumbling something to herself and he says: "Shut up bitch". The camera is focused on Anderton's head and in the background we can hear Greta saying: "Bye bye darling, I'll see you again soon, then you'll be a little stronger and then you can complete..." (the rest is inaudible to me).]
You may also like: The Matrix | Men in Black II | Mars Attacks! | Men in Black | Mission: Impossible 2




StumbleUpon
Slashdot
Facebook
Delicious
reddit