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Can only speak from the UK perspective - but it wasn't particularly marketed well, even though it had a wide release. I'm just grateful I caught one of those screenings back in '97. Anyone who cares about decent sci-fi that saw this holds it in very high regard. I'll always recommend it to others where appropriate.
I saw this movie by chance, having no idea of the premise, and was stunned. It’s at the same time beautiful, horrifying, uplifting, devastating, prescient, and poignant. It has held up extremely well.
Having dinner with a friend in San Rafael I was admiring the view across a lake. A building stood out to me as oddly familiar. "Wait," I suddenly realized. "That's friggin Gattaca!" My friend laughed, "Yep. That is indeed friggin Gattaca." It's the Marin County Civic Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It's friggin gorgeous!
A full basket of Easter Eggs 🐣: The letters in "Gattaca" are the 4 codons in our DNA. Their staircase is a double helix. Vincent's last name is "Freeman" In-Valid is the word "invalid" The symbol for a Valid is infinity...infinite potential? The symbol for an In-Valid is a cross with a dagger. Cross = God child. The dagger = in taxonomy a dagger symbol implies an extinct species. Irene's last name is Cassini...17th century astronomer who discovered a bunch of stuff. NASA voted this (at the time) as the most scientifically accurate sci-fi film. A Titan (the moon Vincent's mission is to) in Greek mythology is a pure child of Heaven and Earth. Jerome's silver medal turns to gold in the fire. 😢 Anyone know any others?
Love this! In the concert scene, a few notes were added to Schubert's 'Impromptu In G Flat Major to make it unplayable by normal hands. A valid can never play it. Jerome predicted that Vincent will get caught because he's a leftie. Vincent was found out to be an in-valid because he used the wrong hand.
@@E_l_l_i_eI actually think that the pianist was "genetically formed" to have 12 fingers, so in fact was a valid, only to have added an extra finger to each hand. His parents probably were pianist as well and wanted a child who could play this piece.
@@cmo6055 now that you mention it, I now see the possibly that the pianist was indeed a valid. But, dang that's so inhumane! My initial thought was that parents do away with the most minute unusual trait like lefthandedness; so I never considered that the pianist could be engineered to have polydactyly. I actually thought that the concert scene was inspiring. But actually, it's very distressing.
@@E_l_l_i_e Maybe it was that way. An invalid proofs to be gifted, special, capable of something invalids can not. I always interpreted it like society gone so far that they would engineer certain traits on people, so they are capable of, in this case, play a piano piece that can only be played with 12 fingers (and maybe other things in other cases). But a "god child", born with polydactily, proving to be extraordinary valid (not a valid, but valid) is also a nice way to look at it. The polydactily looked too perfect in the picture imo tho. I work in obstetrics and have seen cases of polydactily. It looked engineered. Then again, this is a movie
For my money, Gattaca is up there with Arrival, Ex Machina, Interstellar, The Matrix, etc. as one of the most intellectually satisfying sci-fi films. Good sci-fi should make you think. I like a good space battle as much as the next person but if a film makes me consider deeper issues, as well, it's just so much better.
This movie is such perfect Science Fiction. It's major focus is using a speculative future to tell a timeless story about the human condition, about the strength of personal will and determination.
Heck Yes!!! I love this movie, in my opinion a masterpiece! So happy you're reacting to it.💯 Not only is the film criminally underrated, but so is the amazingly beautiful score by Michael Nyman.
It's CRAZY how chronically underrated / underhyped this movie is. I had never ever heard of it and I found it completely by chance when it was on TV. One of the most original premises ever, and a perfect execution, casting, performances, music score - just amazing. My favourite moment/twist in this movie is that the doctor knew the entire time, and yet didn't say anything so that he and and his son could have hope.
This is such a terribly underrated gem of a movie! A masterpiece, dare I say. The score is such a driving force throughout the film, and the storyline is unique and creative. ~Caroline
I adore this film. A haunting piece of work - always leaves me feeling a bit... well, it's impossible to describe. Never thought I'd see anyone react to this. I'm glad it was you Chris.
Oh wow, I just recently discovered this movie a couple of months ago. I was watching cable late at night with my sister and we stumbled upon this wirh no idea what it was about. Decided to watch it because, well, Ethan Hawke (plus Jude Law and Uma Thurman). We didn't have any expectations but ended up so invested in the chatacters, fascinated by the world-building and engrossed in the psychological aspect of it all. By the end of rhe movie we were crying our eyes out, overwhelmed by all the emotions. I haven't had such a memorable experience with a sci-fi movie before or ever since. I searched but there were no reactions to Gattaca in RU-vid so this was a (good) surprise!
"I don't know how to thank you." "No, no. I got the better end of the deal. I only lent you my body. You lent me your dream." Fun Fact: Was voted by NASA scientists the most accurate science fiction film ever made. Scientific Title Drop Fact: The name "Gattaca" is composed entirely of the letters used to label the nucleotide bases of DNA. The four nitrogen bases of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) are adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. Concerning Marketing Success Fact: When Gattaca (1997) was first released, as part of a marketing campaign there were adverts for people to call and have their children genetically engineered. Thousands of people called, wanting to have their offspring genetically engineered. Location Location Fact: Many of the "futuristic" buildings in the film are actually quite old. Many of these represent a type of postmodern architecture called "brutalism" which was popular in the 1950s. The two massive arches seen are actually the spillway of the Sepulveda Dam in Los Angeles, which was built in the 1930s. Some interiors and exteriors of the Gattaca building belong, in reality, to the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957. The largest Wright design ever constructed, it was largely built after his death in 1959. The central dome (prominent in the roof-cleaning scene) contains the county library.
Thank you so much for this, not enough people react to this brilliant film. I didn’t see it in the comments, so I’ll give a BIG shout out to the masterful score by Michael Nyman, one of the best, it’s gorgeous with this heart breaking, deep yearning - beautiful.
The movie where Ethan and Uma met and virtually later married for several years and then eventually divorced. It was a good think piece for me and very different for it's time. It stands out to me because my ex husband (who hated sci-fi) actually LIKED it. Today science is getting so close to the content in this film it's spooky. Thumbs up 👍
Very underrated, in my opinion. From the moment you said "what if that's Anton", I was thinking "OMG, he's gonna be so happy that he called it" 🤩 Great reaction 😎
I love the line...i never left anything for the swim back. Have you noticed that the invalids are the only ones with any passion? Everyone else is kind of boring...no emotion, no hair out of place.....they lack drive...they are used to getting everything because they are "blessed"
This was like a Black Mirror episode, made years before Black Mirror ever aired. I wonder if people in the 40’s and 50’s really did see the future as all jetpacks and flying cars, or if they also saw the myriad ways mankind would shaft itself with technology?
Gattaca is a complex movie with a simple theme at its core: man's pursuit of his dreams and the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. Cut out a couple of scenes and this is the perfect film to show students along with parents and teachers. How often is a child's potential measured based on numbers-their IQ score, aptitude test results or grades. Especially true for kids with disabilities who are often seen for what they can't do instead of what they can do. Thank you for featuring another under-rated scifi gem. Gattaca will probably be living in my noggin the next few days.
This is the movie that made me aware of Jude Law. I'm always surprised to think that he didn't become a bigger star, considering his ability and sheer charisma.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Whenever I get discouraged on my life I remember what Vincent told his brother Anton "I didn't save anything for the swim back". If you want to be great in this life and live up to your potential you can't think about not going forward. Always remember the human body has many limits, but the human spirit has limitless potential.
Great reaction, I remember when my science teacher brought out Gattaca for the science class to watch and everyone groaned when he explained what the film was about... I loved it
So glad you watched this Chris! I saw Gattaca when it was first released on video, when I was 15 or 16. It definitely had an impact and has stuck with me. It is one of those movies that is timeless and beautiful, and still very relevant 25+ years later (and will continue to be relevant for many more years to come). This is one of those films that has a special place in my in-valid heart.
This is one of my absolute favourite movies. The story is impeccable, but it doesn't hurt that I'm partly in love with the Marin County Civic Center, the building where the Gattaca space center scenes were shot. It's the only government building Frank Lloyd Wright designed. Every bit of that building I have seen is a delight, from the circular, domed library partly embedded in one of the three hills he incorporated into the design, to the hallways that are open from the skylight to the ground floor bathing everything in natural light, to the arch and sphere motifs you see repeated everywhere. The anxiety of going to traffic court was significantly lessened by having taken place there. He designed the courtrooms to be circular and had the opposing sides angled towards each other so everyone would be able to see everyone else without turning their heads, including the jury, if it's that kind of trial. It was used in one other movie, George Lucas's first theatrical movie, THX 1138, a great, if extraordinarily confusing, film. Thankfully he went back and re-cut it back when he was butchering Star Wars for the Special Editions and, unlike with much of the changes there, the THX 1138 Director's Cut is a significant improvement over the original, clarifying a lot of the plot elements, making it merely quite confusing.
One of my favorites of all time. I was a young teen when Gattaca came out and everything seemed so far away in the future...not so much now... I've heard we have laws on the books already about this type of discrim. ...it has been a very real worry for awhile. Thank goodness....
I liked your reaction! :) There are so many details in the movie, that many people miss them. For example at 18:51 he is turning away from the agent to pull his jacket over his fist before punching him. That way he won't leave his genetic evidence on the face of the agent.
Andrew Niccol, who wrote the screenplay and directed the film also wrote the screenplay for The Truman Show. However he didn’t get to direct it because the studio wanted a bigger name, so got Peter Weir to do it.
Thank you for reacting to one of my personal favorites, a hidden gem. I love your channel and I really appreciate how astute, intelligent, and well thought out all of your reactions/analysis is. I think you're one of the best movie reactors on youtube.
One of my favourite films ever. Thank you. Another one of my favourite underrated sci-fi film is "Seconds" made in 1966. It has that Twilight Zone vibe to it. While I am here, let me throw another one for you "The Andromeda Strain" made in 1971
If you're inclined, imdiyu, read about *why* Rock Hudson did the flick Seconds. It's interesting. And it's a helluva great "Twilight Zone"...good call!
Really a different SF movie and I like it a lot. First ran across this flick back in the VHS rental days. Now everything I have is on 1Tb Ext drives. Glad I have this one in my library!
11:01, in this movie a simple kiss for genetic compatibility was shown to be cold and inhuman as it took the join out of romantic discovery. In the sci-fi show Farscape they had a similar premise. On one episode, the main characters visited an advanced civilization full of genetically perfect people. Their lives were so pre-arranged they even made finding a potential mate down to a science. However, this civilization's kiss for genetic compatibility was given a more sweet twist. Women would approach a potential suitor and dab a drop of a liquid on their tongue, the suitor candidate would do the same. When they begin to deep kiss the greater their genetic compatibility the sweeter the kiss tastes to them both. The lesser the genetic compatibility the more sour or bitter the kiss tastes to them both. So within seconds they know whether or not to pursue marriage and children. There is a wonderfully romantic payoff for this premise between the star crossed primary love interests on the show. They are literally from two different planets but discover they are insanely compatible. Here is the scene ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ny_qcAby-vE.html If you ever get the chance I highly recommend you react to Farscape.
It's kinda scary when you think about the possibility of combining AI with genetic information. DNA chips can sequence a genome overnight and given how much of appearance is controlled by DNA (see identical twins) - it is entirely possible to program a deep learning system to generate a probable image from a DNA sample. Law enforcement could easily generate such a database since prisoners have no privacy regarding their DNA sequences or image. A few million combinations could probably generate a good approximation based upon an DNA found at a crime scene. Hell, even a private company like 23 and me could generate a good database by combining their DNA information with photos purchased from a data broker who scrapes them from social media.
*Think* about this...as the movie says at the End... _every_ particle in you...every atom...was born in a star... Like, not a metaphor or poetry or silliness...but *FOR REAL*. You **_*ARE_* made of actual stars; its literally where matter comes from. Your fingers and toes, your brain, your heart, your butt...all the bits of stuff that you are...born in the heart of a star a million million trillion miles away (maybe?) in a galaxy far, far, away... Isn't that *REALLY* cool? I think it is. YOU *ARE* made of stars. ⭐!
I remember watching this movie in theaters with friends. They were Cal Poly Pomona students, where the pointy building that is in here is from. It was exciting for them to watch that. Unfortunately, it was torn down last year or two.
Love that you covered this stylish, underrated film. I love the actors but the real surprise for me is author Gore Vidal. I don't think I've ever seen him in a film before but he has such an interesting presence. "You shouldn't listen to talk," one of my favorite lines from this. Also I wonder if Andor didn't get a bit of inspiration from this film, it seems to me that the borrowed ladder slur was similar to Cassian describing how the Imperials just couldn't conceive of a lower caste coming into their zone, walking their halls, etc.
Props to you for reacting to this gem of a movie. Let this be a lesson to the other reaction channels. There are more interesting and compelling science fiction films than Predator. LOL You’ve gone from being a casual nerd, to a formal nerd. Congratulations!! One day if you want to be a rocking nerd, consider watching the animated science fiction film “Heavy Metal” (1981) This is a notorious all time cult classic! And it’s a highly influential movie as well. It influenced everyone from Luc Besson with his film, The Fifth Element, to Elon Musk
FUN FACTS: recently a man name Moses Gibson had two surgeries to become taller. The surgeries are suppose to increase his height by 5 inches. So all of the things Vincent put himself through to be Jerome is not that far fetched.
Another reactor has now done 2/3 movies on my "underrated movies" list, (with The Hudsucker Proxy being the second). The trifecta would be David Fincher's - The Game.
Another good example of late 90s underrated science fiction is Dark City. It’s one of the most mind blowing sci-fi/horror films of all time and influenced other films like The Matrix and Inception. If you haven’t already seen it, do yourself a favor and watch the Director’s cut of it and go in completely blind. You’ll thank me.
I actually have a full reaction to the Dark City Director's cut over on Patreon thanks to a top tier Patron. I will be editing it for RU-vid, but it's pretty far down the list. Currently scheduled for January.
I find it interesting how heavily Jude Law is being retroactively used to promote this movie when his name virtually didn't appear at all in the initial promotion when it came out. I mean, I know he was still largely unknown at the time, but I don't think I've seen this happen with any other movie to this extent. 🤔
This film is very American, in the sense that it imagines that enforced inquality will be defeated by the virtue and cooperation of people of goodwill. Vincent has multiple helpers: Irene, Jerome, the Tony Shalhoub character, Lamar, the janitor, ultimately even Anton. In this world where status and success are determined by genetics, many people who benefit from it are helping one of its victims to overcome it. People are not acting according to their privilege, but to undermine it, because they recognize injustice. This is enormously optimistic, and (I regret to say) probably inaccurate.
🤣🤣 they are similarly named. I hope to drop 2 next week actually. I’m just waiting to make sure 7 doesn’t get claimed again like it did Friday. If it doesn’t then I know 8-13 are ready to go so I am gonna make sure we finish season 1 THIS month. 💪
As much as I love this movie, the "don't judge a book by its cover" concept feels so good to adopt, it's wrong. Sorry, but it's just factually wrong. Descriminating is a heuristic and it's a tool that has its place. Thomas Sowell's commentary on the concept (being that he's black) would be a good place for those who think that "discrimination is evil" to get a start, but he's just the tip of the iceberg.
If Shakespeare had lived in the world of Gattaca, would he have had a chance to accomplish all that he achieved in his own time? The 2023 article "Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies review - in search of the bard" asks: - How did a glover’s son from the sticks, with no more than a grammar school education, acquire such intimate knowledge of court manners and politics, European languages, legal process and Italian geography?
And concerning this 20th-century glove maker, the article "Who were the Moguls?" says: - During his lifetime, Goldwyn was the most successful independent movie producer in the US.
11:33, what is the point of being genetically perfect and your smoking and drinking like a fiend? It make me wonder is their immunity to nicotine and alcohol also programmed in. Otherwise you are polluting the very perfect body that is your passport a better life.
