Great sci-fi film

This film has caused a few quarrels with my best bud. We usually have same likes/dislikes in films, but he absolutely despises this film, mostly because its too 'Hollywood' and the story is too crazy, but I strongly feel it was a great sci-fi thriller. The idea of stopping crimes before they occur raises lots of moral questions, which makes it a 'thinking' movie, which is what I love about it. With any system that appears perfect, there will always be people that abuse the system and corrupt it to their benefit. It even makes a morality issue towards Iraq War and the whole concept of a pre-emptive strike. Do we have right to stop someone before they hurt someone else? And what if they were totally wrong (like those damn pesky missing WMDs)? Or as in the film, does society have a right to arrest someone before a crime is even commited? And the lead character gets wrongly accused and has to evade authorities.

It also shows a very bleak future with surveillance and micro-chips everywhere and inside everyone. Very scary future, indeed, but one which we seem to be heading into. Even the little stuff, like walking into a store, and the store scanners recognize the shopper by his micro chip, and talk to him personally about if they liked their last purchase and recommend something to him. Its really not that far-fetched story, as I can easily see this happening in the near future. Interactive shopping. GPS in every car. We're already urged to microchip our pets, and get all our kids 'fingerprinted' for safety's sake, cameras in many downtown areas to monitor people's activities, all are clues show we're heading to a police-controlled big-brother-is-watching-you type of society. Which makes me admire what Spielberg has achieved with this film.

Highly recommended.

8/10