The name Steven Spielberg is enough to motivate an everyday Joe to step out of the comfort of his home and purchase a movie ticket at a counter in the theater. Add Tom Cruise’s universal stardom to this mix, and you have a winner on your hands. Steven Spielberg is regarded as one of the best living filmmakers of this generation and has blessed filmgoers with cinematic gems over the span of his career. From deeply melodramatic films such as Schindler’s List to the oddly terrifying Jaws, over time Spielberg’s name has become synonymous with success.

In a career spanning more than 4 decades, it’s natural for some films to get overshadowed by others. Spielberg’s Minority Report, is one such film of his that deserves more than it got. The film has a star-studded cast of Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, and Max von Sydow. Upon its release, the film was received with mixed reactions, but failed to have a major impact as many people had anticipated. Cut to 20 years later, Minority Report has aged like a fine wine, with film connoisseurs realizing the value of the film way after its initial release.

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Based on Philip K Dick’s Novella of the Same Name

     20th Century Fox

What made Dick stand out from the rest of his contemporaries was his uncanny ability to predict civilization’s path with accuracy. This ability wasn’t anchored in surface level, soothsaying. It originated from a deep understanding of society and the possible impact technology could have on the human race. To the extent that most of the technology that we enjoy today, made a subtle appearance in Dick’s stories 40 years ago.

Revolutionary World-Building through Alex McDowell’s Production Design

     20th Century Fox/ Dreamworks

Science fiction is a genre that often times does not age well as the technology used in the film gets outdated and loses relevance over time. Minority Report is an exception to this notion. On the contrary, many modern day science fiction lovers are baffled with the world Spielberg and his team created. This level of detailing reflects in all aspects of the film especially the production design. The world of the film wasn’t just created with the brief of making a science fiction film, therefore mindlessly creating futuristic elements, which in turn would exude a far-fetched picture of reality. Rather, Stephen Spielberg and the film’s Production Designer, Alex McDowell, sat down and created a design process that analyzed the impact of technology based on different elements and how they’ve evolved over the past few years.

Spielberg’s Use of Technology to Supplement a Deeply Layered Story

     20th Century Studios

Being the master storyteller that he is, Spielberg consciously did not allow himself to get swayed by the new advancements in the world of technology. Having a clear ethos of the narrative structure of the film, Spielberg used technology to supplement the world rather than using the approach of creating a story around a new form of technology. 20 years later, Minority Report’s major talking points revolve around its world building and revolutionary production design, but it’s due to Spielberg’s focus on the narrative that makes his futuristic world tick.

Tom Cruise: An Actor, A Superstar

     20th Century Fox / Dreamworks

In recent times, many universally known superstars approach acting with stiff, monotonous performances banking on their star power to get the project over the line. Not Tom Cruise. Arguably one of the biggest superstars of all time, Tom Cruise doesn’t just sign on to a project; he commits to it. Standing apart from his contemporaries, Cruise plays a part, a person with a past, a person with an identity; a sensibility. Whether it’s Ethan Hunt of Mission Impossible or Top Gun’s Maverick, Tom Cruise goes the extra mile to do justice to the character he’s playing.

In Minority Report, Cruise plays the part of John Anderton, a police chief in a futuristic unit that predicts crime before the crime takes place with the help of futuristic robots known as Pre-Cogs. Pre-Cogs are never wrong in their predictions, though there are moments where the three Pre-Cogs may disagree with each other. Things take a turn for the worse, when the Pre-Cogs accuse Anderton of a crime that is about to take place, and he finds himself on the run. Throughout the length of the film, Cruise’s Anderton successfully manages to arouse genuine care and concern in the minds of the users against the backdrop of a fast-paced, futuristic story.

Minority Report works on all external levels, from Spielberg’s vision to Cruise’s execution. Though the film goes the extra mile by also putting forth a pertinent question, in a world inhabited by humans and machines - who is the master and who is the slave.