Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Director:

Robert Longo

Writers (WGA):

William Gibson (short story)
William Gibson (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 May 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The future's most wanted fugitive.

Plot:

A data courier, carrying a data package literally inside his head too large to hold for long, must deliver it before he dies from it.

Plot Keywords:

Dystopia | Top Secret | Computer | Cyberspace | Surrealism

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Keanu Reeves	...	Johnny Mnemonic
Dina Meyer	...	Jane
Ice-T	...	J-Bone
Takeshi Kitano	...	Takahashi (as Takeshi)
Dennis Akayama	...	Shinji
Dolph Lundgren	...	Street Preacher
Henry Rollins	...	Spider
Barbara Sukowa	...	Anna Kalmann
Udo Kier	...	Ralfi
Tracy Tweed	...	Pretty
Falconer Abraham	...	Yomamma
Don Francks	...	Hooky
Diego Chambers	...	Henson
Sherry Miller	...	Takahashi's Secretary
Arthur Eng	...	Viet

Also Known As:

Fugitivo del futuro (USA: Spanish title) (TV title)
Johnny Mnémonique (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

Japan:107 min (video version) | USA:96 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R (certificate #33529) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (short version) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) (longer version) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (also edited version) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Casa Loma - 1 Austin Terrace, Casa Loma, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

Val Kilmer was originally set to star, but left the project after he was offered the role of Batman in Batman Forever (1995).

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Spider is explaining to Johnny the cause of NAS.

Quotes:

Hooky: [Street Preacher submerges his prosthetic hand into liquid nitrogen and then smashes it]
[looking at what is left of his shattered hand]
Hooky: [groaning] Why did you do that?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Beast Wars: Transformers: Before the Storm (#1.24)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

MEMORY JOHNNY SKA YAKUZA FIREFIGHT

Not that bad, actually ...

When I first saw this at the cinema I remember thinking that it really sucked - but a couple of repeat viewings (on video) later and I have to admit I rather like it. Gibson's adaptation of his own story is shot full of holes but otherwise entertaining.

Reeves is better than usual with top-line support from Henry Rollins (very manic, very funny) and Ice-T, And, yes, Dolph Lundgren even does okay. The action's well handled and the film looks exactly right. Really the main disappointment for me now is the under-use of legendary Japanese director and actor (nothing to do with Hong Kong action movies as stated elsewhere in these reviews) Takeshi Kitano, who is so effective in his own films and was superb in Merry Christmas Mr.Lawrence.