The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Josef Rusnak

Writers:

Daniel F. Galouye (book)
Josef Rusnak (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

28 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Question reality. You can go there even though it doesn't exist.

Plot:

Computer scientist Hannon Fuller has discovered something extremely important. He's about to tell the discovery to his colleague...

Plot Keywords:

Letter | Parallel World | Shot In The Head | Stabbing | Hollywood Sign

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Craig Bierko	...	Douglas Hall / John Ferguson / David
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Hannon Fuller / Grierson
Gretchen Mol	...	Jane Fuller / Natasha Molinaro
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Jason Whitney / Jerry Ashton
Dennis Haysbert	...	Detective Larry McBain
Steven Schub	...	Detective Zev Bernstein
Jeremy Roberts	...	Tom Jones
Rif Hutton	...	Joe
Leon Rippy	...	Jane's Lawyer
Janet MacLachlan	...	Ellen
Brad William Henke	...	Cop #1 (as Brad Henke)
Burt Bulos	...	Bellhop
Venessia Valentino	...	Concierge
Howard S. Miller	...	Chauffeur
Tia Texada	...	Natasha's Roomate
Shiri Appleby	...	Bridget Manilla
Bob Clendenin	...	Bank Manager (as Robert Clendenin)
Rachel Winfree	...	Bank Customer
Meghan Ivey	...	Chanteuse
Alison Lohman	...	Honey Bear Girl
Hadda Brooks	...	Lounge Piano Player
Ron Boussom	...	Maitre D'
Ernie Lively	...	30's Cop
Toni Sawyer	...	Grierson's Wife
Brooks Almy	...	Bridget's Mom
Darryl Henriques	...	Cab Driver
Suzanne Harrer	...	Tired Dancer
Lee Weaver	...	30's Limo Driver
Geoffrey Rivas	...	Security Guard
Travis Tedford	...	Newspaper Boy
Jeff Blumenkrantz	...	Choreographer
Andrew Alden	...	Doorman
Johnny Crawford	...	Singer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Die Wiener Sängerknaben	...	Themselves (as The Vienna Boys Choir)
Vivian Palermo	...	Woman on Beach (uncredited)
Tracy Perry	...	Party Member (uncredited)
Glendon Rich	...	Detective (uncredited)
Dea Natasja Rosenmeier	...	Erika Schmitt, the Cigarette Girl (uncredited)
Mary Ann Schmidt	...	Bank Business Woman (uncredited)
Will Wallace	...	Other Ashton (uncredited)
Randy Woltz	...	Drummer (uncredited)

Directed by
Josef Rusnak

Writing credits
Daniel F. Galouye		(book "Simulacron 3") (as Daniel Galouye)
Josef Rusnak		(screenplay) &
Ravel Centeno-Rodriguez		(screenplay)

Produced by
Helga Ballhaus	....	executive producer
Michael Ballhaus	....	executive producer
Roland Emmerich	....	producer
Ute Emmerich	....	producer
Kelly Van Horn	....	co-producer
Marco Weber	....	producer

Original Music by
Harald Kloser

Cinematography by
Wedigo von Schultzendorff		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Henry Richardson

Casting by
David Bloch
April Webster

Production Design by
Kirk M. Petruccelli

Art Direction by
Frank Bollinger
Barry Chusid		(supervising art director)

Set Decoration by
Victor J. Zolfo

Costume Design by
Joseph A. Porro		(as Joseph Porro)

Makeup Department
Bobbi Baird	....	makeup artist
Virginia Kearns	....	hair stylist
Erwin H. Kupitz	....	wig designer
Thomas Nellen	....	key makeup department head
Katherine Rees	....	key hair department head
Lori McCoy-Bell	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
James K. Jensen	....	post-production supervisor
Lisa Lynn Kearsley	....	production supervisor
Kelly Van Horn	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Foongy Lee	....	second second assistant director
Kim H. Winther	....	first assistant director (as Kim Winther)
Lars P. Winther	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Evelyn Barbier	....	set designer
Robert A. Blackburn	....	construction coordinator
Lloyd A. Buswell	....	construction foreman
Ray Harvie	....	storyboard artist
Scott Maginnis	....	assistant set decorator
John Maskovich	....	lead man
Steven B. Melton	....	property master
Melody Miller	....	assistant property master
Joy Phillips	....	art department associate
A. Leslie Thomas	....	set designer
Joshua Warner	....	on-set dresser
Jean Brauner	....	model maker (uncredited)
Chris Brewster	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Travis Huffman	....	propmaker (uncredited)
Joshua Hunt	....	property assistant (uncredited)
Scott G. Jones	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Mark Kudra	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Allen Lafferty	....	propmaker (uncredited)
Scott Lafferty	....	propmaker (uncredited)
Thomas Lauifi	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Steven O'Bannon	....	laborer (uncredited)
William H. Phen Jr.	....	construction general foreman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert J. Anderson Jr.	....	sound
Hubert Bartholomae	....	sound re-recording mixer
Hubert Bartholomae	....	supervising sound editor
Dino Dimuro	....	adr editor
Jonathan Fuh	....	boom operator (as Jonathan Lee-Ger Fuh)
José Antonio García	....	sound
Axel Hirn	....	sound recording engineer
Pit Kuhlmann	....	foley editor
Dave McMoyler	....	adr supervisor
Andreas Musolff	....	sound effects editor
Richard Oesterreicher	....	sound recording engineer
Margit Pfeiffer	....	dialogue editor
Margit Pfeiffer	....	foley editor
Jörn Poetzl	....	foley artist (as Joern Poetzl)
Ron Radvinsky	....	apprentice sound editor
Friedrich Wilhem Roedding	....	sound recording engineer
Mary Ruth Smith	....	adr editor (as Mary Smith)
Gary Coppola	....	additional re-recording mixer: temp (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Jan Aaris	....	special effects foreman
John S. Baker	....	special effects coordinator
Henrik Scheib	....	workshop manager
Pit Zaepernick	....	painter (as Pit Zappernick)
H. Barclay Aaris	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Christian Ahlers	....	senior modelmaker
James Auger	....	senior modelmaker
Axel Bahro	....	senior modelmaker
Joe Bauer	....	visual effects supervisor
Susanna Bauer	....	senior modelmaker
Jan Bernotat	....	motion control operator: miniature unit
Friederike Berthold	....	model maker
Cania	....	matador artist
Matt Cordner	....	rendering artist
Matt Cordner	....	technical director
Sebastian Cramer	....	model shoot coordinator
Doug Creel	....	rendering artist: CFX (as Douglas Creel)
Doug Creel	....	senior technical director
Robert Cribbett	....	rotoscope artist
Sean C. Cunningham	....	effects supervisor (as Sean Cunningham)
Mitchell S. Drain	....	lead compositor (as Mitch Drain)
Hartmut Engel	....	CGI animation artist (as Hartmut Engel III)
Conny Fauser	....	compositing supervisor (as Cornelia Fauser-Ruemelin)
Daniel Fazel	....	lighting technical director
Haggi Floeser	....	CG animation artist
Nickson Fong	....	technical director
Moritz Glaesle	....	digital compositor
Frank Gorgas	....	model lighting
Joachim Grüninger	....	miniature effects supervisor
Abra Grupp	....	compositor
Christian Haas	....	CG animation artist
Greg Hanigan	....	digital imaging supervisor
Christian Heinz	....	modelmaker
Scott Holmes	....	character animator
Joe Jackman	....	lead tracking artist
Katrin Klaiber	....	matador artist
Cathleen Klein	....	matador artist
Marc Kolbe	....	digital effects producer (as Marc L. Kolbe)
Fabian Kraus	....	painter
Birger Laube	....	senior modelmaker
Peggy Lebel	....	visual effects assistant
Alex Lemke	....	data management
Lutz Lemke	....	digital film scanning
Sibylle Maier	....	digital film recording
Andres Marder	....	chief lighting technician: miniature unit
Christian Mayer	....	model lighting
Tim Mendler	....	camera/motion control assistant: miniature unit
Christian Middelberg	....	visual effects producer
Joanna Motek	....	CGI animation artist
Craig A. Mumma	....	digital effects producer
Christoph Neu	....	modelmaker
Benedikt Niemann	....	character animator
Connie Oettl	....	senior modelmaker (as Cornelia H. Oettl)
Fumiari Ogawa	....	senior modelmaker
Rocco Passionino	....	lead effects artist
Cristin Pescosolido	....	compositor
Ethan Phillips	....	visual effects CLT
Carolin Quis	....	CGI supervisor
Henning Raedlein	....	visual effects producer
Kosta Saric	....	visual effects editor
Henrik Scheib	....	workshop manager: Magicon
Oliver Seiter	....	digital compositor
Britta Sell	....	director of photography: miniature unit
Nelson Sepulveda	....	compositing supervisor: CFX
Kevin Souls	....	character animator
Frederic Soumagnas	....	lead lighting artist
Bret St. Clair	....	lead digital texture artist
Wolf Steiling	....	senior modelmaker
Bernd Sumalowitsch	....	miniature still photographer
Olcun Tan	....	CGI animation artist
James D. Tittle	....	digital effects coordinator: CFX
Anke Vollmer	....	modelmaker
Udo Vollmer	....	modelmaker
Waggi von Seidlein	....	senior model maker (as Waggi v. Seidlein)
Daniel v. Volckamer	....	senior modelmaker
Mortimer Warlimont	....	senior modelmaker
Steffen M. Wild	....	digital effects supervisor: CFX
Klaus Wuchta	....	digital compositor
Pit Zaepernick	....	painter (as Pit Zappernick)
Jürgen 'Zambo' Zimmermann	....	model maker (as Juergen Zimmerman)
Archie Gogoladze	....	digital artist (uncredited)
Vincent E. Toto	....	visual effects director of photography (uncredited)

Stunts
Thomas Robinson Harper	....	stunts
Freddie Hice	....	stunts (as Fred Hice)
Tommy J. Huff	....	stunts (as Tom Huff)
Henry Kingi	....	stunts
Billy D. Lucas	....	stunts (as Billy Lucas)
Matt McBride	....	stunts
Anthony T. Pennello	....	stunts (as Tony Pennello)
Chad Randall	....	stunts
Larry Rippenkroeger	....	stunts (as Larry Rippenkroger)
R.A. Rondell	....	stunt coordinator
Debby Lynn Ross	....	stunts
Fred M. Waugh	....	stunts (as Fred Waugh)

Camera and Electrical Department
Claudette Barius	....	still photographer
Michael Bauman	....	assistant chief lighting technician (as Mike Bauman)
Philip L. Brown	....	best boy grip (as Phil Brown)
Keith Collea	....	video supervisor
Jefferson T. Jones	....	camera loader
Mitchell Lookabaugh	....	dolly grip (as Mitch Lookabaugh)
Max Neal	....	second assistant camera
Brian W. Nordheim	....	first assistant camera
Tim Ryan	....	key grip
Chris Squires	....	Steadicam operator
Chris Squires	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Jon R. Tower	....	chief lighting technician (as Jon Tower)
Chris Wagganer	....	video assist operator
Gary L. Camp	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (uncredited)
Michael Chang	....	rigging gaffer (uncredited)
Frank Endewardt	....	set lighting technician (uncredited)
Susa Kohlstedt	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Andres Marder	....	chief lighting technician: miniature unit (uncredited)
Don McCuaig	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
David Musselman	....	electrician (uncredited)
James D. Wickman	....	grip (uncredited)

Casting Department
Randall E. Flinn	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Annie Dunn	....	set costumer (as Ann D. Dunn)
Jean Rosone	....	costume supervisor
Deborah Slate	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Rick Downey	....	negative cutter
Alexander Garcia	....	first assistant editor (as Alex Garcia)
Blake Maniquis	....	second assistant editor
Dana Ross	....	color timer
David Siegel	....	additional editor

Music Department
Peter Afterman	....	music supervisor
William Boston	....	additional orchestrator (as Bill Boston)
Johnny Crawford	....	historic music consultant
Johnny Crawford	....	musical director
Ross DeRoche	....	music preparation (as Ross de Rocher)
Andrew Dorfman	....	music editor (as Andy Dorfman)
Randy Gerston	....	music supervisor
Benoit Grey	....	additional orchestrator
Kevin Kliesch	....	orchestrator
Harald Kloser	....	conductor
Harald Kloser	....	orchestrator
Thomas Wanker	....	composer: additional music
Thomas Wanker	....	conductor
Thomas Wanker	....	orchestrator
Larry Kenton	....	additional orchestrator (uncredited)
Robert J. Ramirez	....	additional orchestrator (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Craig Lietzke	....	transportation captain
David Shaffer	....	transportation captain (as David Shafer)
Richard Burch	....	driver: mechanic (uncredited)

Other crew
Rachel Aberly	....	unit publicist
Daniel Hsu Accomando	....	clip licensing manager
Jason Astor	....	production assistant
Melissa Bargar	....	production secretary
Kim Berner	....	script supervisor
Kim Clever	....	choreographer
Corky Cronin	....	production assistant
Ross C. Day	....	location manager (as Ross Day)
Stephen P. Del Prete	....	production assistant
René Descartes	....	quotation (as Descartes)
James Ealy	....	set medic
Dana Eller	....	production assistant
Katie Eustermann	....	production assistant
Cindy Franke	....	production coordinator
David Frutos	....	choreographer
Joie Gharrity	....	assistant: Mr. Emmerich
Rod Hamilton	....	assistant: Mr. Rusnak
Cheri Jacobs	....	assistant accountant
Vanessa R. Jordan	....	assistant: Ute Emmerich
Kevin LaRosa	....	aerial coordinator
Fran Lucci	....	production accountant (as Fran Lucci-Pannozzo)
Jay Ostrowski	....	production assistant
Jahmani Perry	....	production assistant
James Perry	....	assistant to location manager
Kathleen Roll	....	production assistant
Rachel Rose	....	assistant: Mr. Weber
Marc Roskin	....	assistant: Mr. Emmerich
Melissa N. Savage	....	production secretary
Chris Winn	....	craft service
John C. Bush	....	video computer graphics (uncredited)
Douglas W. McHenry	....	post-production accountant (uncredited)
Robert Mehnert	....	aerial unit director (uncredited)
Mimi Munn	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Thell Reed	....	armorer (uncredited)
Shari Sontag	....	accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Centropolis Film Productions (as A Centropolis Entertainment Production)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1999) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films (1999) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (1999) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de España (1999) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Jugendfilm-Verleih (1999) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (2000) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (2000) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2000) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• V8 (2002) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)

Special Effects

• Centropolis Effects (digital visual effects)
• MagicMove GmbH (miniatures)
• Magicon (miniatures)

Other Companies

• ARRI Digital  scanning and recording services
• Axium Payroll Services  payroll services
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes and dollies
• Charlie Messenger Casting  extras casting
• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  color
• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  opticals
• D' Caterers  catering
• DeLuxe Laboratories  prints
• Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen  film subsidizer
• International Film Guarantors  completion guarantee
• Otto Nemenz International  Arriflex cameras provided by
• Pacific Title/Mirage  titles
• Solid Sound  sound services
• Spacecam Systems  spacecam aerial camera system

Also Known As:

Abwärts in die Zukunft (Germany) (TV title)
The 13th Floor (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | South Korea:12 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

777 S. Figueroa Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Centropolis Film Productions

Trivia:

The science fiction novel Simulacron-3 was also published under the title Counterfeit World, it was first published in 1964 by Daniel F. Galouye in the United States, and is one of the first literary descriptions of virtual reality.

Goofs:

Continuity: The message left on Douglas Hall's answering machine clearly doesn't match the earlier scene where Fuller records it.

Quotes:

Hannon Fuller: [First lines] Ignorance is bliss. For the first time in my life, I agree.

Movie Connections:

Features You Can't Take It with You (1938)

Soundtrack:

Bugle Call Rag

Solid Science-Fiction.

This movie was both critically and financially panned. Why?

Two words. The Matrix.

The Thirteenth Floor is a good movie. No, it's not "The Matrix" all over again, but it wasn't trying to be. Comparing these two movies is like comparing Star Trek with Star Wars. Both are similar in aspects, but very different in others.

This is what happens when two movies of similar type are released in close proximity. The first one always has a jump-start on the second by means of box office success and pleasant reviews. That's why I think "The Thirteenth Floor" was branded as a bad movie. People had already seen "The Matrix" with it's knock-out special effects and cast and weren't open-minded for a movie on the same genre branch as The Matrix. So The 13th Floor was said to be 'a bland, pale imitation of the Matrix'.

Maybe "The Thirteenth Floor" doesn't have a star-studded cast - yes, it's cast is mostly regular supporting players, but they work well with the material. So there's no kung-fu ass kicking scenes, so what!

There's a great atmosphere, a intriguing story and a real nice plot twist. To me that makes up a very fine movie. So I ask what was so very wrong with "The Thirteenth Floor" that made critics turn away and made it tank at the box office? Really it's people's unwillingness to give a similar movie a chance and instead opting to take the easy route and branding it as a "rip-off". Which is their loss unfortunately.