''Strange Days'' is a 1995 American

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and c ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American filmmaker. Covering a wide range of genres, her films include '' Near Dark'' (1987), '' Point Break'' (1991), '' Strange Days'' (1995), '' K-19: The Widowmaker'' (2002), ''The Hurt Loc ...

, written by James Cameron and

Jay Cocks John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.Steven-Charles Jaffe Steven-Charles Jaffe (born 1951) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter known for his work on such films as ''Motel Hell'' (1980), ''Near Dark'' (1987), '' Strange Days'' (1995)'','' and the Best Picture-nominated romantic ...

. It stars

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, and Tom Sizemore. Set in the last two days of 1999, the film follows the story of a black marketeer of recordings that allow a user to experience the recorder's memories and physical sensations as he attempts to uncover the truth behind the murder of a prostitute. Blending science fiction with film noir conventions, ''Strange Days'' explores themes such as

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

abuse of power Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

and

voyeurism Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature. The term comes from the French ''voir'' which means "to see". ...

. Although the story was conceived by Cameron around 1986, Bigelow found inspiration after incidents such as the Lorena Bobbitt trial and the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in So ...

that followed the

Rodney King Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was an African American man who was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers during his arrest after a pursuit for driving whi ...

verdict. The film was shot entirely in the

greater Los Angeles area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

over a period of 77 nights. Some of the film's scenes, which offer a

point-of-view shot A point of view shot (also known as POV shot, first-person shot or a subjective camera) is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being positio ...

(POV), required multi-faceted cameras and considerable technical preparation. A major

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, ''Strange Days'' nearly derailed Bigelow's career, making little more than a sixth of its $42 million production budget. Upon release, the film polarized film critics; some reviewers praised its gritty atmosphere and the performances by Fiennes and Bassett, while others criticized it for failing to comment on its violence. Nevertheless, the film's critical standing has improved over the years, with many fans feeling that the film has been overlooked by a casual mass audience and misguided critics. At the

22nd Saturn Awards The 22nd Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film and television in 1995, were held on June 25, 1996.Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

and Bigelow became the first woman to win the

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

award.

Plot

In the last two days of 1999,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

has become a dangerous war zone. As a group of criminals robs a Chinese restaurant, the event is recorded by a robber wearing a SQUID, an illegal electronic device that records memories and physical sensations directly from the wearer's

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. The cerebral cortex mostly consists of the six-layered neocortex, with just 10% consistin ...

onto a MiniDisc-like device for playback. Lenny Nero, a former LAPD officer turned black marketeer of SQUID recordings, buys the robbery clip from his main supplier, Tick. Elsewhere, a prostitute named Iris, who is a former friend of Lenny's ex-girlfriend Faith Justin, is being chased by LAPD officers Burton Steckler and Dwayne Engelman. Iris escapes on a

subway car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passen ...

, but Engleman pulls off her wig, revealing a SQUID recorder headset. Lenny pines for Faith and relies on emotional support from his two best friends: bodyguard and

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...

driver Lornette "Mace" Mason and private investigator Max Peltier. Mace has unrequited feelings for Lenny from when he was still a cop and stepped in as a dependable father figure for her son after her boyfriend was arrested on drug charges, but disapproves of his SQUID-dealing business. While Lenny and Max are drinking together at a bar, Iris drops a SQUID disc through the sunroof of Lenny's car before it is towed away. Mace picks Lenny up and takes him to a nightclub where Faith is going to sing. There, Lenny receives a SQUID disc from a contact and unsuccessfully tries to get Faith away from her new boyfriend, Philo Gant. Gant is a music industry mogul who managed the recently-slain rapper Jeriko One. While in the car with Mace, Lenny plays the disc the contact gave him and watches Iris being brutally raped and murdered by an attacker at the Sunset Regent hotel. As they approach the hotel, Iris is taken out on a stretcher. The next day, they take the disc to Tick, who cannot identify the source of the recording, but recalls that Iris was looking for Lenny. Mace deduces that Iris may have left something in Lenny's car, and the two go to the impound and find Iris's disc. Steckler and Engleman appear and demand the disc at gunpoint, but Lenny and Mace escape in her car before being forced to stop at a dock. Steckler pours gasoline on the car and sets it on fire, but Mace drives it into the harbor, extinguishing the flames. When they reach the surface, the cops have left. Mace takes Lenny to her brother's house and they watch Iris's disc, showing Iris was with Jeriko One when Steckler and Engleman pulled him over and murdered him because his anti-police lyrics and activism incited protests against the LAPD. The two return to Tick, whom Max reveals has been rendered brain-dead from forceful exposure to amplified SQUID signals. Lenny fears Iris's attacker covered his tracks by "killing" Tick and will come after Faith. Back at the nightclub, Lenny and Mace confront Faith, who reveals that Philo is afraid Iris's disc would reveal that he kept his artists under surveillance. Lenny and Mace disagree over whether to trade the disc to Philo for Faith's freedom or release it publicly, which could incite a citywide riot. As midnight approaches, Lenny and Mace sneak into a private party that Philo is hosting at the

Westin Bonaventure Hotel The Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites is a , 33- story hotel in Los Angeles, California, constructed between 1974 and 1976. It was designed by architect John C. Portman Jr.. The top floor has a revolving restaurant and bar. It was originally ...

for the city's wealthy elite. Lenny has a change of heart and tells Mace to give the disc to deputy police commissioner Palmer Strickland. In Philo's penthouse suite, Lenny finds Philo brain-dead on the floor and another disc, revealing that Max and Faith are lovers, and that Max "fried" Philo's brain with an amplified recording of them feigning rape. Faith explains to Lenny that Philo hired Max to kill Iris, but when Philo wanted Faith dead as part of the coverup, Max decided to frame Lenny for the murders. Lenny and Max struggle in a fight, which culminates with Lenny throwing Max off the balcony to his death. Meanwhile, on the crowded streets, Mace subdues Steckler and Engelman but other officers take down Mace. Strickland arrives and orders Mace be released and Steckler and Engelman arrested for murder. Engelman commits suicide; Steckler threatens Mace, but the officers gun him down. The officers arrest Faith; Lenny finds Mace and the two share a kiss as the crowd celebrates the turn of the new millennium.

Cast

as Lenny Nero * Angela Bassett as Lornette "Mace" Mason * Juliette Lewis as Faith Justin * Tom Sizemore as Max Peltier *

Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leonar ...

as Officer Burton Steckler *

Michael Wincott Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott (born January 21, 1958) is a Canadian actor. His deep, raspy voice has often led to his being cast in villainous roles. Some of his best-known roles include Guy of Gisborne in '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' ( ...

as Philo Gant * Brigitte Bako as Iris *

William Fichtner William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on ''Invasion'', Alexander Mahone on ''Prison Break'', Carl Hickman on '' Crossing Lines'', and Adam Janikowski o ...

as Officer Dwayne Engelman *

Glenn Plummer Glenn E. Plummer (born August 18, 1961) is an American film and television actor best known as Timmy Rawlins in '' ER'' (1994-2007), and Vic Trammel in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008-2009). Biography Plummer was born in Richmond, California. Career ...

as Jeriko "One" *

Richard Edson Richard Edson (born January 1, 1954) is an American actor and musician. Personal life Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York to a Jewish family. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters, Andrea, who resides ...

as "Tick" *

Josef Sommer Maximilian Josef Sommer (born June 26, 1934) is a retired German-American stage, television, and film actor. Early life He was born in Greifswald, Germany, and raised in North Carolina, the son of Elisabeth and Clemens Sommer, a professor of Art ...

as LAPD Commissioner Palmer Strickland *

Louise Lecavalier Louise Lecavalier OC (born October 3, 1958) is a Canadian dancer known as one of the icons of Canadian contemporary dance. Biography Lecavalier was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She began her professional dance career at the age o ...

as Cindy "Vita" Minh *

Rio Hackford Rio Del Valle Hackford (June 28, 1970 – April 14, 2022) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing the recurring role of Toby in the American drama television series '' Treme''. Life and career Hackford was born in ...

as Bobby the Bartender * Brandon Hammond as Zander

Production

Development

The story of ''Strange Days'' was originally conceived by producer James Cameron around 1986. He eventually presented it to his former wife and director

, who immediately found it impressive. According to her, "These two characters on the eve of the millennium, with one character trying to get the woman who loves him to help him save the woman he loves. It's this great emotional matrix." After a series of dialogues, Cameron and Bigelow developed the film's society and political element. Cameron focused more on the romantic side, while Bigelow centered more on "the edginess, the grit" part of the film, which was something she was always interested in. Cameron later wrote a 90-page treatment based on these dialogues, stating that it was "practically a novel, but it was unwieldy; it needed structure." The treatment was then presented to screenwriter

Jay Cocks John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College. Cameron felt that the resulting script was very well structured and only did a dialogue polish on top of it. The script was completed in 1993. Bigelow was motivated to start work on ''Strange Days'' shortly after a series of cultural incidents that occurred in the United States in the early nineties, such as the Lorena Bobbitt trial and the

that followed the

verdict. Referring to the latter, she noted, "I was involved in the downtown cleanup, and I was very moved by that experience. You got a palpable sense of the anger and frustration and economic disparity in which we live." She also developed the character of Mace from Cameron's original script to make "valuable connections between female victimisation and racial oppression." The film was named after the 1967 song of the same name by

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

. Both ''Strange Days'' and Cameron's 1994 action film ''

True Lies ''True Lies'' is a 1994 American spy action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov and Charlton Heston. ...

'' were part of a multimillion-dollar production deal between

Lightstorm Entertainment Lightstorm Entertainment is an American independent production company founded in 1990 by filmmaker James Cameron and producer Lawrence Kasanoff. The majority of its films have been distributed and owned by 20th Century Studios. Its productions i ...

and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. However, the financing was unevenly divided between the two films, with ''Strange Days'' being initially budgeted at $30 million and ''True Lies'' at $70 million.

Casting

Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett was attached to the film from its early stages, after Bigelow sent her the treatment document and Bassett accepted the lead role of Mace. In January 1994, it was reported that actor

Andy Garcia Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

was close to being cast as Lenny. However, on February 3, 1994, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' revealed that Ralph Fiennes had been cast instead and that he was wrapping up negotiations to play the role. Fiennes' starmaking role in ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film f ...

'', for which he was nominated for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

just days later, impressed Bigelow enough to cast him as Lenny. She stated that the role "required somebody who had a tremendous amount of intelligence, complexity, depth, a series of qualities that I really felt only Ralph could supply." Cameron, however, had first felt that a "glibber and slicker" actor would be better for the role, but admitted that Fiennes made Lenny "a sexier character—a guy you can care about very much." ''The Hollywood Reporter'' also announced that Irish rock star Bono was expected to join Fiennes and Bassett in the role of Faith's love interest Philo Gant. In March 1998, columnist

Army Archerd Armand Andre Archerd (January 13, 1922 – September 8, 2009) was an American columnist for ''Variety'' for over fifty years before retiring his "Just for Variety" column in September 2005. In November 2005, Archerd began blogging for ''Variety'' ...

reported in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' that Bono was still being sought for the role, which would eventually be played by Michael Wincott. In May 1994, a third Academy Award nominee, Juliette Lewis, was cast alongside Fiennes and Bassett. The fact that Lewis was able to sing was important because the producers wanted to avoid

lip-synching Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...

Filming

Filming of ''Strange Days'' was originally announced with a start date of May 12, 1994, but that date was delayed to June 6, 1994 as the cast was finalized. Bigelow said that the

O. J. Simpson murder case ''The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson'' was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 1994, in which O. J. Simpson, a former National Football League (NFL) player, broadcaster and actor, was ...

" choedthe film events", adding that ''Strange Days'' was filmed during the summer and fall of that year. The film was entirely shot in the

over a period of 77 nights. Producer

Steven-Charles Jaffe Steven-Charles Jaffe (born 1951) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter known for his work on such films as ''Motel Hell'' (1980), ''Near Dark'' (1987), '' Strange Days'' (1995)'','' and the Best Picture-nominated romantic ...

said that the city was generally very cooperative, except for the subway scene as the team only had four hours a night to film it. Jaffe, however, remarked that Bigelow "was so well prepared that what would have taken another director several weeks to do, she did in a matter of days." The production team also received permission from the West Hollywood film commission to film on

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...

for a two-day period, which required the shut down of several lanes of traffic. The scene where the crowd celebrates the turn of the new millennium at the end of the film was shot at the corner of the 5th and Flower streets, between the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and the

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...

. Over 50 off-duty police officers were hired to control an assembled crowd of 10,000 people, who had to pay $10 in advance to attend the event. The film-makers also hired rave promoters Moss Jacobs and Philip Blaine to produce performances featuring Aphex Twin,

Deee-Lite Deee-Lite was an American house and dance music group formed in New York City. The group's best-known single is "Groove Is in the Heart", which was released in 1990 from their debut studio album ''World Clique'' (1990), and was a top-ten hit i ...

, as well as "all the cyber-techno bands they could garner". It was reported that a total of $750,000 was spent on the event, which included the production's rental of half of the 1,300 rooms in the Bonaventure. The event started at 9 pm on a Saturday night and ended shortly before its scheduled end at 4 am, as five people were hospitalized for suffering overdoses of the drug ecstasy. The film's SQUID scenes, which offer a

(POV), required multi-faceted cameras and considerable technical preparation. A full year was spent building a specialized camera that could reproduce the effect of looking through someone else's eyes. Bigelow revealed that it was essentially "a stripped-down Arri that weighed much less than the smallest EYMO and yet it would take all the prime lenses." Cinematographer

Matthew F. Leonetti Matthew Frank Leonetti A.S.C. (born July 31, 1941) is an American cinematographer. Accomplished and highly prolific, he has worked on dozens of well-known and acclaimed films spanning numerous genres, including '' Poltergeist'', ''Fast Times ...

was also hired to help Bigelow film the scenes, which were choreographed weeks in advance. The opening sequence, which features a 16-foot jump between two buildings by a stunt performer without a safety harness, took two years to co-ordinate and has hidden cuts. For example, the jump was filmed with a

helmet camera A helmet camera, otherwise known as a micro video camera, is an action camera, usually a closed circuit television camera, attached to a helmet allowing someone to make a visual record from their point of view ( POV), while keeping their hands and ...

, while the run up a stair escape required a

Steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...

. According to Cameron, "We designed transitions that would work seamlessly. It was a very technical scene that doesn't look technical." The sequence where Iris runs in front of a speeding freight train was shot backwards, with the train backing up. The footage was then reversed during editing.

Music

International music was chosen as the primary music style of ''Strange Days'' due to its variety of sounds and instruments. According to music supervisor Randy Gerston, who previously worked on ''True Lies'', this type of music helped the film-makers create a futuristic atmosphere, noting that "the world is shrinking and people are getting acclimated to strange languages being part of the pop vernacular."

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born ...

was the first composer hired to create a score for the film. Michel Sanchez and

Éric Mouquet Éric Mouquet (born 19 March 1960 in Valenciennes, France), is the co-founder of the band Deep Forest. He won a Grammy Award in 1995, and a World Award for best world music album. The other half of Deep Forest is Michel Sanchez.Yoga Journal No. ...

, the French duo known as

Deep Forest Deep Forest is a French musical group originally consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance b ...

, were then hired to replace Kamen's work. In addition to their score, Deep Forest teamed with Peter Gabriel to write an original song for the film's end credits, titled " While the Earth Sleeps". Australian composer

Graeme Revell Graeme Revell (born 23 October 1955) is a New Zealand musician and composer. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the leader of the industrial/electronic group SPK. Since the 1990s he has worked primarily as a film score composer. Some of ...

, fresh off writing an acclaimed score for ''

The Crow The Crow is a supernatural superhero comic book series created by James O'Barr revolving around the titular character of the same name. The series, which was originally created by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his fiancée at t ...

'', was then hired to replace most of Deep Forest's work, and he wrote the electronic-driven score used in the finished film. Revell also teamed with singer-songwriter Lori Carson to write an original song that appears over the film's final scene, titled "Fall in the Light". Bigelow was a fan of English musician PJ Harvey, and chose two of her songs, "Rid of Me" and "Hardly Wait", to be performed onscreen by Lewis.

Alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

Skunk Anansie Skunk Anansie are a British rock band whose members include Skin (lead vocals, guitar), Cass (bass, guitar, backing vocals), Ace (guitar, backing vocals) and Mark Richardson (drums and percussion). Skunk Anansie formed in 1994, disbanded in 2 ...

appeared in the film, performing at the New Year's Eve event, and were encouraged to

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and ente ...

between

take A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each s ...

s, so Bigelow could record them live and give the rave greater authenticity. Although the band would have a live sound on the film, they ultimately had to lip-sync. Other musicians featured on the soundtrack included British

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

artist Tricky, Belgian electronic group Lords of Acid and American heavy metal band

Prong Prong or Prongs may refer to: * Prong, synonym of tine (structural), a branch or spike of various tools and natural objects * Prong (band), an American metal band * Prong (company), an iPhone accessories company in New York City * Prongs, British ...

. A soundtrack album was released on October 3, 1999. In addition, 60,000 promotional CD-ROMs, which contained production material from the film and music clips from the soundtrack, were made available only through the "College Special" issue of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine that was sold at record stores.

Themes

Although ''Strange Days'' is generally classified as a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

thriller, the film uses multiple dramatic and narrative elements, including film noir conventions like the femme fatale (Faith Justin). The terms "

techno-thriller A techno-thriller or technothriller is a hybrid genre drawing from science fiction, thrillers, spy fiction, action, and war novels. They include a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical details on their subject matter ( ...

", " tech-noir", and "futuristic erotic thriller" have also been used. In 2001, cultural critic Steven Shaviro compared ''Strange Days'' to Cameron's earlier films, stating that the film "has characters that the viewer is supposed to identify with, and a plot full of thrills, exciting action sequences and unexpected twists. But at the same time, ''Strange Days'' is very much an experimental film, one that questions and inverts the traditional and Hollywood structures of identification and involvement, in ways that are consonant with the ideas that have been put forward by feminist film criticism over the last thirty years." The film's dystopian society and use of SQUID technology, which has been compared to the "simstim" technology in

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...

's 1984 novel ''

Neuromancer ''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. Considered one of the earliest and best-known works in the cyberpunk genre, it is the only novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and ...

'', were also considered

concepts. The film explores controversial themes such as

, and

Voyeurism Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature. The term comes from the French ''voir'' which means "to see". ...

is also a major element due to the protagonist's extensive use of SQUID technology. The fact that the film was directed by a woman was even more controversial, with film critic Michael Mirasol noting that had ''Strange Days'' been directed by a man, these scenes would likely have been criticized as sexist and

misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...

. Nevertheless, Bigelow insisted that the film does not glorify violence and that it has a positive purpose. According to her, "I wanted to treat 'the system' fairly, because if it's the enemy, then we're the enemy, since by not changing it we're reproducing it... The film ends in a strong insistence on hope. Ultimately it's humanity - not technology - that takes us into the next century and the next millennium." In 2015, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' editor Sonny Bunch felt that ''Strange Days'' was still relevant, comparing the imagery captured by the SQUID units to that of

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...

s or cellphone videos on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. He added that events such as Jeriko One's murder and the subsequent coverup of the crime contribute to activist movements like

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

, and that their media documentation amplifies their reception and consequences. Mace was seen as a strong yet very feminine female character, as she often rescues Lenny in dire situations and shows maternal concern for him. Both characters represent a significant contrast: Mace is the film's

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

and moral center, whereas Lenny is the

antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...

; Mace is

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

and Lenny is

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

; and finally, Mace represents the "hard-edged, reality-based" component, while Lenny is dominated by fantasies. This is especially notable when Mace yells to him, "This is your life! Right here! Right now! It's real time, you hear me? Real time, time to get real, not playback!" The film's white characters also tend to be nihilistically concerned with the present, while black characters are generally future revolutionaries. Bigelow considered ''Strange Days'' her most personal film, claiming that "It's a synthesis of all the different tracks I've been exploring, either deliberately or unconsciously, ever since I started making art."

Release

Box office

''Strange Days'' premiered at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...

on October 6, 1995, grossing $31,062 on that weekend. It expanded a week later on October 13, 1995 in 1,691 theaters and grossed $3,656,012 on its opening weekend. The film's poor performance at the box office was compared to '' Jade'' and ''

The Scarlet Letter ''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, ...

'', which opened at the same time and had a similar budget. Overall, the film went on to make $7,959,291 in North America, little more than a sixth of its $42 million production cost. As a result, ''Strange Days'' was considered a commercial failure, due in part to the poor marketing strategy and lack of audience understanding. The film almost derailed Bigelow's career, as five years would pass before she directed her next film, '' The Weight of Water''. Internationally, ''Strange Days'' was distributed by

United International Pictures United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer an ...

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Strange Days'' polarized film critics. Roger Ebert, who gave the film four out of four stars, described it as "a technical tour de force" and highlighted the film's astute use of SQUID technology, stating that "Bigelow is able to exploit the idea of what is happening; she forces her audience to deal with the screen reality, instead of allowing us to process it as routine 'action.'" The film's technical aspects were also praised by ''

'' editor

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

, who remarked that no other film since ''

Lady in the Lake ''Lady in the Lake'' is a 1947 American film noir starring Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Tom Tully, Leon Ames and Jayne Meadows. An adaptation of the 1943 Raymond Chandler murder mystery ''The Lady in the Lake'', the pictur ...

'' in 1947 had "experimented so extensively with the subjective camera". In a mixed review, Owen Gleiberman of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' gave the film a "B−" rating, concluding that ''Strange Days'' "has a dazzling atmosphere of grunge futurism, but beneath its dark satire of audiovisual decadence lurks a naggingly conventional underworld thriller." Edward Guthmann of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' criticized the film for failing to commentate its violence, saying that "Bigelow's style is so visceral ..that her movie reminds us of a

snuff film A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...

, rather than a well-reasoned cautionary tale about our animal instincts." '' New York'' magazine writer

David Denby David Denby (born 1943) is an American journalist. He served as film critic for ''The New Yorker'' until December 2014. Early life and education Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B. A. from Columbia University in 1965, and a master' ...

called the rape scene "the sickest sequence in modern movies". The performances of the lead characters were highlighted very positively. Writing for ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', film critic Michael Wilmington praised Fiennes' performance because it captures "the weaselly, pleading side of Lenny", while noting "the slight formality of his diction", which he felt gives the character depth. Similarly, in her review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'',

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

said that Fiennes "gleefully captures Lenny's sleaziness while also showing there is something about this schlockmeister that is worth saving, despite much evidence to the contrary." As for Bassett, she felt that the character "looks great and radiates inner strength even without the bone-crunching physical feats to which she is often assigned."

Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...

of ''

'' called ''Strange Days'' Bigelow's "

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

" and credited Bassett's "standout" performance, describing her as "fierce, funny and heart rending". In contrast, Sizemore and Lewis were considered miscast in their roles. At the

and Bigelow became the first woman to win the

award. Retrospectively, the film's critical standing has improved. Roger Ebert's correspondent Michael Mirasol felt that ''Strange Days'' had some obvious weaknesses, including a dialogue that is too polished for its setting, but nevertheless judged its "devotion to its characters, its remarkable use of POVs to create its consistent atmosphere of apprehension and excitement, and most of all, its fearlessness." In 2009, Drew Morton of the Pajiba website considered ''Strange Days'' an "extremely underappreciated film" and "the best piece of cyberpunk to grace celluloid since Ridley Scott's ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

''." ''Strange Days'' also garnered a small cult following, who felt that the film has been overlooked by a casual mass audience and misguided critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 66% based on reviews from 53 critics. The website's consensus states: "''Strange Days'' struggles to make the most of its futuristic premise, but what's left remains a well-directed, reasonably enjoyable sci-fi fantasy." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on a scale of A+ to F.

Home media

''Strange Days'' was released on VHS in the United States by

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

on April 2, 1996. A special widescreen THX LaserDisc was released in the United States on May 22, 1996. The LaserDisc's special features included a 1-hour lecture about how the opening scene was filmed, two

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...

s, a music video for " Selling Jesus" directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the original teaser and theatrical

trailers Trailer may refer to: a Transportation * Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle ** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers ** Full-trailer ** Semi-trailer **Horse trail ...

, and photo galleries of storyboards and production stills. On September 28, 1999, the film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in the United States, containing all the features from the LaserDisc version, except for the music video and photo galleries.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strange Days 1990s science fiction thriller films 1990s dystopian films 1999 films 20th Century Fox films American dystopian films American science fiction thriller films Brain–computer interfacing in fiction Cyberpunk films 1990s English-language films Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department Fiction featuring the turn of the third millennium Films about drugs Films about rape Films about technological impact Films about telepresence Films adapted into comics Films directed by Kathryn Bigelow Films produced by James Cameron Films produced by Steven-Charles Jaffe Films scored by Graeme Revell Films set around New Year Films set in 1999 Films set in Los Angeles Films set in the future Films shot from the first-person perspective Films shot in Los Angeles Films with screenplays by James Cameron Films with screenplays by Jay Cocks Lightstorm Entertainment films Films about snuff films Universal Pictures films 1990s American films