Strange Days is awesome. It's a shame it didn't get the love it needed when it came out.

Strange Days has always been on my radar due to it being written by James Cameron and directed by his former wife Kathryn Bigelow but due it not being unavailable on Blu-Ray or iTunes to rent in the USA, I had to keep putting it off. However, due to it's recent addition of it to HBO Max I finally decided to give it a watch and it's definitely my favorite Kathryn Bigelow movie.

First up is the cast. I'll admit, when I saw Ralph Fiennes as the lead , I found it a bit jarring. I've always known him as Amon Göth in Schindler's List, Voldemort in the Harry Potter movies or as M in the Daniel Craig James Bond movies, so seeing him as the street character Lenny Nero came off as off-putting to me. Still, those doubts were dashed because he's fantastic. I especially love the bit he does with the Rolex. (Is this impact resistant?)

The rest of the cast is also great with Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis (in perhaps her hottest role), Tom Sizemore, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Michael Wincott with that raspy voice of his.

I also love the look of this movie. It has this cyberpunk dystopian look despite it taking place on the last few days of 1999. The climax also takes place during a New Year's celebration in downtown LA and it just looks beautiful.

The action is also pretty great. I especially love the way Bigelow crafts these POV scenes. They could be thrilling like the Chinese restaurant robbery or downright terrifying such as the breaking and entering scene.

Strange Days is the kind of movie that I can see getting better with repeat viewings. I also hope it gets a proper Blu-Ray release in the US. (The UK got a release in 2017). Maybe Arrow or Shout Factory can release one but it seems unlikely since Disney now owns the North American distribution rights.

I just hope this movie gets more attention. It deserves cult status!

Submitted January 11, 2023 at 11:05PM by ggroover97 https://ift.tt/y2eZHAL