Johnny Mnemonic - GOOD - FREE SHIPPING

Description: Johnny Mnemonic (film)32 languagesArticleTalkReadEditView historyToolsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJohnny MnemonicTheatrical release posterDirected byRobert LongoScreenplay byWilliam GibsonBased onJohnny Mnemonic by William GibsonProduced byDon CarmodyStarringKeanu ReevesDolph LundgrenTakeshi KitanoIce-TDina MeyerCinematographyFrançois ProtatEdited byRonald Sanders[1]Music byBrad FiedelMychael Danna (Japanese release)Production companyJohnny Mnemonic Productions[2]Distributed byAlliance Communications[3] (Canada)TriStar Pictures[2] (US)Release datesApril 15, 1995 (Japan)May 26, 1995 (United States)Running time96 minutes[4]CountriesCanada[2]United States[2]LanguageEnglish[2]Budget$26 million[5]Box office$19 million (US)[5]Johnny Mnemonic is a 1995 cyberpunk action film[6] directed by Robert Longo in his feature directorial debut. William Gibson, who wrote the 1981 short story, wrote the screenplay. The film, set in 2021, portrays a dystopian future racked by a tech-induced plague, awash with conspiracies, and dominated by megacorporations and organized crime. Keanu Reeves plays Johnny, a data courier with an overloaded brain implant designed to securely store confidential information. Takeshi Kitano portrays a yakuza affiliated with a megacorporation attempting to suppress the data; he hires a psychopathic assassin played by Dolph Lundgren to do so. Ice-T and Dina Meyer co-star as Johnny's allies, a freedom fighter and a bodyguard, respectively.It was shot in Canada; Toronto and Montreal filled in for Newark and Beijing. The project was difficult for Gibson and Longo. After they struggled for years to finance a low-budget adaptation of Gibson's story, Sony greenlit Johnny Mnemonic with a $26 million budget. When Reeves' previous film, Speed, unexpectedly became a major hit, Sony attempted to retool Johnny Mnemonic as a blockbuster. Longo experienced extensive creative differences with the studio, who forced casting choices and script rewrites on him. The film was ultimately recut without Longo's involvement, resulting in a version that he felt did not reflect his artistic vision. Described by Longo and Gibson as originally full of irony, it was edited into a mainstream action film and received negative reviews from critics.A longer version (103 mins) of the film premiered in Japan on April 15, 1995, featuring a score by Mychael Danna and more scenes involving Kitano. The film was released in the United States on May 26, 1995. In 2022, a black-and-white edition of the film, titled Johnny Mnemonic: In Black and White was released, which Gibson characterized as closer to his original vision.[7]Plot[edit]In 2021, society is driven by a virtual Internet, which has created a degenerate effect called "nerve attenuation syndrome" or NAS. Megacorporations control much of the world, intensifying the class hostility already created by NAS.Johnny is a "mnemonic courier" who discreetly transports sensitive data for corporations in a storage device implanted in his brain at the cost of his childhood memories. His current job is for a group of scientists in Beijing. Johnny initially balks when he learns the data exceeds his memory capacity even with compression, but agrees given the large fee will be enough to cover the cost of the operation to remove the device. Johnny keeps it secret that he is overloaded; he must have the data extracted within a few days or suffer fatal brain damage and corrupt the data. The scientists encrypt the data with three random images from a television feed. As they transmit these images to the receiver in Newark, New Jersey, they are attacked and killed by yakuza led by Shinji, who wields a laser whip. Johnny battles the yakuza and grabs a fragment of the encryption key images before escaping. Shinji reports his failure to his superior, Takahashi, their conversation revealing the yakuza is working on behalf of Pharmakom, a megacorporation. Johnny witnesses brief images of a female projection of an artificial intelligence who attempts to aid Johnny, but he dismisses her.In Newark, Johnny meets with his handler Ralfi who betrays him, delivering him to the yakuza. Johnny is rescued by Jane, a cybernetically-enhanced bodyguard; members of the Lo-Teks, an anti-establishment group; and the Lo-Teks' leader, J-Bone. Ralfi is sliced into pieces when he gets in Shinji's way. Jane takes Johnny to Spider, the doctor who installed Jane's implants. Spider takes Johnny to a hospital clinic and reveals his medical charity was intended to receive the Beijing scientists' data, which is a stolen cure for NAS. Spider claims Pharmakom refuses to release the cure because they are profiting off mitigation treatments. The portion of the encryption images Johnny took plus the piece Spider received do not add up to the complete key and are not sufficient to decrypt Johnny's mind, so Spider suggests they see Jones at the Lo-Teks' base. Suddenly, an assassin hired by Takahashi known as "The Street Preacher" attacks them, killing Spider as Johnny and Jane escape.The two reach the Lo-Tek base and learn from J-Bone that Jones is a dolphin once used by the Navy that can help decrypt Johnny's payload. As they start the procedure, Shinji and the yakuza attack the base. Takahashi appears and confronts Johnny, holding him at gunpoint, before Shinji, in a surprise betrayal, guns down Takahashi. Johnny and Shinji fight, culminating with Johnny beheading Shinji with his own laser wire. Takahashi, who has not yet succumbed to his wounds, has a change of heart and turns over a portion of the encryption key to Johnny before dying, but this still is not enough to fully decrypt the data. J-Bone tells Johnny that he will need to hack his own mind with Jones' help. Johnny, Jane, J-Bone and the Lo-Teks defeat the remaining forces sent after them. The Street Preacher arrives, and, after a fight, is electrocuted to death by Johnny and Jane.The second attempt starts, and aided by the female AI, Johnny decrypts the data, and, at the same time, recover his childhood memories. The AI is revealed to be a virtual version of Johnny's mother, who founded Pharmakom and was angered by the company's actions. As J-Bone transmits the NAS cure information across the internet via pirate broadcasts, Johnny and Jane watch from afar as the Pharmakom headquarters goes up in flames from the public outcry. In celebration, J-Bone disposes of the Street Preacher's burnt corpse by tossing it into the Newark's city waters.Cast[edit]Keanu Reeves as JohnnyDolph Lundgren as Karl Honig, aka The Street PreacherDina Meyer as JaneIce-T as J-BoneTakeshi Kitano as TakahashiDenis Akiyama as ShinjiHenry Rollins as SpiderBarbara Sukowa as Anna KalmannUdo Kier as RalfiTracy Tweed as PrettyFalconer Abraham as YomammaDon Francks as HookyDiego Chambers as HensonArthur Eng as VietProduction[edit]Development[edit]In the 1980s, director Robert Longo was known primarily for his artwork, including "Men in the Cities", a series of images meant to be viewed sequentially. After having been influenced by film, he transitioned to directing music videos and, when he tired of that, became interested in adapting William Gibson's Johnny Mnemonic.[8] Longo and Gibson first started work on a screenplay in 1989.[9] Longo's first attempt to finance the film was through Warner Bros. in 1990. Bob Krasnow liked Longo's short film, Arena Brains, and offered to finance a feature film. Before pre-production could begin, Warner Bros. merged with Time Inc., and the film was put on hold. Recognizing the film was unlikely to be produced, Krasnow let Longo out of his contract. Longo nearly gave up on getting Johnny Mnemonic made but continued to make contacts in Hollywood.[8]Longo and Gibson originally envisioned making an art film on a small budget but failed to get financing from the studios.[10] Gibson said they wanted to avoid flashy, MTV-inspired visuals and "plunge the audience into a very strange but consistent universe".[9] Longo commented that the project "started out as an arty 1½-million-dollar movie, and it became a 30-million-dollar movie because we couldn't get a million and a half."[10] Longo's lawyer suggested that their problem was that they were not asking for enough money and that studios would not be interested in such a small project.[11] Studios were also concerned that Longo's artistic background would impact his ability to make a commercially viable film.[12]The unbounded spread of the Internet in the early 1990s and the consequent rapid growth of high technology culture had made cyberpunk increasingly relevant, and this was a primary motivation for Sony Pictures's decision to fund the project in the tens of millions.[13] Val Kilmer was originally cast in the title role, and Reeves replaced him when Kilmer dropped out.[14] Gibson approved of this casting and said Reeves understood the character well.[9] Reeves' Canadian nationality opened up further financial options, such as Canadian tax incentives.[14] In Canada, Longo discovered he had to maintain Canadian crew quotas. Michael Chapman had agreed to shoot the film, but Longo had to hire a Canadian cinematographer instead.[15]Pre-production[edit]When Reeves' previous film, Speed, turned into a major hit in 1994, expectations were raised for Johnny Mnemonic, and Sony saw the film as a potential blockbuster hit.[16] Gibson said Sony executives began pressing them about whether their film had busses or explosions, critical elements of Speed.[17]Longo's experiences with the financiers were poor, believing that their demands compromised his artistic vision. Many of the casting decisions, such as Lundgren, were forced upon Longo to increase the film's appeal outside of the United States. Longo and Gibson, who had no idea what to do with Lundgren, created a new character for him.[18] Lundgren had previously starred in several action films that emphasized his physique. He intended the role of the street preacher to be a showcase for further range as an actor, but his character's monologue was cut during editing.[19] Gibson said that the monologue, a sermon about transhumanism that Lundgren delivered naked, was cut due to fears of offending religious groups.[20] Kitano was cast to appeal to the Japanese market.[14] Rollins, who is uninterested in science fiction, joined the cast because he liked the film's focus on an upcoming disadvantaged underclass.[12]The film significantly deviates from the short story, such as turning Johnny, not his bodyguard, into the primary action figure. Molly Millions is replaced with Jane, as the film rights to Molly had already been sold.[21] Gibson did not want Molly in the film, though, and thought it would be best to reserve her for a different franchise.[22] Nerve attenuation syndrome (NAS) is a fictional disease that is not present in the short story. NAS, also called "the black shakes", is caused by an overexposure to electromagnetic radiation from omnipresent technological devices and is presented as a raging epidemic. In the film, one pharmaceutical corporation has found a cure but chooses to withhold it from the public in favor of a more lucrative treatment program.[13][23] References to Jones the dolphin's heroin addiction was one of many plot elements cut during editing.[13]Filming and post-production[edit]Shooting took place in Toronto,[12] where Longo temporarily moved his family,[15] and Montreal.[12]The studio continued to challenge Gibson and Longo on the script through principal photography, making some of the shooting both tense and confusing.[15] The script was meant to be a commentary on science fiction films and how they are made,[24] and the action sequences were meant to be ironic and reminiscent of scenes that Gibson and Longo enjoyed in B movies.[17] Gibson and Longo had instructed Reeves not to play the character straight.[24] For his part, Reeves said he played the character "very robotic and rigid", which he found exhausting.[25] Reeves' suit and tie are a reference to "Men in the Cities".[12] When Johnny cries out for room service, this was a reflection of Longo's frustration,[7] and has also been identified as a reference to "Men in the Cities".[26] The ending, where the Street Preacher appears to revive, was forced on Longo, but he refused to shoot the scene straight, as requested. The studio approved of his version nonetheless.[17] Eight minutes of extra footage starring Kitano was shot for the Japanese release of the film.[14]Gibson said that the film was "taken away and re-cut by the American distributor" during post-production. He described the original film as "a very funny, very alternative piece of work", and said it was "very unsuccessfully chopped and cut into something more mainstream".[27] Gibson compared this to editing Blue Velvet into a mainstream thriller lacking any irony.[20] Their editor, Ronald Sanders, was replaced by someone that Longo said did not understand the film.[7] Prior to its release, critic Amy Harmon identified the film as an epochal moment when cyberpunk counterculture would enter the mainstream. News of the script's compromises spurred pre-release concerns that the film would prove a disappointment to hardcore cyberpunks.[13] Gibson said he and Longo were in denial at first and believed the film might still be true to their vision. Gibson did not blame anyone for the recut, though, reasoning that the film had been financed with their money.[17] Despite claims made on the internet, the Japanese cut of the film is no closer to a director's cut, and Longo has said that no director's cut exists.[7]The score was composed by Brad Fiedel. Before Sony's involvement, Black Rain composed a soundtrack. Black Rain had previously provided music for a Gibson audiobook and worked with Longo. Because no shooting had occurred yet, the band composed songs inspired by the original short story. Once Sony became involved, the soundtrack was replaced with Sony artists, such as Stabbing Westward.[28]

Price: 5.99 USD

Location: Arvada, Colorado

End Time: 2025-02-08T00:12:30.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD