Gattaca (2008, Blu-ray Disc)

Gattaca was a science fiction movie that seemed, from the ads, to be only mildly interesting. From word of mouth it sounded not-so-great. But I eventually got around to watching it anyway. I'm very glad that I did. Gattaca is the story of one man's attempt to overcome nature and achieve his dreams. Society in his time has so heavily adopted genetic engineering that his status as a "God-child," a natural, un-engineered birth, puts him at the bottom of the totem pole. Since his dream is to fly into space, his perceived lack of ability completely gets in the way. The only job he can get is as a..

Gattaca takes place in the not-so-distant future. As soon as babies are born, the doctors can run tests on them and know the probability of them developing certain diseases. 10 seconds after birth, they know when the baby is going to die. In this future, an employer can look at someone's DNA and determine how good of an employee they will be, how often they will get sick, how smart they really are, and so much more. In this not-so-distant future, discrimination is a science. Ethan Hawke stars as a natural born man who is trying to succeed in an area seemingly out of his grasp. From a young...

In the not-too-distant future, fate has been measured to a science. Technology has advanced to the point where parents can pay to manipulate their unborn children's genes and define their precise potential. Do you want a boy? Done. Do you want him to have blonde hair and blue eyes? Done. Do you want him to be in perfect health, possess exceptional intelligence and have every social advantage possible? Done, done and done. At first glance, the futuristic world portrayed in Gattaca seems to be quite Utopian. After all, what parents wouldn't want to prevent their children from developing any...

I'm sure after first-screening Gattaca the Studio execs at Columbia Pictures sat rather bewildered in their seats. After a few moments of shock and disbelief in spending 38 million dollars on this, marketing questions undoubtedly arose such as: "Could we have more nudity, and violence?"... "Where's the weapons?"... "Where's the Aliens bent on world domination, or at least bent on phoning home?"... "Is their no catchphrases, or MTV friendly pop tune?"... and "Could we at least have cameo appearances of either Arnold, Bruce, or Will?" among many others I'm sure. Obviously Gattacas director...