Gattaca (DVD) Reviews

I love SF but think it is the hardest genre to do well in film. So many writers or directors make the mistake of thinking SF is all about action and not thought. I am glad to say this is not the case with Andrew Niccol's phenomenal Gattaca. The central theme of Gattaca is eugenics, a staple of SF (for a great example in literature see ...  Read the complete review

Gattaca is a 1997 science fiction film, written and directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law. In an unspecified period in the future, thanks to better DNA profiling, couples are able to ensure that their children are genetically superior to those born via traditional means. This results in ...  Read the complete review

As I became a fan of Andrew Niccol's work after watching The Trueman Show, I was really looking forward to watching this and I wasn't disappointed. Set in a "not too distant future" where parents can genetically configure their children down to the last detail prior to birth which has resulted in DNA being the determining ...  Read the complete review

In the future genetics has advanced to the point that DNA samples can be tested for predisposition towards diseases, intelligence and other characteristics. The manipulation level is also such that embryos can be screened for such and the best of them selected, although this of course comes at a cost which is somewhere beyond the means of the ...  Read the complete review

Does your DNA determine your fate? Gattaca is a film set in a world where humans are classified by their genetic superiority. There are two groups of people in the world of Gattaca, those conceived by natural means and those who are born using biometrics; they are genetically engineered to possess the best hereditary traits of their ...  Read the complete review

Gattaca is one of my all time favourite sci-fi movies. I am not a huge fan of the genre, I must admit, in fact my reason for being such a big fan of this movie is because it relies so little on the genre for its story to be told. I am not interested in writing a review that simply copies information from the IMDB, or that simply tells ...  Read the complete review

In the more compartmentalised video stores you will find Gattaca tucked away in the science-fiction department. Whilst this is ostensibly true, Gattaca is a film absolutely centred on humanistic notions of self-worth, friendship, love and hope, told against a semi-dystopian backdrop of overt government control. The 'Gattaca' in ...  Read the complete review

This is a very strange film that for some reason I greatly enjoyed. It is futuristic and highly imaginative film. The story is extremely intriguing and has some great characters that are played by some great actors. The story is very entertaining if you are into sci fi flicks that have content beyond anything you have ever seen. The ...  Read the complete review

This just looks visually stunning. Home interiors, buildings and works interiors. Cars, clothing. Everything just looks so perfect, which is pretty much the whole theme of this film. This is the story of a society which strives for perfect people. Its stars are Uma Thurman looking very sexy, Ethan Hawke pretending to be something he ...  Read the complete review

I missed out on watching Gattica when it was first released in 1997 and since then have thought it was a bit of a silly sci fi movie that I wasn't overly keen to watch. However, on the telly the other day on Newsnight (or some other such serious news programme) there was an article about genetic testing and it showed a clip from the film ...  Read the complete review

Superior Sci-Fi thriller about an 'advanced' future society in which genetic hierarchy is established - leaving an inevitable underclass to pay the price . Application and ambition are immediately negated by poor genetic makeup. Good schools reject kids with high probability of illness because of the lack of insurance cover. Companies ...  Read the complete review

Gattaca is a futuristic movie, set in a World where people are judged not on the colour, or race, or looks, but on their very genetic makeup. Genetics have advanced to such a stage that prospective parents, if they choose, can actually decide on the sex and qualities of their unborn children before pregnancy. Genetic defects such as heart ...  Read the complete review

As part of some sort of cultural exchange, my (then) girlfriend made me watch this film. I have to say, I was almost avoiding it, but I did like it alot. The idea that genetic engineering has reached the levels where all diseases and defects that could be inflicted on humans can be accounted for, so long as the parents can afford it, is a ...  Read the complete review

Gattaca is a futuristic vision of the future where genetic manipulation has lead to babies being altered to become more smarter and have bad genes such as potential depression removed. The trouble is those who have not been altered are some what regarded as inferior (a bit like the teletubbies) as those with superior intelligence are preferred. ...  Read the complete review

Gattaca is one of those rare movies where almost every element seems perfect. It has an intriguing premise of genetic engineering that’s very pertinent for our times (especially as the 3 years since the movie’s release have seen Gattaca’s scenario go from science fiction to mostly science fact.) And Andrew Nichols’s ...  Read the complete review

In a genetically perfect future, the imperfect have to live a lie. In this society, humans fall into two catagories: 'valid' and 'non-valid'. Vincent, (Ethan Hawke), is a non-valid since his parents chose to create him naturally and without scientific intervention. His weak heart and neuropsychological disturbances imply ...  Read the complete review

This film, largely the project of one man, writer and director Andrew Niccol, is a slow-paced but enthralling story exploring a very plausible near future. Vincent, our hero, is one of the tiny minority of children born in this era not genetically modified in any way. He was conceived "traditionally", in a not unattractive car, and born ...  Read the complete review

Every once in a while, there comes along an intelligent and interesting science fiction movie, to remind us that sci-fi doesn't necessarily mean big-budget special effects with little or no story. One of the best examples of intelligent sci-fi in recent years is Gattaca. By looking into the not-too-distant future, Andrew Niccol has ...  Read the complete review

This is a film based on science fact, rather than science fiction, as it is based on recent scientific advancements, and as a quote on the Gattaca website states "we used to think the future was in the stars, now we know it is in our genes." Gattaca is set in "the not too distant future", and is a world, not of robots ...  Read the complete review

With another bleak, not-too-distant future storyline, Gattaca is not too original. But, instead of a post-nuclear wasteground, we are at least reassured that society can survive, albeit on a two-tier system. The process of selection is genetic, with a social caste system set up, dividing the genetically pure from the impure. This leaves ...  Read the complete review