Gattaca (1997)

Gattaca: Directed by Andrew Niccol. With Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Gore Vidal, Xander Berkeley. A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.

“Gattaca is in many ways the best film I have seen about prejudice. Just as people have been judged for centuries by the color of their skin, Gattaca predicts that in the future there will be a more subtle discrimination. It being a science fiction film helps make it more effective by allowing us to feel the emotions of the characters with little of our own history getting in the way. A haunting musical score goes well with the feeling of the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEthan Hawke as Vincent does a fine job showing the pain of someone whose life is limited before he even tries. But just as interesting were the supposedly superior characters; Vincentu0026#39;s girlfriend, brother and double who suffer from the lie that genetics can perfectly predict a personu0026#39;s life.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film that Gattaca most reminds me of is Blade Runner. They are both about genetic engineering gone very wrong but Gattaca takes a very different approach. The problems are more subtle in Gattaca involving our own desires for success for ourselves and through our children. Amazingly, Gattaca is a good science fiction film with a small budget, few special effects and mostly filmed in existing modern buildings.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter seeing this film for a second time I liked it even better as the plot seemed more plausible. If you would like to see a sci-fi film that is based on interesting characters and situations and not explosions or special effects, try Gattaca.”