Gattaca (1997)

★ 7.6 1h 47m 6,857 votes IMDb
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Vincent is an all-too-human man who dares to defy a system obsessed with genetic perfection. He is an "In-Valid" who assumes the identity of a member of the genetic elite to pursue his goal of traveling into space with the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation.

Gattaca

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Cast

Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke as Vincent Freeman Age 55 · Austin, Texas, USA Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appeara...
Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman as Irene Cassini Age 55 · Boston, Massachusetts, USA Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress, writer, producer and model. She has acted in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appeara...
Jude Law
Jude Law as Jerome Eugene Morrow Age 53 · Lewisham, London, England, UK David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He began his career in British theatre before landing small roles in various television productions and feature films. Law gained i...
Alan Arkin
Alan Arkin as Detective Hugo Died 2023 · New York City, New York, USA Alan Wolf Arkin (March 26, 1934 – June 29, 2023) was an American actor, director, musician and singer. He was known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians...
Loren Dean
Loren Dean as Adult Anton Freeman Age 56 · Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Loren Dean Jovicic (born July 31, 1969) is an American actor. He has appeared onstage and in feature films..
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal as Director Josef Died 2012 · West Point, New York, USA Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (born Eugene Louis Vidal; October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated th...

Audience Reviews

Wuchak 6/10 Dec 22, 2019
***The eugenics-obsessed future in 40s/50s noir***

Several decades in the future liberal eugenics is normal and discrimination is practiced to distinguish "valids" from "in-valids," the latter conceived by natural means and therefore more susceptible to genetic defects. Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is an in-valid who assumes the identity of a disabled valid (Jude Law) in order to fulfill his dream of space travel. Uma Thurman and Gore Vidal are also on hand.

"Gattaca" (1997) is a sci-fi drama “tech noir,” which combines futuristic science-fiction with 40s/50s noir.
It’s not just the suits & hats, the cars look like 50s/60s coupes, but whine because they’re electric. It’s similar in this respect to “Dark City” (1998), but more dramatic. Imagine if “Dick Tracy” (1990) was a somber space-age sci-fi and you’d have a pretty good idea.

The film flopped at the box office while critics generally praised it. It plays better if you have an interest in eugenics and the philosophies thereof. For me, it’s decent, but too low-key. I prefer “Dark City” if I’m going to watch a film of this sort.

The movie runs 1 hour, 46 minutes, and was shot in Southern Cal: Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael; Otis College of Art and Design; CLA Building on the campus of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; the spillway of the Sepulveda Dam; outside The Forum in Inglewood; and Kramer Junction Solar Electric Generating Station.

GRADE: B-
TheRealMina 10/10 Aug 24, 2021
Simply put, Gattaca is one of the greatest movies ever made. Some might think that's going too far but it truly is a masterpiece. Everything from the casting, set design, cinematography, writing and the Universe in which the story takes place. It is not only a great source of entertainment but an inspiring work of art.

By far the most poetic movie I have had the pleasure of watching. Every line is elegiac and truly beautiful. It's the type of movie that keeps you thinking days after the credits have rolled. Not because it is fast-paced, intense or has a crazy twist ending but for its tranquil philosophical ideas. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a jaw-dropping movie night. It should be on every cinephile's list of must-watch.
CaseyReese 8/10 Feb 05, 2023
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CinemaSerf 7/10 May 30, 2024
"Vincent" (Ethan Hawke) is determined that he wants to travel into space, but is deemed unsuitable by the genetically motivated authorities who decide these things. Luckily for him, he knows "Jerome" (Jude Law). He was in a nasty car accident that has left his paraplegic - but nonetheless, his genetics do qualify for the upper echelons of society necessary to go up in a rocket. The pair quickly establish a partnership by which the latter man develops some techniques to fool the detection devices and facilitate "Vincent" living out his dream. Just as that is set to come true, his boss is found dead in mysterious circumstances and the ensuing investigation could compromise the web of lies and identity fraud that 'Vincent" has carefully established over the years... I honestly can't say I rated the acting here as great by anyone, including Uma Thurman who comes into things later on in the day as a bit of love interest, but the pacing of this story and the underlying premiss of genetic gradation and selection is potently presented here by auteur Andrew Niccol. We are now living in a sterile society where people's merits are all based on their past rather than their potential. Assumptions are made based on whether you eat well, drink, smoke, have sex - almost as if you are accruing (or not) life points, not just for you but for future generations too! The production looks great in it's modern simplicity - even if there is what looked like an old Rover car used to ferry the investigator "Lamar" (Xander Berkeley) and a man who introduces another twist as we near the denouement. Will anyone make it to Titan?

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