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Merlin The Shooting Script
Released in the fall of 1997 to impressive reviews, "Gattaca", from Columbia Pictures, is the futuristic thriller starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Alan Arkin, and featuring the directorial debut of Andrew Niccol. The book includes a facsimile of the shooting script, productions notes, movie stills, and full cast and crew credits. 24 b&w photos.
- GenresScience Fiction
Paperback
First published October 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 17, 2024
This movie made me feel things that I thought I wasn't able to feel (anymore).
11/10, absolutely brilliant!!!
My heart was racing the entire time.
Great actors, crazy plot, stunning aesthetic, just a big yes.
11/10, absolutely brilliant!!!
My heart was racing the entire time.
Great actors, crazy plot, stunning aesthetic, just a big yes.
December 14, 2025
Gattaca, written and directed by Andrew Niccol
9 out of 10
Gattaca is a thought provoking Science fiction film that proposes some very important themes.
Although twenty one years old, this motion picture is still very relevant and feels modern even today.
Studies have shown that some of the points in the film are indeed accurate.
We are genetically predisposed towards one disease or another.
Humanity has not reached the stage suggested in Gattaca.
But the moment will come when we will have to answer questions like:
Do we want to know the disease that may affect our children?
Would we rather have perfect, engineered offspring?
To what extent would we ask for the intervention of science into our future, family and life?
Ethan Hawke portrays with talent the determined Vincent Freeman.
When he is born, the infant is tested and the parents told that he has a life expectancy of only about thirty years.
He is expected to suffer from a heart condition that would render him "invalid" for quite a few domains and it would kill him at a young age.
In this future, there would be laws preventing the discrimination of people who have various conditions.
Nevertheless, companies are very good at bypassing the law and they collect DNA samples from a handshake, the door handle and then analyze it and reject candidates that do not have the near perfect, sometimes the perfect potential.
Born as he is with a far from perfect constitution, the dream that the hero has of flying to he starts seems doomed.
But there may be a way around this seemingly insurmountable obstacle, for a man offers services that address this issue.
He has a candidate that could help Vincent Freeman surpass his condition as a janitor at the space agency.
The man who would offer his DNA samples is Jerome Morrow aka Jude Law, a man with a perfect genetic code, but who is now a paraplegic following a car accident, that he would later reveal that it was no accident at all.
The protagonist would have to pay and in exchange he would be provided with urine and blood samples that would allow him to fulfill his dream:
Fly to the stars...
They have a very sophisticated technique to provide the liquids for the tests and everything is in order until a murder is committed.
A program director is killed, another is played by Gore Vidal, who turns out to be a suspect.
The police arrive on the premises and Vincent Freeman is in danger.
He is not the murderer, but the investigation may uncover his real identity.
Indeed, when looking for clues, the detectives find a human hair that they trace to the janitor who had worked on the premises years before and who is the prime suspect.
One of the investigators is played by the wonderful Alan Arkin.
A romantic relationship develops between the aspiring cosmonaut and Irene Cassini aka Uma Thurman, for some time the real life wife of Ethan Hawke.
There are some close calls.
When samples of blood are taken from veins, Vincent manages to avoid exposure.
But the detectives are getting ever closer.
The film is rewarding in that it invites meditation on important issues of the present and near future and it is also engaging.
9 out of 10
Gattaca is a thought provoking Science fiction film that proposes some very important themes.
Although twenty one years old, this motion picture is still very relevant and feels modern even today.
Studies have shown that some of the points in the film are indeed accurate.
We are genetically predisposed towards one disease or another.
Humanity has not reached the stage suggested in Gattaca.
But the moment will come when we will have to answer questions like:
Do we want to know the disease that may affect our children?
Would we rather have perfect, engineered offspring?
To what extent would we ask for the intervention of science into our future, family and life?
Ethan Hawke portrays with talent the determined Vincent Freeman.
When he is born, the infant is tested and the parents told that he has a life expectancy of only about thirty years.
He is expected to suffer from a heart condition that would render him "invalid" for quite a few domains and it would kill him at a young age.
In this future, there would be laws preventing the discrimination of people who have various conditions.
Nevertheless, companies are very good at bypassing the law and they collect DNA samples from a handshake, the door handle and then analyze it and reject candidates that do not have the near perfect, sometimes the perfect potential.
Born as he is with a far from perfect constitution, the dream that the hero has of flying to he starts seems doomed.
But there may be a way around this seemingly insurmountable obstacle, for a man offers services that address this issue.
He has a candidate that could help Vincent Freeman surpass his condition as a janitor at the space agency.
The man who would offer his DNA samples is Jerome Morrow aka Jude Law, a man with a perfect genetic code, but who is now a paraplegic following a car accident, that he would later reveal that it was no accident at all.
The protagonist would have to pay and in exchange he would be provided with urine and blood samples that would allow him to fulfill his dream:
Fly to the stars...
They have a very sophisticated technique to provide the liquids for the tests and everything is in order until a murder is committed.
A program director is killed, another is played by Gore Vidal, who turns out to be a suspect.
The police arrive on the premises and Vincent Freeman is in danger.
He is not the murderer, but the investigation may uncover his real identity.
Indeed, when looking for clues, the detectives find a human hair that they trace to the janitor who had worked on the premises years before and who is the prime suspect.
One of the investigators is played by the wonderful Alan Arkin.
A romantic relationship develops between the aspiring cosmonaut and Irene Cassini aka Uma Thurman, for some time the real life wife of Ethan Hawke.
There are some close calls.
When samples of blood are taken from veins, Vincent manages to avoid exposure.
But the detectives are getting ever closer.
The film is rewarding in that it invites meditation on important issues of the present and near future and it is also engaging.
June 3, 2023
(Book substituted for the film/movie)
This film intrigued me and it made me thinking about the mood and tones similar to The Grand Budapest Hotel.
I love the setting in the not too distant future.
This film intrigued me and it made me thinking about the mood and tones similar to The Grand Budapest Hotel.
I love the setting in the not too distant future.
Read
June 18, 2021Gattaca could make a great addition to the recent number of classic science fiction film settings re-imagined as television series. So much so I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.
According to Wikipedia, there was a Gattaca show in production back in 2009, but nothing seems to have come of it.
Now would be the perfect time to revive the project.
Gattaca tanked at the box office, but it was critically esteemed. It's gone on to attain cult status; it has the kind of name recognition that would make for a built-in core audience. That's one reason to develop this show.
Another, even more compelling reason is the timeliness of the theme.
We've made great advances in genetic editing technologies since 1997 (the year the film was released). Some version of the world portrayed in Gattaca is imminent. An intelligent, well written series could provide a venue to explore the ethical conundrums and social ramifications we'll be facing as it becomes possible for humans to engineer their offspring en utero.
Gattaca the series could tell compelling long form stories that touch upon the themes of equality, evolution and destiny. They really need to get working on it.
According to Wikipedia, there was a Gattaca show in production back in 2009, but nothing seems to have come of it.
Now would be the perfect time to revive the project.
Gattaca tanked at the box office, but it was critically esteemed. It's gone on to attain cult status; it has the kind of name recognition that would make for a built-in core audience. That's one reason to develop this show.
Another, even more compelling reason is the timeliness of the theme.
We've made great advances in genetic editing technologies since 1997 (the year the film was released). Some version of the world portrayed in Gattaca is imminent. An intelligent, well written series could provide a venue to explore the ethical conundrums and social ramifications we'll be facing as it becomes possible for humans to engineer their offspring en utero.
Gattaca the series could tell compelling long form stories that touch upon the themes of equality, evolution and destiny. They really need to get working on it.
December 20, 2015
Dystopian look into a possible future society ruled by DNA testing.
January 29, 2025
"Gattaca" is a science fiction novel about the story of a young man by the name of Vincent Freeman. Vincent dreams of flying to space but is classified as an In-Valid. He then purchases a new identity and genetics and goes by the name "Jerome Morrow." Jerome then joins the Gattaca space program, where he is a member of the genetic elite who pursues his dreams of traveling to space. He also falls in love with Irene, his coworker who later learns of his secret. However, things change course when Jerome is framed for murder and is marked as the primary suspect. This book was very suspenseful and was filled with twists and turns. Although it was a bit creepy at times, the genetic aspect was quite captivating and made the book very futuristic for the time period it was published. Many chapters were very action-packed and thrilling and made me tense and nervous for the characters. There were many romantic scenes between Jerome and Irene which made me uncomfortable, and they should've focused more on the plot of the story instead of their love story. This book had a sad but beautiful story line which was very eventful to read. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, I don't generally reach for sci-fi books when deciding what to read, but I actually liked this book. It was very suspenseful which made me want to read more and more.
March 16, 2025
read the actual book, but the cover is ugly on goodreads so i'm putting this one instead <3
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews