document_title: Solar flare

question_text: where do solar flares take place within the structure of the sun

text: Solar flare

text: Physics[edit]

text: Solar flares affect all layers of the solar atmosphere (photosphere, chromosphere, and corona), when the plasma medium is heated to tens of millions of degrees kelvin, while the cosmic-ray-like electrons, protons, and heavier ions are accelerated to near the speed of light. They produce radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum at all wavelengths, from radio waves to gamma rays, although most of the energy is spread over frequencies outside the visual range and for this reason the majority of the flares are not visible to the naked eye and must be observed with special instruments. Flares occur in active regions around sunspots, where intense magnetic fields penetrate the photosphere to link the corona to the solar interior. Flares are powered by the sudden (timescales of minutes to tens of minutes) release of magnetic energy stored in the corona. The same energy releases may produce coronal mass ejections (CME), although the relation between CMEs and flares is still not well established.

text: X-rays and UV radiation emitted by solar flares can affect Earth's ionosphere and disrupt long-range radio communications. Direct radio emission at decimetric wavelengths may disturb the operation of radars and other devices that use those frequencies.

text: Solar flares were first observed on the Sun by Richard Christopher Carrington and independently by Richard Hodgson in 1859[4] as localized visible brightenings of small areas within a sunspot group. Stellar flares can be inferred by looking at the lightcurves produced from the telescope or satellite data of variety of other stars.

text: The frequency of occurrence of solar flares varies, from several per day when the Sun is particularly "active" to less than one every week when the Sun is "quiet", following the 11-year cycle (the solar cycle). Large flares are less frequent than smaller ones.

text: On July 23, 2012, a massive, and potentially damaging, solar superstorm (solar flare, coronal mass ejection, solar EMP) barely missed Earth, according to NASA.[5][6] According to NASA, there may be as much as a 12% chance of a similar event occurring between 2012 and 2022,[5] although because this particular figure was based on an extreme extrapolation of the calculated frequency of future storms, the actual probability of this is quite uncertain.

text: Cause[edit]

text: Flares occur when sped up charged particles, mainly electrons, interact with the plasma medium. Abundant evidence implicates that the phenomenon of magnetic reconnection (also describable as magnetic flux transfer) leads to this copious acceleration of charged particles.[7] On the Sun, magnetic reconnection may happen on solar arcades – a series of closely occurring loops following magnetic lines of force. These lines of force quickly reconnect into a low arcade of loops leaving a helix of magnetic field unconnected to the rest of the arcade. The sudden release of energy in this reconnection is the origin of the particle acceleration. The unconnected magnetic helical field and the material that it contains may violently expand outwards forming a coronal mass ejection.[8] This also explains why solar flares typically erupt from what are known as the active regions on the Sun where magnetic fields are much stronger on average.

text: Although there is a general agreement on the source of a flare's energy, the mechanisms involved are still not well known. It is not clear how the magnetic energy is transformed into the particle kinetic energy, nor is it known how some particles can be accelerated to the GeV range (1012 electron volt) and beyond. There are also some inconsistencies regarding the total number of accelerated particles, which sometimes seems to be greater than the total number in the coronal loop. Scientists are unable to forecast flares, even to this day.[citation needed]

text: Classification[edit]

text: The classification system for solar flares uses the letters A, B, C, M or X, according to the peak flux in watts per square metre (W/m2) of X-rays with wavelengths 100 to 800 picometre, as measured at the Earth's orbital distance by the GOES spacecraft.

text:
Classification
Peak Flux Range at 100-800 picometre

(watts/square metre)

A
< 10−7

B
10−7 – 10−6

C
10−6 – 10−5

M
10−5 – 10−4

X
> 10−4

text: The strength of an event within a class is noted by a numerical suffix ranging from 1 to 9, which is also the factor for that event within the class. Hence, an X2 flare is twice the strength of an X1 flare, an X3 flare is three times as powerful as an X1, and only 50% more powerful than an X2 [10]. An X2 is four times more powerful than an M5 flare.[11]

text: H-alpha classification[edit]

text: An earlier flare classification is based on Hα spectral observations. The scheme uses both the intensity and emitting surface. The classification in intensity is qualitative, referring to the flares as: (f)aint, (n)ormal or (b)rilliant. The emitting surface is measured in terms of millionths of the hemisphere and is described below. (The total hemisphere area AH = 15.5 × 1012 km2.)

text:
Classification
Corrected Area

[millionths of hemisphere]

S
< 100

1
100 – 250

2
250 – 600

3
600 – 1200

4
> 1200

text: A flare then is classified taking S or a number that represents its size and a letter that represents its peak intensity, v.g.: Sn is a normal sunflare.[12]

text: Hazards[edit]

text: Solar flares strongly influence the local space weather in the vicinity of the Earth. They can produce streams of highly energetic particles in the solar wind or stellar wind, known as a solar proton event. These particles can impact the Earth's magnetosphere (see main article at geomagnetic storm), and present radiation hazards to spacecraft and astronauts. Additionally, massive solar flares are sometimes accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) which can trigger geomagnetic storms that have been known to disable satellites and knock out terrestrial electric power grids for extended periods of time.

text: The soft X-ray flux of X class flares increases the ionization of the upper atmosphere, which can interfere with short-wave radio communication and can heat the outer atmosphere and thus increase the drag on low orbiting satellites, leading to orbital decay. Energetic particles in the magnetosphere contribute to the aurora borealis and aurora australis. Energy in the form of hard x-rays can be damaging to spacecraft electronics and are generally the result of large plasma ejection in the upper chromosphere.

text: The radiation risks posed by solar flares are a major concern in discussions of a manned mission to Mars, the Moon, or other planets. Energetic protons can pass through the human body, causing biochemical damage,[14] presenting a hazard to astronauts during interplanetary travel. Some kind of physical or magnetic shielding would be required to protect the astronauts. Most proton storms take at least two hours from the time of visual detection to reach Earth's orbit. A solar flare on January 20, 2005 released the highest concentration of protons ever directly measured,[15] giving astronauts as little as 15 minutes to reach shelter.

text: Observations[edit]

text: Flares produce radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, although with different intensity. They are not very intense at white light, but they can be very bright at particular atomic lines. They normally produce bremsstrahlung in X-rays and synchrotron radiation in radio.

text: History[edit]

text: Optical observations. Richard Carrington observed a flare for the first time on 1 September 1859 projecting the image produced by an optical telescope through a broad-band filter. It was an extraordinarily intense white light flare. Since flares produce copious amounts of radiation at Hα, adding a narrow ( ≈1 Å) passband filter centered at this wavelength to the optical telescope, allows the observation of not very bright flares with small telescopes. For years Hα was the main, if not the only, source of information about solar flares. Other passband filters are also used.

text: Radio observations. During World War II, on 25 and 26 February 1942, British radar operators observed radiation that Stanley Hey interpreted as solar emission. Their discovery did not go public until the end of the conflict. The same year Southworth also observed the Sun in radio, but as with Hey, his observations were only known after 1945. In 1943 Grote Reber was the first to report radioastronomical observations of the Sun at 160 MHz. The fast development of radioastronomy revealed new peculiarities of the solar activity like storms and bursts related to the flares. Today ground-based radiotelescopes observe the Sun from ~15 MHz up to 400 GHz.

text: Space telescopes. Since the beginning of space exploration, telescopes have been sent to space, where they work at wavelengths shorter than UV, which are completely absorbed by the atmosphere, and where flares may be very bright. Since the 1970s, the GOES series of satellites observe the Sun in soft X-rays, and their observations became the standard measure of flares, diminishing the importance of the Hα classification. Hard X-rays were observed by many different instruments, the most important today being the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). Nonetheless, UV observations are today the stars of solar imaging with their incredible fine details that reveal the complexity of the solar corona. Spacecraft may also bring radio detectors at extremely long wavelengths (as long as a few kilometers) that cannot propagate through the ionosphere.

text: Optical telescopes[edit]

text:
Big Bear Solar Observatory, located in Big Bear Lake, California and operated by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, is a solar dedicated observatory with different instruments, as well as a huge data bank of full disk Hα images.[16]
Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, operated by the Institute for Solar Physics (Sweden), is located in the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma (Spain).
McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, located at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, is the world's largest solar telescope.

text: Radio telescopes[edit]

text:
Nançay Radioheliographe (NRH) is an interferometer composed of 48 antennas observing at meter-decimeter wavelengths. The radioheliographe is installed at the Nançay Radio Observatory, France.[17]
Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) is a radio interferometer operated by the New Jersey Institute of Technology consisting of 7 antennas, observing from 1 to 18 GHz in both left and right circular polarization. OVSA is located in Owens Valley, California. It is now being improved, increasing to 15 the total number of antennas and upgrading its control system.[18]
Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH) is an interferometer installed at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, Japan, formed by 84 small (80 cm) antennas, with receivers at 17 GHz (left and right polarization) and 34 GHz operating simultaneously. It continuously observes the Sun, producing daily snapshots.[19]
Siberian Solar Radio Telescope (SSRT) is a special-purpose solar radio telescope designed for studying solar activity in the microwave range (5.7 GHz) where the processes occurring in the solar corona are accessible to observation over the entire solar disk. It is a crossed interferometer, consisting of two arrays of 128x128 parabolic antennas 2.5 meters in diameter each, spaced equidistantly at 4.9 meters and oriented in the E-W and N-S directions. It is located in a wooded valley separating two mountain ridges of the Eastern Sayan Mountains and Khamar-Daban, 220 km from Irkutsk, Russia.[20]
Nobeyama Radio Polarimeters are a set of radio telescopes installed at the Nobeyama Radio Observatory that continuously observes the full Sun (no images) at the frequencies of 1, 2, 3.75, 9.4, 17, 35, and 80 GHz, at left and right circular polarization.[21]
Solar Submillimeter Telescope is a single dish telescope, that observes continuously the Sun at 212 and 405 GHz. It is installed at Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito in Argentina. It has a focal array composed by 4 beams at 212 GHz and 2 at 405 GHz, therefore it can instantaneously locate the position of the emitting source[22] SST is the only solar submillimeter telescope currently in operation.
Polarization Emission of Millimeter Activity at the Sun (POEMAS) is a system of two circular polarization solar radio telescopes, for observations of the Sun at 45 and 90 GHz. The novel characteristic of these instruments is the capability to measure circular right- and left-hand polarizations at these high frequencies. The system is installed at Complejo Astronomico El Leoncito in Argentina. It started operations in November 2011. In November 2013 it went offline for repairs. It is expected to return to observing in January 2015.
Bleien Radio Observatory is a set of radio telescopes operating near Gränichen (Switzerland). They continuously observe the solar flare radio emission from 10 MHz (ionospheric limit) to 5 GHz. The broadband spectrometers are known as Phoenix and CALLISTO.[23]

text: Space telescopes[edit]

text: The following spacecraft missions have flares as their main observation target.

text:
Yohkoh – The Yohkoh (originally Solar A) spacecraft observed the Sun with a variety of instruments from its launch in 1991 until its failure in 2001. The observations spanned a period from one solar maximum to the next. Two instruments of particular use for flare observations were the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT), a glancing incidence low energy X-ray telescope for photon energies of order 1 keV, and the Hard X-ray Telescope (HXT), a collimation counting instrument which produced images in higher energy X-rays (15-92 keV) by image synthesis.
WIND – The Wind spacecraft is devoted to the study of the interplanetary medium. Since the Solar Wind is its main driver, solar flares effects can be traced with the instruments aboard Wind. Some of the WIND experiments are: a very low frequency spectrometer, (WAVES), particles detectors (EPACT, SWE) and a magnetometer (MFI).
GOES – The GOES spacecraft are satellites in geostationary orbits around the Earth that have measured the soft X-ray flux from the Sun since the mid-1970s, following the use of similar instruments on the Solrad satellites. GOES X-ray observations are commonly used to classify flares, with A, B, C, M, and X representing different powers of ten – an X-class flare has a peak 1-8 Å flux above 0.0001 W/m2.
RHESSI – The Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectral Imager is designed to image solar flares in energetic photons from soft X rays (~3 keV) to gamma rays (up to ~20 MeV) and to provide high resolution spectroscopy up to gamma-ray energies of ~20 MeV. Furthermore, it has the capability to perform spatially resolved spectroscopy with high spectral resolution.
SOHO – The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is collaboration between the ESA and NASA which is in operation since December 1995. It carries 12 different instruments, among them the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) and the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI). SOHO is in a halo orbit around the earth-sun L1 point.
TRACE – The Transition Region and Coronal Explorer is a NASA Small Explorer program (SMEX) to image the solar corona and transition region at high angular and temporal resolution. It has passband filters at 173 Å, 195 Å, 284 Å, 1600 Å with a spatial resolution of 0.5 arc sec, the best at these wavelengths.
SDO – The Solar Dynamics Observatory is a NASA project composed of 3 different instruments: the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE). It has been operating since February 2010 in a geosynchronous earth orbit.[24]
Hinode –The Hinode spacecraft, originally called Solar B, was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in September 2006 to observe solar flares in more precise detail. Its instrumentation, supplied by an international collaboration including Norway, the U.K., the U.S., and Africa focuses on the powerful magnetic fields thought to be the source of solar flares. Such studies shed light on the causes of this activity, possibly helping to forecast future flares and thus minimize their dangerous effects on satellites and astronauts.[25]
ACE – The Advanced Composition Explorer was launched in 1997 into a halo orbit around the earth-sun L1 point. It carries spectrometers, magnetometers and charged particle detectors to analyze the solar wind. The Real Time Solar Wind (RTSW) beacon is continually monitored by a network of NOAA-sponsored ground stations to provide early warning of earth-bound CMEs.
MAVEN – The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission, which launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on November 18, 2013, is the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The goal of MAVEN is to determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time. The Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) monitor on MAVEN is part of the Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW) instrument and measures solar EUV input and variability, and wave heating of the Martian upper atmosphere.[26]

text: In addition to these solar observing facilities, many non-solar astronomical satellites observe flares either intentionally (e.g., NuSTAR), or simply because the penetrating hard radiations coming from a flare can readily penetrate most forms of shielding.

text: Examples of large solar flares[edit]

text: The most powerful flare ever observed was the first one to be observed,[28] on September 1, 1859, and was reported by British astronomer Richard Carrington and independently by an observer named Richard Hodgson. The event is named the Solar storm of 1859, or the "Carrington event". The flare was visible to a naked eye (in white light), and produced stunning auroras down to tropical latitudes such as Cuba or Hawaii, and set telegraph systems on fire.[29] The flare left a trace in Greenland ice in the form of nitrates and beryllium-10, which allow its strength to be measured today.[30] Cliver and Svalgaard[31] reconstructed the effects of this flare and compared with other events of the last 150 years. In their words: While the 1859 event has close rivals or superiors in each of the above categories of space weather activity, it is the only documented event of the last ∼150 years that appears at or near the top of all of the lists.

text: In modern times, the largest solar flare measured with instruments occurred on November 4, 2003. This event saturated the GOES detectors, and because of this its classification is only approximate. Initially, extrapolating the GOES curve, it was estimated to be X28.[32] Later analysis of the ionospheric effects suggested increasing this estimate to X45.[33] This event produced the first clear evidence of a new spectral component above 100 GHz.[34]

text: Other large solar flares also occurred on April 2, 2001 (X20),[35] October 28, 2003 (X17.2 and 10),[36] September 7, 2005 (X17),[35] February 17, 2011 (X2),[37][38][39] August 9, 2011 (X6.9),[13][40] March 7, 2012 (X5.4),[41][42] July 6, 2012 (X1.1).[43] On July 6, 2012, a solar storm hit just after midnight UK time,[44] when an X1.1 solar flare fired out of the AR1515 sunspot. Another X1.4 solar flare from AR 1520 region of the Sun,[45] second in the week, reached the Earth on July 15, 2012[46] with a geomagnetic storm of G1–G2 level.[47][48] A X1.8-class flare was recorded on October 24, 2012.[49] There has been major solar flare activity in early 2013, notably within a 48-hour period starting on May 12, 2013, a total of four X-class solar flares were emitted ranging from an X1.2 and upwards of an X3.2,[50] the latter of which was one of the largest year 2013 flares.[51][52] Departing sunspot complex AR2035-AR2046 erupted on April 25, 2014 at 0032 UT, producing a strong X1.3-class solar flare and an HF communications blackout on the dayside of Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation from the explosion.The Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded an X9.3-class flare at around 1200 UTC on September 6, 2017.[53]

text: Flare spray[edit]

text: Flare sprays are a type of eruption associated with solar flares.[54] They involve faster ejections of material than eruptive prominences,[55] and reach velocities of 20 to 2000 kilometers per second.[56]

text: Prediction[edit]

text: Current methods of flare prediction are problematic, and there is no certain indication that an active region on the Sun will produce a flare. However, many properties of sunspots and active regions correlate with flaring. For example, magnetically complex regions (based on line-of-sight magnetic field) called delta spots produce the largest flares. A simple scheme of sunspot classification due to McIntosh, or related to fractal complexity.[57] is commonly used as a starting point for flare prediction.[58] Predictions are usually stated in terms of probabilities for occurrence of flares above M or X GOES class within 24 or 48 hours. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues forecasts of this kind.[59]


document_title: Batman & Robin (film)

question_text: who played poison ivy in batman and robin

root

text: Batman & Robin (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In Gotham, one year after the defeat of Two-Face and the Riddler, Batman and Robin attempt to thwart Mr. Freeze from robbing diamonds from the natural history museum, but he steals one and flees. Mr. Freeze was originally Dr. Victor Fries, a doctor working to develop a cure for MacGregor's syndrome to heal his terminally ill wife. Fries was forced to wear a cryogenic suit powered by diamonds after becoming unable to live at normal temperatures following a lab accident.

tag: p

text: At a Wayne Enterprises lab in Brazil, the botanist Dr. Pamela Isley is working under the deranged Dr. Jason Woodrue, experimenting with the Venom drug. She witnesses Woodrue use the formula to turn the violent, but diminutive, convicted serial murderer Antonio Diego into a hulking monstrosity dubbed "Bane". Woodrue and Isley argue over the use of the drug which ends when Woodrue attempts to kill her by overturning a shelf of various toxins. Despite Woodrue's efforts, she is resurrected, transforming into the beautiful and seductive Poison Ivy before exacting revenge; she kills Woodrue with her poisonous kiss, and sets fire to the lab, leaving it to burn down while she escapes with Bane. She finds that Wayne Enterprises funded Woodrue, thus she appropriates Bane as a muscle-bound thug, taking him with her to Gotham City. Meanwhile, Alfred Pennyworth's niece, Barbara Wilson, makes a surprise visit and is invited by Bruce Wayne to stay at Wayne Manor until she goes back to school.

text: Wayne Enterprises presents a new telescope for Gotham Observatory at a press conference interrupted by Isley. She proposes a project that could help the environment, but Bruce declines her offer, which would kill millions of people. That night, a charity event is held by Wayne Enterprises with special guests, Batman and Robin, and she decides to use her abilities to seduce them. Mr. Freeze crashes the party and steals a diamond from the event. Although he is captured by Batman and detained in Arkham Asylum, he eventually escapes with the help of Poison Ivy and Bane. Meanwhile, Dick discovers that Barbara has participated in drag races to raise money for Alfred, who is dying of MacGregor's syndrome.

text: Batman and Robin begin to have crime fighting relationship problems because of Ivy's seductive ability with Robin, but Bruce eventually convinces Dick to trust him. Poison Ivy is then able to contact Robin once more; she kisses him but fails to kill him due to Robin wearing rubber lips. Meanwhile, Barbara discovers the Batcave, where an AI version of Alfred reveals he has made Barbara her own suit. Barbara dons the suit and becomes Batgirl. Ivy captures Robin, but he gets rescued by Batman, and Batgirl arrives and subdues Ivy to get eaten by her throne plant, before revealing her identity to the pair.

text: Batman, Robin and Batgirl decide to go after Mr. Freeze together. By the time they get to the observatory where Mr. Freeze and Bane are, Gotham is completely frozen. Batgirl and Robin are attacked by Bane, but they eventually defeat him by kicking apart his venom tubes, stopping the flow of venom to his body. Bane collapses before transforming back to his original diminutive size of Antonio Diego and is left helpless on the ground.

text: Meanwhile Batman and Mr. Freeze begin to fight each other, with Batman defeating Mr. Freeze. Batgirl and Robin manage to unfreeze Gotham, and Batman shows Freeze a recording of Poison Ivy during her fight with Batgirl, who had informed the latter that she killed Mr. Freeze's wife. However, Batman informs Mr. Freeze that she is still alive, having been restored by them[clarification needed] in cryogenic slumber before being moved to Arkham Asylum, waiting for Mr. Freeze to finish his research. Batman proceeds to ask Mr. Freeze for the cure Mr. Freeze has created for the first stage of MacGregor's Syndrome to administer to Alfred, and Mr. Freeze atones for his misunderstanding by giving him the medicine he had developed.

text: Mr. Freeze is then detained in Arkham Asylum. Poison Ivy is also imprisoned in Arkham Asylum with a vengeful Mr. Freeze as her cellmate and he plans to get revenge on Poison Ivy for what she did to his wife. After Alfred is cured, everyone agrees to let Barbara stay at Wayne Manor.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze  A Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist and two-time Olympic decathlete who suffers a terrible accident while trying to cryogenically  preserve his terminally ill wife. As a result, he is transformed into a criminal forced to live in a special sub-zero suit powered by diamonds. His goal is to hold Gotham to ransom in order to get the money he needs to complete his research to find a cure for his wife's disease.
George Clooney as Bruce Wayne/Batman  A billionaire industrialist who witnessed his parents' murder as a young boy. At night, Bruce becomes Batman, Gotham City's vigilante protector. Val Kilmer, who played the character previously in Batman Forever, was originally planned to reprise his role, but when he was cast in The Saint, which conflicted with his work schedule, the actor couldn't play Batman again and Clooney was cast.[7]
Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin The crime-fighting partner to Batman and ward of Bruce Wayne. He has begun to chafe against Batman's authority.
Uma Thurman as Dr. Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy  A botanist who becomes a crazed eco-terrorist after Woodrue attempts to kill her by pushing her into vials of chemicals, poisons and toxins, which replace her blood with aloe, her skin with chlorophyll and filled her lips with venom, making her kiss deadly. She also uses pheromones which make men fall in love with her. Julia Roberts, who worked with director Joel Schumacher in Flatliners, was heavily rumored to be in contention for the role, but the rumours were dismissed by Schumacher, saying that if she would have wanted to get the role, she would have called him.[7]
Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson/Batgirl  Her parents had previously died in a car accident.  Alfred, her uncle, was very close to her mother, Margaret. She is Alfred's niece and is an orphan.
Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth  The trusted butler for Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Alfred is dying of a rare disease from which Mr. Freeze's wife also suffers. He was later cured at the end.
Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon  The police commissioner of Gotham City. He is close to Batman and informs him of numerous crimes.
John Glover as Dr. Jason Woodrue  A deranged scientist who aims to create Venom-enhanced "supersoldiers" to sell to dictators and warlords in order to make millions. He is responsible for the creation of both Bane and, though unintentionally, Poison Ivy, the latter of whom kills him with a kiss from her toxic lips. This is the one of the instances where the character is portrayed as a normal human rather than a mutant.
Elle Macpherson as Julie Madison  Bruce Wayne's girlfriend. She proposes to Bruce, but he does not respond, fearing for her safety.
Vivica A. Fox as Ms. B. Haven  Mr. Freeze's sexy assistant who flirts with him once and only once in the film. He is unresponsive, as he is still in love with his wife.
Vendela Kirsebom as Nora Fries  Mr. Freeze's  beloved cryogenically-frozen wife.
Elizabeth Sanders as Gossip Gerty  Gotham's top gossip columnist.
Robert "Jeep" Swenson as Bane  Poison Ivy's bodyguard and muscle, who was originally a scrawny serial killer named Antonio Diego (portrayed by Michael Reid MacKay). Transformed into an enormous abomination, which Woodrue dubbed a "super-soldier" by the strength-enhancing drug "Venom", he was seen getting Mr. Freeze's suit back from Arkham Asylum, as well as fighting against the main heroes several times. Despite holding his own against Batman and Robin on numerous occasions, he is eventually defeated by Robin and Batgirl after they find a way to stop the venom flow to his brain. Swenson was suggested for the role by one of the stuntmen of Batman Forever.[7] Batman & Robin was one of Swenson's final film roles, as he died from heart failure two months after the film's release.
Michael Reid MacKay as Antonio Diego/Bane
Eric Lloyd as Young Bruce Wayne.
Jack Betts as Party Guest
Patrick Leahy as Himself
Jesse Ventura as Arkham Asylum Guard
Nicky Katt as Spike
John Ingle as The Doctor

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: With the box office success of Batman Forever in June 1995, Warner Bros. immediately commissioned a sequel.[8] They hired director Joel Schumacher and writer Akiva Goldsman to reprise their duties the following August,[9] and decided it was best to fast track production for a June 1997 target release date, which is a break from the usual 3-year gap between films.[8] Schumacher wanted to homage both the broad camp style of the 1960s television series and the work of Dick Sprang.[10] The storyline of Batman & Robin was conceived by Schumacher and Goldsman during pre-production on A Time to Kill.[11] Portions of Mr. Freeze's back-story were based on the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice", written by Paul Dini.[12] Goldsman, however, expressed concerns about the script during pre-production discussions with Schumacher.[7]

text: While Chris O'Donnell reprises the role of Robin, Val Kilmer decided not to reprise the role of Batman from Batman Forever. Schumacher admitted he had difficulty working with Kilmer on Forever. "He sort of quit," Schumacher said, "and we sort of fired him."[13] Schumacher would later go on to say that Kilmer wanted to work on Island of Doctor Moreau because Marlon Brando was cast in the film.[7] Kilmer said he was not aware of the fast track production and was already committed to The Saint (1997).[9] Schumacher originally had a strong interest in casting William Baldwin in Kilmer's place, but George Clooney was cast instead.[14] Schumacher believed Clooney could provide a lighter interpretation of the character than Michael Keaton (in Batman and Batman Returns) and Kilmer.[9][15] The shooting schedule allowed Clooney to simultaneously work on ER without any scheduling conflicts.[10]

text: Patrick Stewart was considered for the role of Mr. Freeze,[16] before the script was rewritten to accommodate Arnold Schwarzenegger's casting.[17] Schumacher decided that Mr. Freeze must be "big and strong like he was chiseled out of a glacier".[9] Schwarzenegger was paid a $25 million salary for the role.[18][19] To prepare for the role, Schwarzenegger wore a bald cap after declining to shave his head and wore a blue LED in his mouth.[7] His prosthetic makeup and wardrobe took six hours to apply each day.[20] Thurman took the role of Poison Ivy because she liked the femme fatale characterization of the character.[9] Alicia Silverstone was the only choice for the role of Batgirl.[16]

text: According to Schumacher, during the scene in which the costumes of the Riddler and Two-Face are seen, he originally planned to put Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze escaping from Arkham Asylum while many other villains saw them from their cells.[7] The scene, however, didn't make it in the final film.

text: Filming[edit]

text: The original start date was August 1996,[13] but principal photography did not begin until September 12, 1996.[21] Batman & Robin finished filming in late January 1997,[22] two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule.[10] The film was mostly shot at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California.[9]

text: When comparing work on Batman Forever, O'Donnell explained, "It just felt like everything got a little soft the second time. On Batman Forever, I felt like I was making a movie. The second time, I felt like I was making a kid's toy commercial."[9] He also complained of the Robin costume, saying it was more involved and uncomfortable than the one he wore in Batman Forever, with a glued-on mask which caused sweat to pool on his face.[23] According to John Glover, who played Dr. Jason Woodrue, "Joel [Schumacher] would sit on a crane with a megaphone and yell before each take, 'Remember, everyone, this is a cartoon'. It was hard to act because that kind of set the tone for the film."[9] Production designer Barbara Ling admitted her influences for the Gotham City design came from "neon-ridden Tokyo and the Machine Age. Gotham is like a World's Fair on ecstasy."[24] Rhythm and Hues and Pacific Data Images created the visual effects sequences, with John Dykstra and Andrew Adamson credited as the visual effects supervisors.[25]

text: O'Donnell said that despite hanging out with Schwarzenegger a lot off set and during promotion for the film, they never worked a single day together; this was achieved with stand-ins when one of the actors was not available.[9] Stunt coordinator Alex Field taught Silverstone to ride a motorcycle so that she could play Batgirl.[23]

text: Music[edit]

text: Like Batman Forever, the original score for the film was written by Elliot Goldenthal.[26] The soundtrack featured a variety of genres by various bands and performers, showcasing alternative rock on the lead single "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" by The Smashing Pumpkins, on the Goo Goo Dolls' contribution, "Lazy Eye" and with R.E.M.'s song "Revolution". R&B singer R. Kelly also wrote "Gotham City" for the soundtrack, which became the other song featured in the end credits, as well as one of the singles, reaching the top 10 in the United States and in the UK. Eric Benét and Meshell Ndegeocello also contributed R&B songs. Also included was the top 5 second single, "Look into My Eyes" by the hip hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Other songs featured included electronic dance elements, including those by Moloko and Arkana. The soundtrack was released on May 27, 1997, a month before the film.[27][28]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: The Batman & Robin film trailer debuted on the February 19, 1997 episode of Entertainment Tonight.[29] Warner Bros. spent $15 million to market and promote the film, in addition to its $125 million production budget.[2] The studio also brought in toy companies to be involved with pre-production, including the design of concept art and character illustrations. Director Joel Schumacher criticized Warner Bros.'s strategy for Batman & Robin as being overtly toyetic.

text: Various Six Flags parks (Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags St. Louis) all debuted coasters themed to the film. Six Flags Great Adventure opened Batman & Robin: The Chiller in 1997, and both Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags St. Louis received Mr. Freeze in 1998.[9] Taco Bell featured a promotional campaign including collectible cups and a contest with a replica of the film's Batmobile as a grand prize. A junior novelization of the screenplay, written by Alan Grant, was published along with the release of the film in 1997.[30]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997 in North America, earning $42,872,605 in its opening weekend,[1] making it the third-highest opening weekend of 1997.[31] The film declined by 63% in its second week.[32] Batman & Robin faced early competition with Face/Off and Hercules.[2] Schumacher blamed it on yellow journalism started by Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News and other film websites such as Dark Horizons.[33] The film went on to gross $107.3 million in North America and $130.9 million internationally, coming to a worldwide total of $238.2 million.[1] Warner Bros. acknowledged Batman & Robin's shortcomings in the domestic market but pointed out success overseas.[2]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text:
If there's anybody watching this, that... let's say, loved Batman Forever, and went into Batman & Robin with great anticipation, if I've disappointed them in any way, then I really want to apologize. Because it wasn't my intention. My intention was just to entertain them.
—Joel Schumacher's apology for his work on the film[9]

tag: div

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 10% based on 86 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Joel Schumacher's tongue-in-cheek attitude hits an unbearable limit in Batman & Robin, resulting in a frantic and mindless movie that's too jokey to care much for."[34] On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 28 out of 100, based on 21 critics, signifying  "generally unfavorable reviews".[35] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[36]

text: Schumacher and producer Peter MacGregor-Scott blamed the negative reception of Batman & Robin on Warner Bros.' decision to fast track production. "There was a lot of pressure from Warner Bros. to make Batman & Robin more family-friendly," Schumacher explained. "We decided to do a less depressing Batman movie and less torture and more heroic. I know I have been criticized a lot for this, but I didn't see the harm in that approach at all."[9] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times criticized the toyetic approach and Mr. Freeze's one-liner jokes in his two-star review of the film.[37] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times believed the film "killed" the Batman film series, and felt Batman & Robin depended too much on visual effects.[38] Desson Howe of The Washington Post largely disapproved of Schumacher's direction and Akiva Goldsman's script.[39] Mick LaSalle, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, said, "George Clooney is the big zero of the film, and should go down in history as the George Lazenby of the series."[40] However, Janet Maslin of The New York Times gave a positive review. She praised Uma Thurman's acting, as well as the production and costume design.[41] Andrew Johnston, writing in Time Out New York, remarked, "It's hard to tell whom B&R is intended for. Anyone who knows the character from the comics or the superb animated show on Fox will be alienated. And though Schumacher treats the Adam West version as gospel, that show's campy humor is completely incompatible with these production values. As Mr. Freeze would say, it's sure to leave audiences cold."[42]

text: Batman & Robin was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, as well as Best Make-up and Best Costume, but won none. Alicia Silverstone won the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. Other nominations at the Razzie Awards included Schumacher (Worst Director), George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell (Worst Screen Couple), Akiva Goldsman (Worst Screenplay), both Chris O'Donnell and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Worst Supporting Actor), Uma Thurman (Worst Supporting Actress), as well as Billy Corgan (Worst Song for "The End Is the Beginning Is the End"). Batman & Robin also received nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property. Ultimately, out of 11 nominations, Batman & Robin garnered only one Razzie Award.

text: Some observers thought Schumacher, a gay man, added possible homoerotic innuendo in the storyline.[9] James Berardinelli questioned the "random amount [sic] of rubber nipples and camera angle close-ups of the Dynamic Duo's butts and Bat-crotches."[43] Similar to Batman Forever, this primarily included the decision to add nipples and enlarged codpieces to Batman and Robin suits. Schumacher stated, "I had no idea that putting nipples on the Batsuit and Robin suit were going to spark international headlines. The bodies of the suits come from ancient Greek statues, which display perfect bodies. They are anatomically correct."[9] Chris O'Donnell, who portrayed Robin, felt "it wasn't so much the nipples that bothered me. It was the codpiece. The press obviously played it up and made it a big deal, especially with Joel directing. I didn't think twice about the controversy, but going back and looking and seeing some of the pictures, it was very unusual."[9] George Clooney joked, "Joel Schumacher told me we never made another Batman film because Batman was gay".[44] Clooney himself has spoken critically of the film, saying, "I think we might have killed the franchise",[45] and called it "a waste of money".[46]

text: Cancelled sequel and later plans[edit]

text: During the filming of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. was impressed with the dailies, prompting them to immediately hire Joel Schumacher to return as director for a fifth film. However, writer Akiva Goldsman turned down an offer to write the script.[10] In late 1996, Warner Bros. and Schumacher hired Mark Protosevich to write the script for a fifth Batman film. A projected mid-1999 release date was announced.[47] Titled Batman Unchained, Protosevich's script had the Scarecrow as the main villain. Through the use of his fear toxin, he resurrects the Joker as a hallucination in Batman's mind. Harley Quinn appeared as a supporting character, written as the Joker's daughter.[48] George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, and Alicia Silverstone were set to reprise the roles of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl. It was also hoped that Jack Nicholson would reprise the role of the Joker. However, following the poor critical reception of Batman & Robin, Clooney vowed never to reprise his role.[49]

text: Warner Bros. decided to consider a live-action Batman Beyond film and an adaptation of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. Warner would then produce whichever idea suited them the most.[50] Schumacher felt he "owe[d] the Batman culture a real Batman movie. I would go back to the basics and make a dark portrayal of the Dark Knight."[51] He approached Warner Bros. about doing Batman: Year One in mid-1998,[51] but they were more interested in hiring Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky and Miller developed a Year One script with Aronofsky to direct, but it was ultimately canceled. Christopher Nolan was eventually hired to helm the next Batman film in January 2003, resulting in the rebooted Batman Begins (2005).[50]

text: In "Legends of the Dark Knight", an episode of The New Batman Adventures, three teenagers discuss their ideas about what Batman is really like. They briefly meet a youth called Joel whose idea of Batman reflects characterizations and costumes portrayed within Schumacher's Batman and Robin. The teens treat Joel's ideas with utter disdain.[52] In Watchmen, director Zack Snyder and comic book artist Dave Gibbons chose to parody the molded muscle and nipple Batsuit design from Batman & Robin for the Ozymandias costume.[53][54] The film is referenced in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Legends of the Dark Mite!", when Bat-Mite briefly uses his powers to transform Batman's costume into the same suit shown in the Schumacher Batman films, before declaring it "Too icky".[55] The Batman from Batman & Robin later appeared as part of an army of Batmen gathered from across the Multiverse in "Night of the Batmen!", complete with the blue rubber Batsuit. Additionally, there were worries within Warner Bros. surrounding the negative critical reaction to Batman & Robin and how that may come to harm the success of the subsequent direct-to-video animated film Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, which was originally planned for release at around the same time as Batman & Robin but was subsequently delayed.[56] However, SubZero received a far stronger positive response from critics than Batman & Robin, with Mr. Freeze's role within it being seen in a much more positive light, returning his popularity as a Batman villain to a level comparable to that reached by him within the two Emmy-winning episodes the character featured in of Batman: The Animated Series.[56]


document_title: Minority Report (film)

question_text: where was the last scene of minority report filmed

text: Minority Report (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In April 2054, Washington, DC's PreCrime police stops murderers before they act, reducing the murder rate to zero. Murders are predicted using three mutated humans, called "Precogs", who "previsualize" crimes by receiving visions of the future. Would-be murderers are imprisoned in their own happy virtual reality. The Federal government is on the verge of adopting the controversial program.

text: Since the disappearance of his son Sean, PreCrime Captain John Anderton has both separated from his wife Lara and become a drug addict. While United States Department of Justice agent Danny Witwer is auditing the program, the Precogs generate a new prediction, saying Anderton will murder a man named Leo Crow in 36 hours. Anderton does not know Crow, but flees the area as Witwer begins a manhunt. Anderton seeks the advice of Dr. Iris Hineman, the creator of PreCrime technology. She reveals that sometimes, one of the Precogs, usually Agatha, has a different vision than the other two, a "minority report" of a possible alternate future; this has been kept a secret as it would damage the system's credibility. Anderton resolves to recover the minority report to prove his innocence.

text: Anderton goes to a black market doctor for a risky eye transplant so as to avoid the citywide optical recognition system. He returns to PreCrime and kidnaps Agatha, shutting down the system, as the Precogs operate as a group mind. Anderton takes Agatha to a hacker to extract the minority report of Leo Crow, but none exists; instead, Agatha shows him an image of the murder of Ann Lively, a woman who was drowned by a hooded figure in 2049.

text: Anderton and Agatha go to Crow's hotel room as the 36-hour time nears, finding numerous photos of children, including Sean's. Crow arrives and Anderton prepares to kill him, accusing him of being a serial child killer. Agatha talks Anderton out of shooting Crow by telling him that he has the ability to choose his future now that he is aware of it. Crow however begs to be killed, having been hired to plant the photos and be killed in exchange for his family's financial well being. Crow grabs Anderton's gun and pushes the trigger, killing himself. Anderton and Agatha flee to Lara's house outside the city for refuge. There they learn Lively was Agatha's drug-addicted mother who sold her to PreCrime. Lively had sobered up and attempted to reclaim Agatha, but was murdered. Anderton realizes he is being targeted for knowing about Lively's existence and her connection to Agatha.

text: Witwer, studying Crow's death, suspects Anderton is being framed. He examines the footage of Lively's murder and finds there were two attempts on her life, the first having been stopped by PreCrime but the second, occurring minutes later, having succeeded. Witwer reports this to the director and founder of PreCrime, Lamar Burgess, but Burgess responds by killing Witwer using Anderton's gun. With the Precogs still offline, the murder is not detected.

text: Lara calls Burgess to reveal that Anderton is with her, and Anderton is captured, accused of both murders, and fitted with the brain device that puts him permanently into a dreamlike sleep. As his body is deposited into the prison, the warden tells him, "that all your dreams come true”.

text: Agatha is reconnected to the PreCrime system. While attempting to comfort Lara, Burgess accidentally reveals himself as Lively's murderer. Lara frees Anderton from stasis, and Anderton exposes Burgess at a PreCrime celebratory banquet by playing the full video of Agatha's vision of Burgess killing Lively. A new report is generated at PreCrime: Burgess will kill Anderton. Burgess corners Anderton, and explains that as he could not afford to let Lively take Agatha back without impacting PreCrime, he arranged to kill Lively following an actual attempt on her life, so that the murder would appear as an echo to the technician within PreCrime and be ignored. Anderton points out Burgess's dilemma: If Burgess kills Anderton, he will be imprisoned for life, but PreCrime will be validated; if he spares Anderton, PreCrime will be discredited and shut down. Anderton reveals the ultimate flaw of the system: once people are aware of their future, they are able to change it. Burgess shoots himself.

text: After Burgess's death, the PreCrime system is shut down. All the prisoners are unconditionally pardoned and released, although they are kept under occasional surveillance. Anderton and Lara are soon to have a new child together. The Precogs are sent to an undisclosed location to live their lives in peace.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Tom Cruise as Chief John Anderton
Max von Sydow as Director Lamar Burgess
Samantha Morton as Agatha Lively
Colin Farrell as Danny Witwer
Michael and Matthew Dickman as Arthur and Dashiell "Dash" Arkadin, the precog twins
Neal McDonough as Gordon "Fletch" Fletcher
Steve Harris as Jad
Patrick Kilpatrick as Knott
Jessica Capshaw as Evanna
Lois Smith as Dr. Iris Hineman
Kathryn Morris as Lara Anderton
Peter Stormare as Dr. Solomon P. Eddie
Jason Antoon as Rufus T. Riley
Mike Binder as Leo Crow
Jessica Harper as Ann Lively
Tim Blake Nelson as Gideon
Daniel London as Norbert "Wally" Wallace

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Dick's story was first optioned by producer and writer Gary Goldman in 1992.[5] He created the initial script for the film with Ron Shusett and Robert Goethals (uncredited).[6] It was supposed to be a sequel to the 1990 Dick adaptation Total Recall, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.[7] Novelist Jon Cohen was hired in 1997 to adapt the story for a potential film version that would have been directed by Dutch filmmaker Jan de Bont.[8][9] Meanwhile, Cruise and Spielberg, who met and became friends on the set of Cruise's film Risky Business in 1983,[10] had been looking to collaborate for ten years.[11][12] Spielberg was set to direct Cruise in Rain Man, but left to make Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.[10] Cruise read Cohen's script, and passed it onto Spielberg, who felt it needed some work. Spielberg was not directly involved in the writing of the script; however, he was allowed to decide whether the picture's screenplay was ready to be filmed. When Cohen submitted an acceptable revision, he called Cruise and said, "Yeah, I'll do this version of the script."[9][13] In that version, Witwer creates a false disk which shows Anderton killing him. When Anderton sees the clip, his belief in the infallibility of the precogs' visions convinces him it is true, therefore the precogs have a vision of him killing Witwer. At the end, Anderton shoots Witwer and one of the brother precogs finishes him off, because Witwer had slain his twin.[14] Spielberg was attracted to the story because as both a mystery and a movie set 50 years in the future, it allowed him to do "a blending of genres" which intrigued him.[15]

text: In 1998, the pair joined Minority Report and announced the production as a joint venture of Spielberg's DreamWorks and Amblin Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Cruise's Cruise/Wagner Productions, and De Bont's production company, Blue Tulip.[16] Spielberg however stated that despite being credited, De Bont never became involved with the film.[17] Cruise and Spielberg, at the latter's insistence,[18] reportedly agreed to each take 15% of the gross instead of any money up front to try to keep the film's budget under $100 million.[19] Spielberg said he had done the same with name actors in the past to great success: "Tom Hanks took no cash for Saving Private Ryan but he made a lot of money on his profit participation."[18] He made this agreement a prerequisite:[18]

text: I haven't worked with many movie stars—80 per cent of my films don't have movie stars—and I've told them if they want to work with me I want them to gamble along with me. I haven't taken a salary in 18 years for a movie, so if my film makes no money I get no money. They should be prepared to do the same.

text: Production was delayed for several years; the original plan was to begin filming after Cruise's Mission: Impossible 2 was finished.[16] However, that film ran over schedule, which also allowed Spielberg time to bring in screenwriter Scott Frank to rework Cohen's screenplay.[8][20] John August did an uncredited draft to polish the script,[21] and Frank Darabont was also invited to rewrite, but was by then busy with The Majestic.[22] The film closely follows Frank's final script (written May 16, 2001), and contains much of Cohen's third draft (May 24, 1997).[9] Frank removed the character of Senator Malcolm from Cohen's screenplay, and inserted Burgess, who became the "bad guy". He also rewrote Witwer from a villain to a "good guy", as he was in the short story.[14] In contrast to Spielberg's next science fiction picture, War of the Worlds, which he called "100 percent character" driven, Spielberg said the story for Minority Report became "fifty percent character and fifty percent very complicated storytelling with layers and layers of murder mystery and plot."[4] According to film scholar Warren Buckland, "It appears that...Cohen and...Frank did not see" the "Goldman and Schusett screenplay; instead; they worked on their own adaptation."[7] Goldman and Schusett however claimed the pair used a lot of material from their script, so the issue went through the Writer's Guild arbitration process. They won a partial victory; they were not given writing credits, but were listed as executive producers.[7] The film was delayed again so Spielberg could finish A.I. after the death of his friend Stanley Kubrick.[23] When Spielberg originally signed on to direct, he planned to have an entirely different supporting cast. He offered the role of Witwer to Matt Damon, Iris Hineman to Meryl Streep, Burgess to Ian McKellen, Agatha to Cate Blanchett, and Lara to Jenna Elfman.[24] However, Streep declined the role,[24] Damon opted out,[24] and the other roles were recast due to the delays. Spielberg also offered the role of Witwer to Javier Bardem, who turned it down.[25]

text: Technology[edit]

text: After E.T., Spielberg started to consult experts, and put more scientific research into his science fiction films.[26] In 1999, he invited fifteen experts convened by Peter Schwartz and Stewart Brand to a hotel in Santa Monica for a three-day "think tank". He wanted to consult with the group to create a plausible "future reality" for the year 2054 as opposed to a more traditional "science fiction" setting.[27] Dubbed the "think tank summit",[28] the experts included architect Peter Calthorpe, author Douglas Coupland, urbanist and journalist Joel Garreau, computer scientist Neil Gershenfeld, biomedical researcher Shaun Jones, computer scientist Jaron Lanier, and former Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) architecture dean William J. Mitchell.[27][29] Production designer Alex McDowell kept what was nicknamed the "2054 bible", an 80-page guide created in preproduction which listed all the aspects of the future world: architectural, socio-economic, political, and technological.[28] While the discussions did not change key elements in the film, they were influential in the creation of some of the more utopian aspects, though John Underkoffler, the science and technology advisor for the film, described it as "much grayer and more ambiguous" than what was envisioned in 1999.[30] Underkoffler, who designed most of Anderton's interface after Spielberg told him to make it "like conducting an orchestra", said "it would be hard to identify anything [in the movie] that had no grounding in reality."[28] McDowell teamed up with architect Greg Lynn to work on some of the technical aspects of the production design. Lynn praised his work, saying that "[a] lot of those things Alex cooked up for Minority Report, like the 3-D screens, have become real."[31]

text: Spielberg described his ideas for the film's technology to Roger Ebert before the movie's release:

text: I wanted all the toys to come true someday. I want there to be a transportation system that doesn't emit toxins into the atmosphere. And the newspaper that updates itself...

text: The Internet is watching us now. If they want to. They can see what sites you visit. In the future, television will be watching us, and customizing itself to what it knows about us. The thrilling thing is, that will make us feel we're part of the medium. The scary thing is, we'll lose our right to privacy. An ad will appear in the air around us, talking directly to us.[11]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Minority Report was the first film to have an entirely digital production design.[31] Termed "previz", as an abbreviation of previsualization (a term borrowed from the film's narrative), production designer Alex McDowell said the system allowed them to use Photoshop in place of painters, and employ 3-D animation programs (Maya and XSI) to create a simulated set, which could be filled with digital actors then used to block out shots in advance. The technology also allowed the tie-in video game and special effects companies to cull data from the previs system before the film was finished, which they used to establish parameters for their visuals. When Spielberg quickly became a fan, McDowell said "[i]t became pretty clear that [he] wouldn't read an illustration as a finished piece, but if you did it in Photoshop and created a photorealistic environment he focused differently on it."[31] Filming took place from March 22 to July 18, 2001,[24] in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Los Angeles.[32] Film locations included the Ronald Reagan Building (as PreCrime headquarters) and Georgetown.[32] The skyline of Rosslyn, Virginia is visible when Anderton flies across the Potomac River.[33] During production, Spielberg made regular appearances on a video-only webcam based in the craft services truck, both alone[34] and with Tom Cruise; together they conferenced publicly with Ron Howard and Russell Crowe via a similar webcam on the set of "A Beautiful Mind" in New York.[35]

text: The location of the small, uncharted island in the last shot of the film is Butter Island off North Haven, Maine in the Penobscot Bay.[36]

text: Although it takes place in an imagined future world of advanced technology, Minority Report attempts to embody a more "realistic" depiction of the future.[37] Spielberg decided that to be more credible, the setting had to keep both elements of the present and ones which specialists expected would be forthcoming. Thus Washington, D.C. as depicted in the movie keeps well-known buildings such as the Capitol and the Washington Monument, as well as a section of modern buildings on the other side of the Potomac River. Production designer Alex McDowell was hired based on his work in Fight Club and his storyboards for a film version of Fahrenheit 451 which would have starred Mel Gibson. McDowell studied modern architecture, and his sets contain many curves, circular shapes, and reflective materials. Costume designer Deborah L. Scott decided to make the clothes worn by the characters as simple as possible, so as not to make the depiction of the future seem dated.[38]

text: The stunt crew was the same one used in Cruise's Mission: Impossible 2, and was responsible for complex action scenes. These included the auto factory chase scene, filmed in a real facility using props such as a welding robot, and the fight between Anderton and the jetpack-clad officers, filmed in an alley set built on the Warner Bros. studio lot.[39] Industrial Light & Magic did most of the special effects, and DreamWorks-owned PDI was responsible for the Spyder robots. The company Pixel Liberation Front did previsualization animatics. The holographic projections and the prison facility were filmed by several roving cameras which surrounded the actors, and the scene where Anderton gets off his car and runs along the Maglev vehicles was filmed on stationary props, which were later replaced by computer-generated vehicles.[40]

text: Storyline differences[edit]

text: The Philip K. Dick story only gives you a springboard that really doesn't have a second or third act. Most of the movie is not in the Philip K. Dick story – to the chagrin of the Philip K. Dick fans, I'm sure.

text: Like most film adaptations of Dick's works,[5] many aspects of his story were changed in their transition to film, such as the addition of Lamar Burgess and the change in setting from New York City to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Northern Virginia. The character of John Anderton was changed from a balding and out-of-shape old man to an athletic officer in his 40s to fit its portrayer and the film's action scenes.[41] The film adds two stories of tragic families; Anderton's, and that of the three pre-cogs.[42] In the short story, Anderton is married with no children, while in the film, he is the divorced father of a kidnapped son, who is most likely deceased.[43] Although it is implied, but unclear in the film whether Agatha is related to the twin pre-cogs, her family was shattered when Burgess murdered her mother, Anne Lively.[44] The precogs were intellectually disabled and deformed individuals in the story, but in the film, they are the genetically mutated offspring of drug addicts.[45][46] Anderton's future murder and the reasons for the conspiracy were changed from a general who wants to discredit PreCrime to regain some military funding, to a man who murdered a precog's mother to preserve PreCrime. The subsequent murders and plot developed from this change. The film's ending also differs from the short story's. In Dick's story, Anderton prevents the closure of the PreCrime division, however, in the movie Anderton successfully brings about the end of the organization.[47] Other aspects were updated to include current technology. For instance in the story, Anderton uses a punch card machine to interpret the precogs' visions; in the movie, he uses a virtual reality interface.[48]

text: Themes[edit]

text: The main theme of Minority Report is the classic philosophical debate of free will versus determinism.[49][50] Other themes explored by the film include involuntary commitment, the nature of political and legal systems in a high technology-advanced society,[51] the rights of privacy in a media-dominated world,[28] and the nature of self-perception.[52] The film also continues to follow Spielberg's tradition of depicting broken families,[53][54] which he has said is motivated by his parents' divorce when he was a child.[18]

text: Music[edit]

text:
Minority Report: Original Motion Picture Score

Film score by John Williams

Released
June 18, 2002

Genre
Soundtrack

Label
DreamWorks

John Williams chronology

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
(2002)Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones2002
Minority Report
(2002)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
(2002)Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets2002

tag: table

text:
Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating

AllMusic

Empire

Filmtracks

Movie Wave

SoundtrackNet

Tracksounds

text: The score was composed and conducted by John Williams and orchestrated by John Neufeld, with vocals by Deborah Dietrich. Williams normally enters Spielberg productions at an early stage, well before the movie starts shooting. For Minority Report however, his entry was delayed due to his work on Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, and he joined the film when it was nearly completed, leaving him scant production time. The soundtrack takes inspiration from Bernard Herrmann's work.[55] Williams decided not to focus on the science fiction elements, and made a score suitable for film noir. He included traditional noir elements such as a female singer in the Anne Lively scenes, but the "sentimental scenes", which Williams considered unusual for that genre, led to soothing themes for Anderton's ex-wife Lara and son Sean.[38] The track "Sean's Theme" is described as the only one "instantly recognizable as one of Williams'" by music critic Andrew Granade.[56] Spielberg typified it as "a black and white score" and said, "I think Johnny Williams does a really nice bit of homage to Benny Herrmann."[57]

text: In an interview which appeared in The New York Times, Williams said that the choices for many of the pieces of classical music were made by the studio. He also said that while he did not know why certain pieces were chosen, Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 (commonly known as the Unfinished Symphony), which features prominently in the film,[58] was most likely included because Anderton was a big fan of classical music in the script.[59] Some of the other choices, such as Gideon's playing of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach on an organ in the subterranean prison, were also in the screenplay, and he figured that "[t]hey are some writer's conception of what this character might have listened to."[59] Williams did choose the minuet from a Haydn string quartet (Op. 64, No. 1) which plays on the radio in the scene where Dr. Hineman is gardening in her greenhouse. He said he picked the piece because "[i]t seemed to me to be the kind of thing a woman like this would play on the radio."[59] The New York Times characterized the score as "evocative" and said it was "thoroughly modern" while also being "interlaced with striking snippets of masterworks."[59] The piece heard when Anderton is shown entering his apartment and he tells his computer system "I'm home" is the 2nd movement of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, known as the "Pathetique" Symphony.[citation needed]

text:
[show]Minority Report: Original Motion Picture Score

No.
Title
Length

1.
"Minority Report"
6:29

2.
""Can You See?""
2:12

3.
"Pre-Crime to the Rescue"
5:48

4.
"Sean and Lara"
4:46

5.
"Spyders"
4:33

6.
"The Greenhouse Effect"
5:09

7.
"Eye-Dentiscan"
4:48

8.
"Everybody Runs"
3:10

9.
"Sean's Theme"
1:57

10.
"Anderton's Great Escape"
6:47

11.
"Dr. Eddie and Miss Van Eych"
3:08

12.
"Visions of Anne Lively"
3:27

13.
"Leo Crow... The Confrontation"
5:55

14.
""Sean" by Agatha"
4:59

15.
"Psychic Truth and Finale"
7:10

16.
"A New Beginning"
3:29

text: Ending[edit]

text: The most commonly criticized element of the film is its ending. The film has a more traditional "happy ending" which contradicts the tone of the rest of the picture.[60][61] This has led to speculation that this ending is the product of John's imagination, caused by hallucinations from his forced coma after he is incarcerated. As one observer mused, "The conclusion of Minority Report strikes me as a joke Spielberg played on his detractors—an act of perfectly measured deviltry."[62]

text: One critic theorized, "...[r]ather than end this Brazil-ian sci-fi dystopia with the equivalent of that film's shot of its lobotomized hero, which puts the lie to the immediately previous scene of his imagined liberation, Spielberg tries to pass off exactly the same ending but without the rimshot, just to see if the audience is paying attention."[62] Film scholars Nigel Morris and Jason P. Vest point to a line in the film as possible evidence of this. After Anderton is captured, Gideon tells him that, "It's actually kind of a rush. They say you have visions. That your life flashes before your eyes. That all your dreams come true."[63] While Vest considers the blissful dream ending a possibility, he questions why Anderton did not imagine his son as having returned.[64]

text: Buckland expressed disappointment in the ending, but blamed Frank. He felt that given the water theme, and closely tied together tragic parent-child theme, Anderton should have ended the film by taking Agatha in his care if Spielberg wanted a happy ending. Especially since "Anderton kidnaps Agatha from the precog pool just as his son was kidnapped from a swimming pool" and because Anderton could act as a "substitute parent for Agatha, and Agatha...a substitute child for Anderton."[65] This opportunity is missed however, when the precogs are sent to the remote island, and Anderton reunites with his wife; an ending which Buckland finds more "forced" than the "more authentic" path he feels he noticed.[65]

text: Style[edit]

text: Minority Report is a futuristic film which portrays elements of a both dystopian and utopian future.[66] The movie renders a much more detailed view of its future world than the book, and contains new technologies not in Dick's story.[67] From a stylistic standpoint, Minority Report resembles Spielberg's previous film A.I.,[41] but also incorporates elements of film noir. Spielberg said that he "wanted to give the movie a noir feel. So I threw myself a film festival. Asphalt Jungle. Key Largo. The Maltese Falcon."[10] The picture was deliberately overlit, and the negative was bleach-bypassed during post-production.[68] The scene in which Anderton is dreaming about his son's kidnapping at the pool is the only one shot in "normal" color. Bleach-bypassing gave the film a distinctive look; it desaturated the film's colors, to the point that it nearly resembles a black-and-white movie, yet the blacks and shadows have a high contrast like a film noir picture.[68][69] The color was reduced by "about 40%" to achieve the "washed-out" appearance.[70] Elvis Mitchell, formerly of The New York Times, commented that "[t]he picture looks as if it were shot on chrome, caught on the fleeing bumper of a late '70s car."[71]

text: Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński shot the movie with high-speed film,[70] which Spielberg preferred to the then-emerging digital video format.[72] The movie's camera work is very mobile, alternating between handheld and Steadicam shots, which are "exaggerated by the use of wide angle lenses and the occasional low camera angle" to increase the perception of movement according to film scholar Warren Buckland.[70] Kamiński said that he never used a lens longer than 27mm, and alternated between 17, 21, and 27mm lenses, as Spielberg liked to "keep the actors as close to the camera as possible". He also said, "We staged a lot of scenes in wide shots that have a lot of things happening with the frame."[70] The duo also used several long takes to focus on the emotions of the actors, rather than employing numerous cuts.[73] Spielberg eschewed the typical "shot reverse shot" cinematography technique used when filming characters' interactions in favor of the long takes, which were shot by a mobile, probing camera.[74] McDowell relied on colorless chrome and glass objects of curved and circular shapes in his set designs, which, aided by the "low-key contrastive lighting", populated the film with shadows, creating a "futuristic film noir atmosphere".[70]

text: Buckland describes the film's 14 minute opening sequence as the "most abstract and complex of any Spielberg film."[14] The first scene is a distorted precog vision of a murder, presented out of context. The speed of the film is sped up, slowed, and even reversed, and the movie "jumps about in time and space" by intercutting the images in no discernible order.[75] When it ends, it becomes clear that the scene was presented through Agatha's eyes, and that this is how previsions appear to her.[75] Fellow scholar Nigel Morris called this scene a "trailer", because it foreshadows the plot and establishes the type of "tone, generic expectations, and enigmas" that will be used in the film.[76] The visions of the pre-cogs are presented in a fragmented series of clips using a "squishy lens" device, which distorts the images, blurring their edges and creating ripples across them.[77] They were created by a two-man production team, hired by Spielberg, who chose the "layered, dreamlike imagery" based on some comments from cognitive psychologists the pair consulted.[78] In the opening's next scene, Anderton is "scrubbing the images", by standing like a composer (as Spielberg terms it), and manipulating them, while Jad assists him. Next the family involved in the murder in Agatha's vision is shown interacting, which establishes that the opening scene was a prevision. The picture then cuts back to Anderton and the precogs' images, before alternating between the three.[79] The opening is self-contained, and according to Buckland acts merely as a setup for numerous elements of the story.[80] It lasts 14 minutes, includes 171 shots, and has an average shot length of five seconds as opposed to the 6.5 second average for the entire film. The opening's five-second average is attained despite "very fast cutting" in the beginning and ending, because the middle has longer takes, which reach 20 seconds in some instances. Spielberg also continues his tradition of "heavily diffused backlighting" for much in the interior shots.[70]

text: Release[edit]

text: Spielberg typically keeps the plot points of his films closely guarded before their release, and Minority Report was no different.[81] He said he had to remove some scenes, and a few "F-words" to get the film's PG-13 rating.[10] Following the disappointing box office results of Spielberg's A.I., the marketing campaign for Minority Report downplayed his role in the movie and sold the film as a Cruise action thriller.[82]

text: Tom Rothman, chairman of the film's co-financier Fox Filmed Entertainment, described the film's marketing strategy thus: "How are we marketing it? It's Cruise and Spielberg. What else do we need to do?"[10] The strategy made sense; coming into the film, Spielberg had made 20 films which grossed a domestic total of $2.8 billion, while Cruise's resume featured 23 films and $2 billion in domestic revenues.[10] With their combined 30% take of the film's box office though, sources such as BusinessWeek's Ron Grover predicted the studios would have a hard time making the money needed to break even.[19] Despite the outward optimism, as a more adult-oriented, darker film than typical blockbusters, the studio held different box office expectations for the movie than they would a more family friendly film. Entertainment Weekly projected the film would gross $40 million domestic in its opening weekend,[83] and Variety predicted that the high concept storyline would not appeal to children and would render it a "commercial extra-base hit rather than a home run."[8]

text: Theatrical run[edit]

text: Minority Report's world premiere took place in New York City on June 19, 2002.[84] An online "popcorn cam" broadcast live from inside the premiere.[85] Cruise attended the London premiere the following week, and mingled with thousands of adoring fans as he walked through the city's Leicester Square.[86] It debuted at first place in the U.S. box office, collecting $35.677 million in its opening weekend.[87] Forbes considered those numbers below expectations, as they gave the film a small edge over Lilo & Stitch, which debuted in second place ($35.260 million). Lilo & Stitch sold more tickets, but since much of the film's attendees were children, its average ticket price was much lower.[88] The movie opened at the top of the box office in numerous foreign markets; it made $6.7 million in 780 locations in Germany its opening weekend, and accounted for 35% of France's total box office weekend office gross when it collected $5 million in 700 theaters. In Great Britain, Minority Report made $36.9 million in its first three days, in Italy, $6.2 million in its first ten, in Belgium, $815,000 in its 75 location opening weekend, and in Switzerland, $405,000 in an 80 theater opening weekend.[89][90] The BBC felt the film's UK performance was "buoyed by Cruise's charm offensive at last week's London premiere."[91] Minority Report made a total of $132 million in the United States and $226.3 million overseas.[2]

text: Home media[edit]

text: DreamWorks spent several million dollars marketing the film's DVD and VHS releases. The campaign included a tie-in video game released by Activision, which contained a trailer for the movie's DVD.[92] Minority Report was successful in the home video market, selling at least four million DVDs in its first few months of release.[93] The DVD took two years to produce. For the first time, Spielberg allowed filmmakers to shoot footage on the set of one of his films. Premiere-award-winning DVD producer Laurent Bouzereau, who would become a frequent Spielberg DVD collaborator, shot hundreds of hours of the film's production in the then-new high-definition video format. It contained over an hour of featurettes which discussed various aspects of film production, included breakdowns of the film's stunt sequences, and new interviews with Spielberg, Cruise, and other "Academy Award-winning filmmakers".[92][94] The film was released on a two-disc Blu-ray by Paramount Pictures (now the owner of the early DreamWorks library) on May 16, 2010. It included exclusive extras and interactive features, such as a new Spielberg interview, that were not included in the DVD edition. The film was transferred from its "HD master" which retained the movie's distinctive grainy appearance.[95]

text: Video game[edit]

text: A video game based on the film titled Minority Report: Everybody Runs was developed by Treyarch, published by Activision and released on November 18, 2002 for Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It received mixed reviews.

text: Reception[edit]

text: The film received critical acclaim. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Minority Report received 90% positive reviews based on 239 critics, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus is, "Thought-provoking and visceral, Steven Spielberg successfully combines high concept ideas and high octane action in this fast and febrile sci-fi thriller."[96] The website listed it among the best reviewed films of 2002.[97] The film also earned an 80 out of a possible 100 on the similar review aggregating website Metacritic.[98] Most critics gave the film's handling of its central theme (free will vs. determinism) positive reviews,[96] and many ranked it as the film's main strength.[99][100] Other reviewers however, felt that Spielberg did not adequately tackle the issues he raised.[49][101][102] The movie has inspired significant discussion and analysis, the scope of which has been compared to the continuing analysis of Blade Runner.[103] This discussion has advanced past the realm of standard film criticism. Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek fashioned a criticism of the Cheney Doctrine, by comparing its preemptive strike methodology to that of the film's PreCrime system.[104]

text: Richard Corliss of Time said it's "Spielberg's sharpest, brawniest, most bustling entertainment since Raiders of the Lost Ark".[105] Mike Clark of USA Today felt it succeeded due to a "breathless 140-minute pace with a no-flab script packed with all kinds of surprises."[106] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly praised the film's visuals,[107] and Todd McCarthy of Variety complimented the cast's performances.[108] Film scholar Warren Buckland recommended the film, but felt that the comedic elements—aside from Stormare's lines—detracted from the plot and undermined the film's credibility.[109]

text: Several critics used their reviews to discuss Spielberg and analyze what the movie signified in his development as a filmmaker. Andrew O'Hehir of the online magazine Salon expressed excitement over the atypically hard edge of the movie. "Little Steven Spielberg is all grown up now...into of all things a superior film artist...It's too early to know whether Minority Report, on the heels of A.I., marks a brief detour in Spielberg's career or a permanent change of course, but either way it's a dark and dazzling spectacle."[110] J. Hoberman of The Village Voice said it is "the most entertaining, least pretentious genre movie Steven Spielberg has made in the decade since Jurassic Park."[54] Randy Shulman of Metro Weekly said that "the movie is a huge leap forward for the director, who moves once and for all into the world of adult movie making."[55] Roger Ebert called the film a "masterpiece" and said that when most directors of the period were putting "their trust in technology", Spielberg had already mastered it, and was emphasizing "story and character" while merely using technology as a "workman uses his tools".[100] David Edelstein of Slate echoed the positive sentiments, saying "[i]t has been a long time since a Spielberg film felt so nimble, so unfettered, so free of self-cannibalizing."[60] Jonathan Rosenbaum, then of the Chicago Reader, was less convinced. Though he approved of the movie, he derided it in his review as a superficial action film, cautioning audiences to enjoy the movie, but not "be conned into thinking that some sort of serious, thoughtful statement is being delivered along with the roller-coaster ride."[110]

text: Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer gave the film a negative review in which he described the script as full of plot holes, the car chases as silly, and criticized the mixture of futuristic environments with "defiantly retro costuming".[111] The complexity of the storyline was also a source of criticism for Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, who considered the plot "too intricate and difficult to follow".[112] Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail criticized Tom Cruise's performance,[113] and though Hoberman liked the movie, he described the film as "miscast, misguided, and often nonsensical".[114] Both Rosenbaum and Hoberman belittled the titular minority report as a "red herring".[115][54] More positive reviews have seen it similarly, but referred to it as a "MacGuffin".[116]

text: Awards and honors[edit]

text: The film earned nominations for many awards, including Best Sound Editing at the Academy Awards,[117] and Best Visual Effects at the BAFTAs.[118] It was nominated for eleven Saturn Awards including Best Actor for Cruise, Best Supporting Actor for von Sydow and Best Music for Williams, and won four: Best Science Fiction Film, Best Direction for Spielberg, Best Writing for Frank and Cohen and Supporting Actress for Morton.[119] It also won the BMI Film Music Award,[120] the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress,[121] and the Empire Awards for Best Actor for Cruise, Best Director for Spielberg and Best British Actress for Morton.[122] Ebert listed Minority Report as the best film of 2002,[123] as did online film reviewer James Berardinelli.[124] The film was also included in top ten lists by critic Richard Roeper,[123] and both reviewers at USA Today.[125]

text: In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated this film for its Top 10 Science Fiction Films list.[126]

text: Television series[edit]

text: On September 9, 2014, it was announced that a follow-up television series had been given a pilot commitment at Fox.[127] Max Borenstein wrote the script and served as executive producer alongside Spielberg, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. The series was envisioned to be set 10 years after the film, and focused on a male precog who teams up with a female detective to find a purpose to his gift.[127] On February 13, 2015, Daniel London and Li Jun Li joined the cast.[128] On February 24, 2015, Laura Regan was cast as Agatha Lively, replacing Samantha Morton, who was said to have been offered to reprise the role.[129] In March 2015, Stark Sands and Meagan Good landed the lead roles with Sands playing the role of Dash, one of the male precogs, and Good playing Lara Vega, a detective haunted by her past, who works with Dash to help him find a purpose for his gift, Li Jun Li plays Akeela, a CSI technician, Daniel London reprised his role as Wally the Caretaker from the original film and Wilmer Valderrama was cast as a police detective.[130][131] The show was picked up to series by Fox on May 9, 2015, and made its broadcast debut on September 21, 2015. However, the show was cancelled on May 13, 2016 by Fox.