The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
LINK > https://tinurll.com/2tFxt3
Based on the 1964 science fiction novel "Simulacron-3" by Daniel F. Galouye. This has been made before as a 3 1/2 hours Television-serial in Germany, called Welt am Draht/WORLD ON A WIRE (1973) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. One of the producers for THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR (1999) was actually Michael Ballhaus, who was Fassbinder's EXCELLENT cinematographer during the 1970's.
This was one of two major motion pictures released in 1999 about a futuristic simulation whose inhabitants believe they're in the real world. The other was The Matrix (1999) released a month earlier.
The Thirteenth Floor (1999) (movie): A computer scientist running a virtual reality simulation of 1937 becomes the primary suspect when his colleague and mentor is murdered. Discover the latest Discussions, Reviews, Quotes, Theories, Explanations and Analysis of The Thirteenth Floor (1999) below
Around 2018, a couple of software developers, named David and Jane, created thousands of simulations filled with sapient simulated humans. Douglas Hall, presumably with memories of a full life, was created in a simulation of 1999 Los Angeles, modeled after David, and given David's personality. However, David soon spiraled into delusions of godhood, terrorizing the simulations, although this did not affect Douglas or his simulation. Within the 1999 simulation, Douglas was employed by a man named Hannon Fuller. Alongside Fuller and a software developer named Jason Whitney, he helped create a simulation within the simulation over six years, theirs modeled after 1937 Los Angeles and also populated by sapient simulated humans, known as units, holding the server room in the 13th floor of the company's building.
tonight's movie was The Thirteenth Floor (1999)! it was shockingly good! i always thought it was supposed to be bad but it's important to remember that this movie came out two months after The Matrix and The Matrix completely sucked up all the oxygen in the room when it came to heady sci-fi about simulated realities. but no, it was a pretty good noir thriller! the movie is based on the novel Simulacron-3 from 1964, which was then adapted by Rainer Werner Fassbinder of all people as World on a Wire, a TV movie in 1973, which i think i need to check out because that sounds fucking wild. The Thirteenth Floor, as far as i can tell, takes no influence from the Fassbinder film and is more of a adaptation/update of Simulacron-3. the movie's main issue is that outside of Vincent D'Onoforio as Jerry Ashton/Jason Whitney, the rest of the performances are kinda....ok? the worst performance goes towards Craig Bierko as John Ferguson/Douglas Hall who seems very sleepy and quiet for most of the movie, until a small plot twist later in the movie. and that's not a bad thing, but it's almost the entire movie. Gretchen Mol's Jane Fuller/Natasha Molinaro is also capital F Fine, along with Armin-Mueller Stahl (Grierson/Hannon Fuller) and Dennis Haysbert (Det. Larry McBain). but the real star of the show is the main setting of the movie, which bounces between Los Angeles in 1999 and 1937, with the 1937 LA looking purposefully artificial in a fun way while still being kinda amazing. i don't know how much of it was sets or CGI but it looked pretty seamless for when it came out, i believe. the best parts of the movie are in the 1937 parts, i feel, with the 1999 parts still being decent but by no means incredible. though Hall's downtown LA billionaire apartment is pretty damn nice looking and gives off some good Blade Runner vibes, especially with the weird Aztec themed hallways. the setup for the movie is that in 1999, Hannon Fuller is a multi-billionaire who for the past five years has been developing an elaborate VR simulation of LA circa 1937 along with the rest of his company, including his protégé Douglas Hall and lead programmer wunderkid Jason Whitney (who looks like a long-haired John Carmack). the most unique aspect of Fuller and co's VR sim is that all the characters in the sim are fully unaware they are artificial beings, with users hijacking their bodies to do what they like before regaining control, with the hijacking manifesting as severe amnesia. Fuller suddenly becomes paranoid in the simulation and after a night on the town in 1937, he leaves a note with Whitney's in-sim alter ego Ashton and then returns home to the home of his host and goes to sleep before waking up in 1999. Fuller then leaves and tries to contact Hall to inform him about something urgent, before he is ruthlessly murdered in an alleyway behind a bar. before Fuller died, he changed his wills so that Hall would inherit complete control of the company, which makes Hall a primary suspect to Detective McBain and the LAPD. Hall wakes up the day after Fuller's slaying with an inability to remember what happened the previous night and a laundry hamper full of bloodied clothes. metaphysical existential noir hijinks ensue. The Thirteenth Floor isn't the greatest movie ever made in this space, but it's still really entertaining and a good watch, though it does carry a pretty heavy cw for sexual assault. if you've seen The Matrix 900000 times, maybe give it's also-ran stablemate a shot! 781b155fdc