13º Andar

The Thirteenth Floor,in my opinion,is an underrated SCI FI classic. It ranks with Blade Runner, The Matrix & Dark City as Science Fiction with a brain. Not only does it raise philosophical questions around technology , reality and existence it is also an entertaining noir-thriller with a few twists. Visually it is similar to the films mentioned above (dark neon-soaked landscapes) however the contrast between the modern and the 1930's adds another level to the films beauty. The film is well cast (Gretchen Mol looks stunning)and Craig Bierko carries the film well. It's one of those rare films that crosses quite a few genres - intelligent sci fi - murder mystery - film noir - thriller - love story.If you enjoyed Blade Runner and The Matrix you will certainly like this film.

The Thirteenth Floor is one of those films that has gotten lost under all the more well-known films of the late nineties; and this is a shame, because it's a damn sight better than a lot of the films that always receive praise from the critics. Not everything in this film works, and for that reason and others; it's no masterpiece, but you've got to admire The Thirteenth Floor for it's originality, and it's ability to pull a coherent plot out of a scenario that has 'disaster' written all over it. The film is based on the book "Simulacron-3" by Daniel F. Galouye, which is the same book that inspired Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "World on a Wire". Whether or not this version is better, I can't tell you having not seen Fassbinder's version; but I can tell you that this version is worth seeing. The film follows the death of a computer programmer. He was working on a computer simulated world before his death, and his colleague; Douglas Hall, believes that the programmer left the key to discovering his murderer inside the virtual world...prompting him to go in search of it.

The film works both as an entertaining science fiction flick, and a thought provoking drama. The film asks questions about the value of life and the ills of playing God; and although these questions have been asked by many films many times before; here, it's done so well that you forget that and ask yourself these questions all over again. The twist at the centre of the movie extremely well worked, and after it hits you'll ask yourself how you didn't guess it sooner - and that is testament to the excellent plotting preceding it. Despite being a science fiction film, there is very little in the way of special effects in this film. However, the movie makes up for this with the excellent way that 1937 Los Angeles is created - it's easy to buy into the film's multi-world plot, and for that reason; it doesn't need special effects to work. The acting is largely good, with Craig Bierko impressing in the lead role. Vincent D'Onofrio, Gretchen Mol and 24's Dennis Haysbert, who is excellent in his small role, support him. On the whole, this isn't brilliant or a masterpiece; but as far as modern Sci-Fi goes; this is one of the best I've seen.

This movie was both critically and financially panned. Why?

Two words. The Matrix.

The Thirteenth Floor is a good movie. No, it's not "The Matrix" all over again, but it wasn't trying to be.

This is what happens when two movies of similar type are released in close proximity. The first one always has a jump-start on the second by means of box office success and pleasant reviews. That's why I think "The Thirteenth Floor" was branded as a bad movie. People had already seen "The Matrix" with it's knock-out special effects, cast and action. They weren't open-minded for a movie on the same genre branch. So The 13th Floor was said to be 'a bland, pale imitation of the Matrix'.

"The Thirteenth Floor" doesn't have a star-studded cast. Yes it's cast is mostly regular supporting players, but they work well with the material. So there's no kung-fu ass kicking scenes, so what! There's great atmosphere, a intriguing story and a real nice plot twist. To me that makes up a very fine movie. So I ask what was so very wrong with "The Thirteenth Floor" that made critics turn away and made it tank at the box office? Really it's people's unwillingness to give a similar movie a chance and instead opting to take the easy route and branding it as a "rip-off". Which is their loss unfortunately.

The film, without an A-list cast, pulls off the plot well. The characters, although not really deep, are well structured, and the plot constructed with subtle complexity. The 1930s scenes are dramatically created. I found myself trying to guess the plot twists, but with little success as they unfolded. It was a good film, and richer in substance than the Matrix, and left you with a thought provoking afterthought about our own existence. Going into a movie, I hope to have avoided any prior information about the plot, and this one was well worth the purchase of the video. This could have made a great 3 hour movie to really develop the characters and the philosophical issues, however, it was reduced down to the 100 minutes time-span. I'd give it 8 out of 10.

"The Thirteenth Floor" is among the best and most thoughtful sci-fi ever made. The plot is intelligent and unfortunately many said "professional critics" did not understand the complex story and wrote bad reviews (Metacritic 3.6?). Yesterday I watched this film for the second time, and it is still impressive and engaging. Disregard the bad reviews and enjoy this underrated gem. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "13º Andar" ("13º Floor")