Impostor (2001)

Just what I expected

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Absolutely brilliant

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Philip K. Dick wrote "Impostor" in 1953, a short story about Spencer Olham, an android who naively believes himself to be a human being. Like many of Dick's tales, it allegorically portrays humans as machines who do not know, or do not accept, that human behaviour (and concepts of self-hood, personality and "free will") is itself mechanistically programmed by external, causal chains. For Dick, man is always a robot in denial; an impostor.Directed by Gary Fleder, "Impostor" was adapted for the screen in 2001. It stars Gary Sinise as Olham, and sticks fairly faithfully to Dick's short story. Differences include the insertion of several dull action sequences, and an attempt to flesh out the broader society (militaristic, paranoid and almost totalitarian) in which Olham lives. Hampered by budget constraints and poor direction, this society never feels anything more than cheap, phony and hokey.Incidentally, Fleder's "Impostor" was originally a 30 minute short film intended to be released as part of a larger anthology. Possibly attempting to steal thunder from Steven Spielberg's upcoming Philip K. Dick movie, "Minority Report", it was quickly retooled and turned into a feature length picture. As a result, most of its running time feels like unnecessary padding.6/10 – Worth one viewing.

Really good science fiction. I thought I knew exactly where this was going and was getting bored as it moved toward the seemingly inevitable conclusion, but then it wound up throwing me at the very end. The special effects were kind of cheesy for this day and age, and, unless you are Elon Musk, it is more than a little ridiculous to think that science and technology will advance this far in mere 60 more years; however, the tech stuff that will never actually happen is not really a problem, because these fictions were only plot devices so that the story could explore deeper ideas about existence and identity. For me personally, the ending came out of left field, and I found it downright unsettling. If you let your mind wander, you're left with some things to think about after the show is over. Good stuff.

Seriously, this is terrific Sci-Fi and oh what an ending. Superb.Considering the budget, I felt this movie was fantastic. The actors all perform really well and without a doubt the Philip K Dick in this movie shines through, ever so true to his vision.A movie I will want to watch again with friends who haven't seen it.Sadly this movie fell under the radar, which is a shame as it's 3 times the movie that say Paycheck was.Well worth watching.Terrific twists and it really drew you into the story and the universe.Recommended even if you only see it the once. If your a Philip K Dick fan, your going to really enjoy this movie.

A half-baked science fiction plodder in which Gary Sinise tries to convince the authorities he's not actually a body-snatching cyborg with a bomb in his heart. Originally intended as one-third of a short story anthology, the studio called an audible midway through production and stretched it to a feature length by itself. The lack of preparation is crippling, as bad effects, terrible scenery, atrocious dialog and a heavily padded plot are exposed and emphasized by the longer running time. Sinise's character, the intended heart and soul of the picture, is incendiary and unlikeable, a standoffish prick who makes an already-bad position worse for himself in almost every situation. The awful lines he spits (seriously, the worst-written dialog this side of The Room) aren't helped by a hyperactive editor, switching angles several times in a single sentence. Awful in almost every sense, at least it goes out with a bang.