STRANGE DAYS (1995) is finely available on Hulu and Disney Plus but let’s talk about the the lost legacy of this film

I work in technology so much so I get pissed how people speak of it, when they downplay all the potential IT brings to us. There is a tone of short-sightedness that makes my skin crawl when individuals pretend nothing is possible, while in this age everything is. No other explanation is required.

To me technology became a true tool of progress in the 90’s when the playing field was leveled with the emergence of the internet. Everyone had access to it, and this, with the microchip, meant there was really nothing in your way. One of the furthest products from this era that only seemed a matter of time before it became full-fledged reality was Virtual Reality. This fascination is what is commonly referred to as augmented reality today. It even affected the billion-dollar entity known as Facebook, to where Zuckerberg, believing the at-home, online usage, remote office trends (or fad — it’s really a fad) tricked him so much he converted the entire company to META, renaming it on the stock market and all. META was the Zuck dude’s wish that never came true. And what was that wish? Simple. Zuckie Chuckie thought he could see the future, thought the data was solid, he thought he could make a hard pivot, and tell the world this was the future, this was the next step. He was Nostradamus and we were all here for the show.

As obsessive as we are with moments in sports where the best players seem to freeze or not make the perfect play at the perfect time to win the game, we speak about this in the context of what were they thinking, why didn’t they just do this. If you don’t see the comparison already I’ll lay it out for you: Zuckerberg making the Meta move in the hope of creating a virtual reality paradise should be studied infinitely as one of the all-time buffoonery moves we have seen in the modern age.

The allure of virtual reality is real. We can argue that the last time this was truly embraced in fiction as film was Ready Player One, which serves as the single-minded sci-fi future of old where the world would encompass one idea and one idea only, like The Matrix and Planet of the Apes. But the believability of Ready Player One fell to pieces under scrutiny. It does not mean both the book and film are not entertaining as all hell, because they are. But……..

In contrast, when speaking of Strange Days (1995), I almost forgot this article was about that. Similarly, it was chasing a similar dream — an equally mesmerizing one — and that is James Cameron. His promise: he was going to inherit the throne of the greatest science fiction creator of them all. While we can argue if this prophecy that emerged in the 90’s became true or not (I’m of those — maybe the only one — that believes this became true), how Strange Days factors into this fascinating and forgotten film is key.

We need to swerve again and set the stage. During this time in culture, VR was a movie trend. It was cocaine and Hollywood was having every possible ounce. Here we can make the argument that the last and most perfect of these VR films was 1999’s The Matrix, a flawless sci-fi fever dream of big ideas and bigger box office. Here we can argue the second greatest of these films is in fact Strange Days. But there were others…….

• Virtuosity
• eXistenZ
• Lawnmower Man
• Lawnmower Man Sequel

You have to believe me, the list is deep. So deep that VR Troopers came into being to compete head to head with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Nintendo lost its left leg pushing the Virtual Boy and red-laser graphic headset that lasted long enough to have 7 stunning games. If you believe in VR it will eat your lunch. Unless you are The Matrix.

Enter James Cameron and a script that dates back to the mid-80s. When studying Cameron you discover that much of his work dates back to decades. I feel this is a part of Cameron being of a science fiction mind — he in a way is always projecting and thinking about the future. During the radiant pulsating glow of Cameron at this time, a paperback of the shooting script was released. To put the importance of this into context, there was a new category emerging in the entertainment section at bookstores. While not every film got this treatment, it was a trend the publishers rode, and Strange Days was among Pulp Fiction, Blue in the Face, Usual Suspects, and even The Matrix. What makes Strange Days unique within this trend is that it was viewed as important to own this screenplay because we were all subject to a future classic that would carry the same DNA as The Terminator and Aliens. Unfortunately that was not the case and Strange Days faded away, not keeping up in the cable, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming eras.

The current availability of Strange Days is not ceremoniously celebrated, not like I’m celebrating it. And no futurist jacked into a continent-sized neuro network could have predicted that.

PETER A DELUCA AKAPD

AKAPAD is a versatile thinker known across Philadelphia, Europe, and even in the vast Multiverse as The Electic One. By day, he excels as an IT Mastermind, assisting individuals, both big and small, with a wide range of simple and complex solutions. In contrast, he is also a talented illustrator, a passionate comic book enthusiast, a creative content creator, and an active live streamer. Additionally, his podcast, “AKAPAD The Film Buff Podcast,” boasts an impressive catalog of over 500 episodes available on nearly every major platform.