Easily my favorite movie of all time. Gattaca is a disquieting peek at the world around the corner, a touching underdog story, a taut mystery thriller, and just a beautiful film to experience.
The cinematography, the score, the understated sets and costumes, the (mostly) well-crafted characters… I never fail to be amazed and moved when I watch this — even though I see it at least three times a year with my biology students.
And now you can experience it (or RE-experience it) for free at Hulu.com. Here’s the link. Click and watch now. Feel free to thank me later.
(EDIT: They took it down. Hulu giveth, Hulu taketh away…)
(See how many “science fiction” bits from this film are now “science fact.” Scary.)
*My Blog Has Worms 
I thought Gattaca was a very original movie. I like how it turns the whole Frankenstein idea from every other science fiction and turns it on its head. Rather than the modified humans being cast aside as ‘freaks’ by the natural-born humans, in Gattaca the natural humans are reviled by the scientifically-altered (i.e. selected) humans. It will be interesting to see which is the better prediction of how we will behave as science changes the human species.
The one thing that irritated me about the movie is that it tried to garner sympathy for something I thought was common sense – you can’t be an astronaut if you have a serious heart defect. This isn’t science fiction, and never was. Selection of people for the military, the emergency services and for space missions is just a fact of life; nobody is going to spend millions paying and equipping you for a dangerous mission if you are likely to fail. Why, it’s the same reason as we don’t hire incompetent builders, blind taxi drivers or tour guides who can’t speak English. And yet, in Gattaca, this sort of thing was supposedly the great injustice of the main character in the dystopian future. I just didn’t get it.
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You make a valid point. It’s a troublesome hole in the exposition. Thankfully the details become secondary to the overall plot once the action/murder/investigation kick in.
A possibly related point from real life: here in California a woman is suing a co-worker who pulled her from a crashed car and aggravated her injuries. The State Supreme Court has in the past ruled that the professionals should be allowed to do the job, and that amateurs, however well intentioned, should stay out of the way.
Sweet, I loved this movie. I think I’ve only actually seen it once or twice, so I’ll have to rewatch it tonight. Thanks for putting it up.
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You’re quite welcome, Krooze. Happy New Year.