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The Thirteenth Floor
Based on the 1964 SF novel 'Counterfeit World' (aka: Simulacron-3) by Daniel F. Galouye, which
was adapted for German TV in 1973, directed by Fassbinder. With a small screen history like
that it was inevitable that Roland Emmerich would get involved with this new movie version,
giving fellow German, Josef Rusnak (2nd unit director on Emmerich's Godzilla), his
Hollywood breakthrough. The Thirteenth Floor is palatable enough as slightly dodgy
sci-fi, with VR worlds entered by exchanging your conscious mind with that of a CG character
but, honestly, if you've ever read anything by Philip K. Dick then the eventual outcome of all
this identity swapping will be obvious, immediately. This leaves the genre literate audience to
concentrate on the gizmos (which I thought were massively clunky and too noisy) and the movie
designers' superbly recreated Prohibition era L.A. (period detailing, and largely self-indulgent
visual effects without the panache that Brian De Palma bought to The Untouchables). The
rest, I can't resist adding, is history. And even the supposedly unexpected twist ending has,
unfortunately, a frightfully dated quality. Recommended only as no-brain entertainment. DOWSE
Guide to the Movies
is
compiled by Tony
Lee editor of Pigasus Press Movies
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