As I mentioned before, Minority Report is, amongst other things, about cinema. One cool think I’ve noticed in the process of writing these posts is that when Anderton and his team use their computer mainframe they do so using similar hand gestures to a film director when he/she is lining up a shot.

SPIELBERG THEME - CINEMA: One of the most interesting trends of Spielberg’s 2000 films was his lack of faith in cinema. Films had played a vital part in his early years, with Close Encounters and E.T. both containing references to the transformative power of cinema - Close Encounters in its nods to Pinocchio and E.T. in its Quiet Man scene.

By the 2000s though, Spielberg was identifying cinema as something that could blind and trap his protagonists. This can be seen in Catch Me If You Can, which portrays Frank Abagnale as a prisoner of his own cinema and TV-fueled fantasies, and in Minority Report.

Not only is John Anderton one of the leaders of Pre-Crime, an organisation that uses film-esque visions to stop future crimes, but he is inspired in his job by a desire to prevent incidents like the kidnapping of his son. He tortures himself with the memory of his child by watching home movies of the boy on a high tech projector.

Later, when Anderton visits Peter Stormare’s eye surgeon, a movie plays in the background, and we repeatedly see large adverts projected onto tunnels and buildings, and photographs filling scenes.

Minority Report is about the power of the recorded image and the corruption that can emerge if that power is misused.

SPIELBERG THEME - CINEMA: Jurassic Park is one of the most self-reflexive films of Spielberg’s career. It is a blockbuster about blockbusters, with characters referring to event films of the past (“what do you think they have in here: King Kong?”) and the character of John Hammond acting as a thinly-veiled representation of Spielberg himself - an entertainer who’ll do anything to please his audience.

In this fun gag from the T-Rex attack sequence, Spielberg turns the attention towards that audience. During the attack, he cuts to a shot of Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm in the other tour car. A concerned Grant is looking on helplessly, but Malcolm can’t. His vision is blocked by steam on the window. He quickly wipes it away so he can see properly.

Malcolm has to watch this amazing sight. It’s something he’s never seen before and he won’t be denied it. Like the audience, he is hooked.