When the sci-fi action flick “Virtuosity” was first released in the summer of 1995, it opened to mixed reviews (though some critics, most notably Roger Ebert, sang its praises) and modest box office. It was the kind of mid-range studio programmer (it came from Paramount under the Sherry Lansing regime) that came out with dependable frequency in those days, a movie enjoyed by some but quickly forgotten by most before it left theaters to make way for other genre films like “Desperado,” “The Tie That Binds,” and “Hackers.”
Looking back now, studio slates like the ones Lansing oversaw — release schedules that made room for an abundance of medium-budget comedies (“Clueless”), thrillers (“Primal Fear”), sci-fi films (“The Relic”) and adult dramas (“Nobody’s Fool”) in between large-scale blockbusters like “Mission: Impossible,” “Braveheart,” and “Titanic” — seem far more varied and artistically fruitful than they did at the time, when we never knew such range was in any danger of disappearing. It was easy at the time to take movies like “Virtuosity” for granted because there always seemed to be so many like them coming down the chute.
Thankfully, an exquisite new 4K UHD edition from boutique physical media label Vinegar Syndrome gives “Virtuosity” the respect it always deserved. Viewing it now, the movie’s influence and prescience are more obvious than ever. The premise of Eric Bernt’s screenplay feels eerily relevant in a number of ways: in the (then) near-future, law enforcement agents are trained in virtual reality by interacting with AI-generated criminals. When one of those criminals (Russell Crowe in a gleefully unhinged early performance) manages to break free of the computer and become manifest in the real world, disgraced cop Denzel Washington is released from prison to track him down and stop him.
“Virtuosity” was directed by Brett Leonard, who was briefly the go-to guy for technologically oriented thrillers thanks to the massive success of his VR-themed “The Lawnmower Man” in 1992. While his and Bernt’s vision for “Virtuosity” looks back to a few sci-fi classics in fun ways — like Snake Plissken of “Escape From New York,” Washington’s character is let out of prison with an implant designed to kill him if he doesn’t finish his assignment — it mostly looks forward, and in so doing introduces ideas and imagery for which later films would become much more famous.
The key film in this regard is “The Matrix,” which came out a few years after “Virtuosity” and, consciously or not, lifted a significant number of its tropes from Leonard’s less well-known movie. Right from an opening subway station scene in which various non-player characters populate the simulation Washington’s character is chasing Crowe through, the visual and conceptual similarities are obvious; the minimal variations between the NPCs parallel the presentation of the “agents” played by Hugo Weaving in “The Matrix,” and the kineticism and volume of the violence looks forward to the Wachowskis’ film.
The devices in which characters hang and shake while in the VR world are also extremely close to the pods the heroes of “The Matrix” find themselves connected to, and the fusion of retro-industrial design with futuristic VR technology is something else the two films have in common. Which isn’t to take anything away from “The Matrix,” a film that had more resources than “Virtuosity” as well as greater philosophical ambition, and which takes its action sequences to a more innovative level than “Virtuosity” does even in its best moments. But let’s give credit where credit is due — “Virtuosity” went there first. It walked so that “The Matrix” could run.
Not that “Virtuosity” was the only film playing in the VR sandbox at the time; Kathryn Bigelow’s “Strange Days” (probably the greatest of all VR movies in terms of following through on the technology’s moral, philosophical, political, and technological implications) came out the same year, and the year before Barry Levinson and Michael Crichton’s sexual harassment drama “Disclosure” even played around with an eccentric VR sequence.
Where “Virtuosity” was really ahead of its peers was in its conception of AI; the sequence in which we see how Crowe has been “taught” by having the profiles of Charles Manson, Adolf Hitler, and numerous other legendary villains fed into his system feels extremely of the moment — not 1995 but this moment, when ethical considerations about how AI companies teach their systems are a constant topic of discussion.
And “Virtuosity” plugs into current issues and anxieties even in sequences that have nothing to do with technology; a news program within the movie features a debate about immigration that feels like it could have been taken verbatim from the age of MAGA. All of this makes “Virtuosity” feel both timeless and timely; Leonard and Bernt were tapping into things so fundamental to American culture and the human condition at large that their ostensibly escapist thriller works no matter what era you’re watching it in.
The Vinegar Syndrome 4K UHD release is the perfect way to revisit the film, or to discover it for the first time. Aside from an immaculate transfer that perfectly preserves the textured, vibrant cinematography by Gale Tattersall, the disc boasts hours of extra features that are all terrific and provide unique insights into the film’s making, reception, and meaning. A new audio commentary by Leonard in conversation with Cinematic Void programmer Jim Branscome is particularly excellent, as Branscome skillfully elicits great stories from Leonard while providing just enough of his own pointed observations to supplement the director’s memories.
The disc also features a lively track by film historian Walter Chaw that places the movie in a variety of contexts, and there are multiple interviews delving into the film’s writing, special effects, casting, and other topics. Vinegar Syndrome’s package also comes with a booklet addressing “Virtuosity” from an engaging array of perspectives including its relationship to the launch of Windows ’95 and its place among other 1990s sci-fi movies like “Demolition Man” and “Existenz.” “Virtuosity” may not have gotten the credit was due in 1994, but 31 years later the curators at Vinegar Syndrome have finally rectified the situation.
The “Virtuosity” limited edition 4K release is now available from Vinegar Syndrome.
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