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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0786936292909
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Miramax
Manufacturer: Miramax
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Miramax
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 02, 2005
Running Time: 96 minutes
Sales Rank: 29142
Studio: Miramax
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
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Editorial Review:
Description:
A pulse-pounding cyber thriller starring Jeremy Northam (GOSFORD PARK, EMMA) and Lucy Liu (KILL BILL VOLUME 1, CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE), CYPHER is sure to entertain you! When computer expert Morgan Sullivan (Northam) joins a huge multinational company, he assumes a new identity and is sent undercover to investigate corporate espionage. Before long, he finds himself caught up in a vicious cycle of paranoia and mistrust. Then along comes Rita (Liu), a sexy and smart secret agent who informs Sullivan that he's being brainwashed and that she is the only one who can help him! Loaded with riveting twists and amazing special effects ... you're sure to applaud this fast-paced thriller!
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Pawns R Us.
Morgan Sullivan is a computer geek hired by a secretive organization, Digicorp, to ferret out the secrets of their competitor, Sunways Systems.
In order to be convincing, and pass all the tests that Sunways employs, Morgan Sullivan is transformed into a cypher, a man who is and can be anything he wants to be. A man who can slip through any man-made security protocols imaginable. His new name: Jack Thursby. His identity, a freelancing businessman who attends banal conventions in order to spy upon Digicorp's many competitors, specifically, Sunways. But that's not the only thing that's different. With neural brainwashing as an aid, he literally becomes a different man.
Before he's swallowed too deeply into a confusing rabbit hole, he is pulled out with the aid of a mysterious woman, Rita, a freelance agent herself who works for an equally mysterious man, Sebastian Rooks. With Rita's help, Morgan/Jack is able to shuck off all the brainwashing, even as his world is tossed upside down. The old life, he finds out, is no longer waiting for him but is as dismantled and frighteningly distant from his former self and life than he could ever have realized. But that's only the beginning. What he thought was a gig as a secret agent for Digicorp, is nothing more than a way for the corporation to maintain their secrets why insuring complete control and the inability for the other side to gain access.
Morgan, free of the mindwash and the drugs and now himself (or so he believes), ... Read More
Rating: - "If You Want Answers, Take the Shot!"
The Good Things
*A few neat special effects that are used quite effectively.
*Excellent filming style. Very solid, fluid, and slick.
*Very nifty production design. Lots of interesting sets, costumes, and props. Some of it (like seeing the blocks and blocks of houses that are all perfectly alike) makes you think.
*Interesting use of textures and monochrome colors.
*Good writing.
*Fascinating story.
*Good acting. It's very interesting to see how most people act robotically in this world. The main character acts robotically at first too, but transforms magnificently. Lucy Lui makes for a good, tough, enigmatic character. All these characters are fascinating.
*Good slick music.
The Bad Things
*Not really an action movie; no major fights, chases, or anything (except maybe for a few brief scenes at the end). Like "Gattaca," it's purely a sci-fi drama. Some may find this dull.
This film is surprisingly slick and intelligent; easily comparable to other great sci-fi titles like "Gattaca," "Dark City," or even "The Matrix." For that matter, it may also be comparable to most intelligent sci-fi books, like William Gibson's "Neuromancer." It may not have any major action scenes, but it manages to be thrilling and interesting through its style, writing, acting, and production design. Altogether, it's something sophisticated and intelligent that will leave you thinking.
The DVD has excellent video and sound quality. It ... Read More
Rating:  - One of the best movies you never heard of...
This is a great movie. Drama & science fiction in one movie. Must admit that I love Lucy Liu, but this is at least a must rent for anyone who likes movies with twists...
Rating:  - I Don't Get It
This picture is very interesting to look at -- some of the images may remind you of "Metropolis", or even "Brazil" - others may remind you of "Edward Scissorhands". Honestly, however, the visuals were not enough to keep me interested in this strange and convoluted tale.
Like a Bond story (not) this movie pops around from exotic locale (a hotel convention room in Boise, Idaho) to exotic locale (a hotel convention room in Wichita, Kansas).
Our hero does give actor Jeremy Northam an interesting opportunity to play himself down. Usually seen in suave, debonair-type roles, the handsome Northam plays Morgan Sullivan, a computer dweeb from Madison, Wisconsin - and Northam manages a passable midwestern accent, as well. He got less dweeby and more handsome as the film progressed, which was a good character arc, and a relief.
This is where my interest in the picture stalled, however. The plot revolves around corporate espionage between two mega-giants: Sunways Systems and Digicorps Corporation. I guess the problem for me was that I didn't care about either corporation (no-one was wearing a white hat or a black hat), so didn't care which one of them had "control" of Northam's mind throughout his sundry brainwashing experiences.
Lucy Liu was lovely to look at, but quite flat in her demeanor. She was probably supposed to look sleek and sexy, but she looked bored to me -- even when holding a dripping syringe of green mind-control goo. By the end of this picture, ... Read More
Rating: - What's Jack Thursby like?
That was the question soon-to-be ex-Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam) asked his new employer Digicorp as they assigned him his cover as Jack Thursby. Digicorp told him he could put his own spin on the character--and so he did, adding cigarettes, golf, and single malt Scotch on the rocks to his habits.
What was Thursby to do? Thursby's assignment was to spy on Digicorp's rival, Sunways. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell his wife about what he was doing or his job.
On his first assignment, he encounters a very attractive young woman Rita (Liu) who introduces him to counter-intelligence. Digicorp is going to brainwash him into permanently believing he's Thursby. Rita can help him, but he's got to trust her.
Soon, he's swept into a Gordian knot of a plot that literally keeps you guessing and sitting on the edge of your suit til the film ends.
Acting was very well done by everyone in the cast. Both Northam and Liu knew how to put just enough spin on the characters to keep you believing. Northam's slow transition from what he thought Thursby should be to the double-agent was fascinating in the subtle nuances.
Cinematography and effects are very well done for a low-budget film. The cuts to dream sequences and the surrealistic feeling of the post-brainwashing scenes were appropriately dizzying--very much got you into the character's feeling.
I rented this film, but am definitely considering purchase. I regret not having seen "Cypher" ... Read More
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