The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

Director:

Josef Rusnak

Writers:

Daniel F. Galouye (book)
Josef Rusnak (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Question reality. You can go there even though it doesn't exist.

Plot:

Computer scientist Hannon Fuller has discovered something extremely important. He's about to tell the discovery to his colleague...

Plot Keywords:

Parallel World | Alternative Reality | Lasersight | Reality | Recursion

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Craig Bierko	...	Douglas Hall / John Ferguson / David
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Hannon Fuller / Grierson
Gretchen Mol	...	Jane Fuller / Natasha Molinaro
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Jason Whitney / Jerry Ashton
Dennis Haysbert	...	Detective Larry McBain
Steven Schub	...	Detective Zev Bernstein
Jeremy Roberts	...	Tom Jones
Rif Hutton	...	Joe
Leon Rippy	...	Jane's Lawyer
Janet MacLachlan	...	Ellen
Brad William Henke	...	Cop #1 (as Brad Henke)
Burt Bulos	...	Bellhop
Venessia Valentino	...	Concierge
Howard S. Miller	...	Chauffeur
Tia Texada	...	Natasha's Roomate

Also Known As:

Abwärts in die Zukunft (Germany) (TV title)
The 13th Floor (USA) (alternative spelling)
13º Andar, O (Portugal) (video title) [pt]
13. kerros (Finland) [fi]
13:e våningen (Sweden) [sv]
13F (Japan) [ja]
Etajul 13 (Romania) [ro]
Nivel 13 (Spain) [es]
Nivell 13 (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Passé virtuel (France) [fr]
Piso 13, El (Argentina) [es]
Tredicesimo piano, Il (Italy) [it]
Treizième étage, Le (Canada: French title) [fr]
Trinaesti sprat (Serbia) [sr]

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

777 S. Figueroa Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Centropolis Film Productions

Trivia:

The science fiction novel Simulacron-3 was also published under the title Counterfeit World, it was first published in 1964 by Daniel F. Galouye in the United States, and is one of the first literary descriptions of virtual reality.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the 1937 world, the old man (Fuller) refers to World War I. There had been no World War II yet, thus World War I should have been referred to as "The Great War", but since the world was actually a simulation, this is just an error in the simulation. Many other anachronisms in the 1937 world can be similarly explained, such as the too-new money and a too-new police car.

Quotes:

Hannon Fuller: [First lines] Ignorance is bliss. For the first time in my life, I agree.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Soundtrack:

Join Me In Death

Calm, honest, thought provoking

For some time I have been hearing people refer to to The 13th Floor, mostly when comparing to other movies of the genre like The Matrix. I finally got around to view it myself, and I was positively surprised. After seeing Matrix I and II, its hard to imagine a film that can be on par. The 13th Floor is it. Not in action, stunts or CG, but by presenting an old, yet interesting idea in wonderful pictures and a genre between sci-fi and mystery. The main protagonists "calmness and integrity" contrasts with the absurd situation the characters are in. Camera, lighting and the "textures" are excellent and the sound track perfectly completes the unique atmosphere.

Very recommended!