Steven Spielberg’s Interpretation of Philip K. Dicks’s Minority Report

Steven Spielberg’s Interpretation of Philip K. Dicks’s Minority Report In the year 2054 crime has become a thing of the past. The relatively new Pre-Crime system allows the government to operate an elite police force, which with the help of three very talented and unique human beings can see into the future and prevent countless crimes, especially murders before they happen. In Philip K. Dicks’s short story, The Minority Report, the world we live in is nearly infallible. With the reduction of violent criminal acts, people can live their lives in peace and prosperity without the fear of the pain and suffering, which usually accompanies violence. Likewise, in director Steven Spielberg’s 2002 movie re-creation of Dick’s renowned story, Spielberg also offers up an image of a nearly flawless society whose foundation is about to be tested to its limits. The atmosphere Philip K. Dick immersed the reader into in his short story about what is to come of crime and the future is very fast paced. The story itself being fairly short in length is action packed and abundant with drama, mystery, and suspicion. The opening scene takes place at the Pre-Crime headquarters where John Anderton, the Pre-Crime director confronts Ed Witwer, who is an ambitious newcomer to Anderton’s agency. As in Spielberg’s film the two quickly bond in not such an affectionate way. However, when Anderton decides to show off the way his crime prevention scheme works he’s stunned upon realizing that he has been predestined by his own system to kill a man in the upcoming week. In both versions of the story the main character, Anderton, now embarks on a quest to find out exactly what is happening to him. Under the suspicion that he’s being fr... ...y reasons why this could have occurred, the most probable one is that Spielberg needed to lengthen Dick’s short story and alter it slightly in order to make it more lengthy and meaningful to his target early 21st Century audience. Lastly, I personally preferred the original version of the story after seeing the film; however, after being given the chance to actually listen to Spielberg’s reasoning behind some of the things he did in his version of the story, the movie adaptation became more intriguing and meaningful to me than it had previously been. Works Cited Dick, Philip K. The Minority Report: And Other Short Stories by Philip K. Dick. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2002 Minority Report. Writ. Dick, Philip K., Frank, Scott, Cohen, Jon. and Dir. Steven Spielberg. Prod. Goldman, Gary, Shusett, Ronald. Perf. Tom Cruise. 20th Century Fox, 2002.