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Imaginative, different type of movie

Tired of explosions and bad guys who shoot hundreds of bullets but still miss their main target? Try this drama/sci fi movie. The characters are the stars, not the sets nor the action sequences. Bierko is great as the lead and has star quality. Why can't he get more roles? Gretchen Mol is beautiful and is convincing as the mysterious blonde with a hidden agenda. I don't want to give much away as this is really a classical mystery.

13th Floor

Great movie, fascinating and timely, seen it many times and always something new to view!

Porsche class sci-fi!!

It's very stylised film that works well at maintaining an illusion of moving from a real present day world to a cyber world circa 1937 to the future 2024. The photography is exquisite, with an emphasis on subtle tones rather than brash technicolor. The casting is spot on, every actor perfectly suited to his or her role. The acting is first rate and credit must go to the Director for keeping the balance between the characters, and not letting any one character over dramatize a script that does not call for heavy drama! Gretchen Mol is the mysterious female and she is delicious - sort of reminds me of Ingrid Bergman. Craig Bierko is the central character - Douglas Hall - is he a "bot", or is he real?, He drives a Porsche. He's the sort of guy you'd expect to drive a Porsche! Dennis Haysbert is the LA detective and very convincing. Amin Mueller-Stahl is the elderly, gentlemany, scientist, and I doubt he is faking the accent! A steller performance by all other part players as well. The sound track is excellent with the right amount of music (including some great flash backs at the big band era), and sound effects. It's all together a very polished performance. The plot is light and not cluttered with interminable explanations of what is happening and why - this way the Director keeps the story moving and lets you figure out what's taking place. But,I must say I got lost on more than one occassion. Also, I was never quite sure who was a "bot" and when, and who was not! Like Blade Runner this movie bears seeing more than once, and worth buying - especially DVD format.

gosh darn good

Though the trailer gives away most of the plot - the old switcharoo played not only on the protagonist but on ourselves as well - it's still very entertaining, even chilling, and much more interesting than the usual Us vs. Them Terminator-future of "The Matrix," or the unsatisfying "Open your Eyes" (aka Vanilla Sky). It's also a little (either too, or comfortingly) familiar because the plot is driven by a murder mystery, which perhaps derailed audiences who just wanted to see a single-genre film. However it effectively kept me engrossed (and thankfully did NOT turn into a goofy faux noir like "Bladerunner" with it's ceiling fans and lines like "talk about beauty and the beast, she's both."). Anyone familiar with the Twilight Zone, Star Trek NG, Stanislaw Lem or Phil Dick, won't be too surprised by the concepts presented, but there are some clever new wrinkles, and luckily a hip sense of humor. Also anyone who inwardly grumbles at the yet-again Hollywood nostalgia-inducing yellow tinting of the 1930's will get a chuckle when our hero reemerges to the present and also complains about it to his programmer buddy. My only complaints are the Shaft-like detective(seemed out of place); also Craig Bierko can over-emote, and oddly looks different moment to moment(like a young Raymond Burr, then William Shatner, then Brendan Fraser, etc).

Better story than the Matrix.

Just my humble opinion.I borrowed this movie from my brother who had it on VHS (my DVD player was in for repairs). I vaguely remember hearing about this movie but had never seen it. Well, much to my surprise this was an outstanding movie. I'd never seen any of these actors before (not that I can remember anyways) and for a movie with an all, more or less unknown cast, it did not disappoint.From beginning to end the story and the characters where much better than in the matrix. The story in this movie has depth and I did not feel I was being sold a "hollywood" thing here (for lack of a better way to put that). A quality gem. I can't believe I missed this one when it came out. Maybe the title made me think it was about something else, I don't know. I'm just glad I finally got to see this movie.

Visually stunning, one of my all time favourites

Comments about this film divide into two camps: (A) unoriginal plot and not as good as The Matrix, and not a good cast; (B) wonderful, carefully made and thoughful sci-fi thriller, with a fine cast.I am firmly in camp B!I found some plot concepts similar to The Matrix, but only on a very basic level (to say this film is a clone of The Matrix is like saying that Pale Rider is a clone of High Noon because both are about guns, horses and sheriffs). But my jaw dropped when I listened to the Director's Commentary (on DVD) and learned that this film is based on a sci-fi book written in the early 1960s (before the microprocessor was invented, by the way).What makes this film for me, apart from the cast (all of the leads are truly excellent, in particular Bierko), is the beautiful photography/cinematography. Most scenes - even interior scenes - are shot mainly using natural light - listen to the Director's Commentary and have your eyes opened. I would add that I find the recreation of 1930's LA stunning, better than Bugsy or other recent attempts (but not as good as Some Like it Hot's prohibition era!).I find many similarities in visual style with another of my favourite sci-fi films, Gattaca: the careful colour palettes, the use of stunning modern architecture and designer furniture, the use of sepia tones to show the past (or here 60% colour 40% b/w film stock, apparently), wonderful costumes and lighting, the careful pace throughout - maybe also one could say that Gretchen Mol and Uma Thurman have the same chilly stylish beauty. Also perhaps there is a basic similarity in the very concept of a sci-fi film which is in fact a who-dun-it.An important element of filmgoing, for me, is the magic of the experience, or the 'willing suspension of disbelief' (Coleridge). This film has it in spades. Therefore 10/10, I say, and a film which I can happily watch over and over again.

The absolute worst movie I have seen this year...

I saw this movie over the long weekend at a movie marathon (3 movies late at night) it showed in the middle. 90% of the cinema fell asleep the others just waited in anticipation for the credits!This movie had an un-original concept, drab acting, irrelevant characters, and aimless story line.The only thing 13th floor had going for it was that no one had heard anything about it!I give it 2 for the two ok special effects.If you see this take a pillow and a doona!

One of my favorite sci-fi movies

This movie is similar to the Matrix but much less outrageous. The sci-fi plot is very interesting in itself and makes for one of those movies in which there are many unexpected surprises. However, I think what really makes the movie are the virtual reality recreations of Los Angeles in the 1930s. It adds a lot of character to the film. The only thing that's a little odd is how the main character is always very sullen and almost unemotional. He has an incredibly resigned an unexcitable air to him. Eventually, this sort of ends up fitting, but at first it seems a little odd. In any case, I love this movie and highly recommend it.

Not so far away

This is a one of the more underesteimated movies, as here in sweden it when to rent-movies directly... Its far more deeper then Matrix, and a much nicer movie then ExistenZ. Also the plot is more real than you might think, as Im a System Developer myself (programmer) and Ive worked on a Massive Online game (where there is a whole world is online and people login to the world) so even that we today don't have the technoligy to Upload a game directly to the brain. but as soon we can iteract with the brain (the first experiments has been successful, by operating a chip to the brain a disabled person has been able to interact on a monitor screen) then we could create simular worlds... Anyhow a great movie!

Not too shabby

I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. I still don't quite understand why it flopped in the movie theaters. Perhaps audiences thought it was a bad rip-off of "The Matrix". Although the similarities are present, I think the movie is much much closer to "Dark City".The similarities between "13th Floor" and "Dark City" were striking. The idea of trying to get beyond the city limits (I was expecting someone to ask for Shell Beach throughout the whole movie) and the final scene in which they walk outside and look at the sun and the ocean...The movie was superior to "Dark City" in one aspect - there were no conehead aliens involved, the "deus ex machina" of "Dark City". However, I missed the film-noir feeling of "Dark City", which was somewhat replaced by "Los Angeles in 1930s" look. A friend of mine noticed, as we were watching the movie, how the 1930s LA looked very much like it was shot in Technicolor. :)Not too shabby. A very high 7/10, although it didn't have any elements of a true classic in order to deserve a higher grade.

The Thirteenth Floor by Josef Rusnak

The film is about a computer-simulation-game with which you can sort of go back in time, switch into a character and be / act in it as long as your timer runs (usually 120 minutes). One of those films where reality and game melt to an undefined stream of time and non-time, like The Matrix. And like in Sophie's World the characters start at a certain point to guess that they are nothing but characters in a book, the protagonists in Rusnak's film start to guess that they are nothing but parts of a computer game, and try to struggle out of their fate - by even murdering their users.Although it's one of he really good films and extremely plausibly acted, I have the feeling it's a typical US-film. For with the cine-mania and the urge that everything, even news have to be presented in a good show, one might start to wonder if there is a bit of reality left, and how you can crumble it out from the show-mixture you are served with.

Remake of a Fassbinder TV-Series

"13th Floor" seems be to be a remake of a TV-Series made by Rainer-Werner Fassbinder for german television in the early 70's: "Welt am Draht" ["World on a wire", or something like that]. Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to see this series entirely, but the storyline got me excited for at least ten years up to now. I hardly remember the actors from the original, but Armin Mueller-Stahl acts as he'd been doing it at that time, too. "13th Floor" really is a great movie (a bit too much of love-scenes), but anyway: I'd like too see the original series once again. Don't try to compare "Matrix" and "13th Floor", they're kind of similar, but both movies take a different point of view on the "cyberspace reality".

Programmed ??

Another very thought provoking Sci-Fi film that makes you wonder what reality really is anyway. (Unless you do not have much imagination). The concept of someone realizing they are only a computer program is frightening. Very enjoyable film.

Very good movie, but not The Matrix

I thoroughly enjoyed The Thirteenth Floor as a movie, but I should probably warn people who hear that it's "like The Matrix" that the similarities end after the basic concept of having a completely immersive virtual world.

Fortunately for TTF, this is a very good thing. Where The Matrix took a relatively good concept for a movie and threw special effects at it, TTF took a similar premise and chose to do more in terms of development. Indeed, special effects in this movie are fairly minimal, with far greater effort and detail going into modeling 1940s Los Angeles than camera tricks.

The plot is summarized in several other reviews, so I'll simply add my own comments. The movie has a fairly somber tone and a methodical pace. You'll probably see most of the developments well before they're revealed. However, I consider it a fallacy to believe that predictability is necessarily a bad thing. In the case of TTF, it springs from a very thoroughly fleshed out plot, which is a a nice contrast from random plot twists that are not uncommon in sci-fi movies.

Comparisons between The Matrix and eXistenZ seem to occur a lot with this movie, but while they do all share a common basic concept, they're really very different movies. eXistenZ is really more oriented towards the idea of an immersive virtual reality as a game, and The Matrix towards that idea as a method of oppression, but The Thirteenth Floor really takes the idea and tries to really establish a solid story with human drama that might occur given this technology/universe.

Good entertainment for serious sci-fi fans only

This was a tight plot without any visible flaws, which is important for a sci-fi plot. However, the format was all wrong. Slow to get started, this story would have made a great "Outer Limits" episode. At 2 hours, however, it dragged in places. The story is well done, but if you've watched Star Trek:TNG, you've seen this reality play before. Still, in all, it was a worthwhile evening of entertainment.

A quiet cyber-mystery in the land of the Matrix.

Not an action movie as the trailers might suggest. More a cyber-mystery with a surpprise turn and an upbeat ending. A quiet Matrix-like movie combined with Murder, She Wrote. If you think there are internal inconsistencies it probably means you were not paying close attention to details and the theoretical construct, which you just have to accept. A new movie genre really. Seemingly predictable but not. Don't watch the trailers before the movie. DVD extras are weak compared to others, however.

Thoughtful Sci-Fi in the Vain of Gattaca

The Thirteenth Floor is a thoughtful and engaging film that asks its audience to think about the difference between reality and virtual reality. The Matrix asks similar questions in an action format appealing to a wider audience, but the Thirteenth Floor exceeds the Matrix in two respects. First, it uses a thoughtful approach that establishes its characters as more than 2-D, comic-book type heroes and villains. Second, it builds longer and with more subtlety, so that the payoff comes much later.And a delightful payoff it is. Imagine the Matrix with less action fluff, real human relationships, and a plot twist reminiscent of the Sixth Sense. Fans of thought-provoking science fiction in the vain of Gattaca will enjoy the Thirteenth Floor just as well.

theres another world ontop of this one

a man is murdered and a cop suspects a techman partner for his death, but what happens next is astounding and the finale is great too. the theory in here is that theres the real world set in the future and they create a game world of the real world which is todays world and then todays world creates a game that goes back into the old world and you can be who ever you want to be, plus theres a killer on the loose. hang on tight. D'Onofrio, Mol, Stahl, Haysbert and Bierko give nice performances

Matrix meets Existenz

It's The Matrix meets Existenz but done poorly. The Directing is wooden as are the performances of the actors. Over reliance on special effects at the expense good story telling is another reason this film is dull & boring. The most exciting part of the film was the theatrical preview which promised a much better film than the one delivered

Nice try, Emmerich.

I might have enjoyed this movie a lot more if the concept wasn't EXACTLY like "The Matrix." And more importantly, Matrix had the incredible fight scenes, costumes, cinematography and special effects. Instead of seeing Thirteenth Floor, you can simply rent the Matrix and close your eyes during all the good parts.