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1999 was a big year for movies. Fight Club, American Pie, and The Phantom Menace all proved popular for different reasons, while original sci-fi was still a booming genre. That year, two fascinating sci-fi films emerged, both determined to explore the idea that reality might not be what it seems. One was The Matrix (you’ve probably heard of it!) and the other was The Thirteenth Floor, a noir story that unfortunately got lost in the shadow of “bullet time” and leather-clad martial arts.
In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that the world he lives in is a simulated reality created by machines, and that the “real” world is a desolate wasteland. But The Thirteenth Floor explores virtual worlds instead, building layers of simulation from 1937 Los Angeles to 1999 LA and beyond. Both films ask their characters to question what is real and which reality they will settle for.
Just before The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor were released, Alex Proyas’ Dark City also posed the same questions. All three movies had distinct visual styles and approaches. Where The Matrix used that now-iconic green hue, inspired by phosphor-coated green computer displays and in contrast with the cold blue of reality, Dark City opted for German Expressionism—oppressively dark and rain-slicked. In contrast, The Thirteenth Floor was presented in rich color tones, from a sepia-tinged 1937 to a neon-dotted 90s cityscape.
Of course, The Matrix became a blockbuster and spawned three sequels, whereas Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor didn’t make any money. Although Dark City has gone on to become a cult classic, The Thirteenth Floor has been largely forgotten, and we’d argue that’s a damn shame.
The film stars Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight) as Douglas Hall, a computer scientist who discovers that his colleague, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has created a fully immersive simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is found murdered, Hall becomes the prime suspect and begins investigating Fuller’s last days. Eventually, he realizes that the simulated world is way more sophisticated than he thought.
As Hall navigates both the virtual 1937 setting and the 1999 world, he encounters characters whose lives and identities are intertwined across both realities. Betrayals and hidden motives slowly unravel, forcing Hall to confront the possibility that his own world may be a simulation.
The cast is solid, with Gretchen Mol and Dennis Haysbert in supporting roles. Arguably, Bierko isn’t an acting powerhouse, but inhabiting different characters gives him room to play. His more well-known comedy stylings (he famously passed on the role of Chandler in Friends, allowing best friend Matthew Perry to land the part) work in his favor as he drops into his baffled 1937 avatar, while his mugging is well-suited to another avatar’s more diabolical tendencies.
It helps that Bierko is paired with consistently fantastic character actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who is also playing several roles. In 1999, he’s an affable, floppy-haired techie. In 1937, he’s steely-eyed, dangerous, and far too observant of his surroundings to remain tethered to a virtual world. Bierko’s Hall has several suspects while investigating his mentor’s murder, and at key points in the story, it’s easy to become convinced that D’Onofrio could be all of them. He’s just that good at playing a calculating, suspicious character.
Loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel, Simulacron-3, The Thirteenth Floor deftly remakes Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 miniseries World on a Wire. With its similar themes of simulation and existential uncertainty but without The Matrix’s groundbreaking special effects (the closest you’ll get to that here is some neon green lasers and a dry ice machine in the virtual reality machine room), The Thirteenth Floor embraces a subtle, noir-driven central mystery that opts to explore personal guilt and romantic anguish instead.
Clearly, that wasn’t an approach that got butts in seats back in 1999, but if you love The Matrix and Dark City and pine for the days of original sci-fi, it might be time to give The Thirteenth Floor a look.
The post The Overlooked Sci-Fi Movie That Got Lost in The Matrix’s Shadow appeared first on Den of Geek.
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