Hollow Man (2000)

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writers (WGA):

Gary Scott Thompson (story) and
Andrew W. Marlowe (story) ...

Release Date:

4 August 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

What would you do if you were invisible? How far would you go?

Plot:

Scientists discover how to make people invisible, but their test subject becomes an insane killer who stalks them.

Plot Keywords:

Disturbing | Nipples | Anti Hero | Neck Break | Pipe Smoking

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Elisabeth Shue	...	Linda McKay
Kevin Bacon	...	Sebastian Caine
Josh Brolin	...	Matthew Kensington
Kim Dickens	...	Sarah Kennedy
Greg Grunberg	...	Carter Abbey
Joey Slotnick	...	Frank Chase
Mary Randle	...	Janice Walton
William Devane	...	Dr. Howard Kramer
Rhona Mitra	...	Sebastian's Neighbor
Pablo Espinosa	...	Ed, Warehouse Guard
Margot Rose	...	Mrs. Martha Kramer
Jimmie F. Skaggs	...	Wino
Jeffrey Scaperrotta	...	Boy in Car (as Jeffrey George Scaperotta)
Sarah Bowles	...	Girl in Car
Kelli Scott	...	Mom

Also Known As:

Hollow Man - Unsichtbare Gefahr (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | SDDS (8 channels) | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Brazil:16 | USA:R (certificate #36734) | Australia:M (TV rating) | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | Ireland:18 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

To achieve convincing visibility underwater in the pool scene, the effects crew made countless experiments with transparent objects and transparent molds of body parts underwater. In the end, the entire body of Kevin Bacon, including hair, was painted black for the scene because black gave the best contrast underwater.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Matt hits Sebastian in the middle of the head and looks at (the visible) Sebastian he is looking at the wrong spot - he is looking beside Sebastian.

Quotes:

[Sebastian is about to inject himself with the serum. He takes off his robe and he's naked. Linda and Sarah smirk]
Sebastian: Ladies, please, this is science.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Allemaal film: De amerikaanse droom (#1.6)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Hotels

Hollow plot and characters but visually fantastic

Sebastian Caine and his team have worked tirelessly to develop a formula that can not only turn animals invisible but also bring them back to normal at will. With Governmental pressure on them to show results, Sebastian decides he will be the first human to try the formula. He becomes invisible for a short time, however efforts to bring him back fail and he finds himself stuck. As work continues on the formula, the others in the lab begin to notice him becoming increasingly unhinged.

From director Verhoven the norm is to expect great special effects and violence. He has also been known to integrate themes and good stories into these mainly effects driven films. On this occasion however he fails to really do that and is left with a fast paced and enjoyable film that makes up in effects what it lacks in substance. The plot is pretty basic and never goes deeper – Sebastian's descent into madness is not really a descent so much as a short trip that is not really built to so much as just delivered. In it's placed though, the effects are really impressive and make the film worth seeing simply because, not only are they great, but they are also used very well in the action rather than just being the film in themselves.

The cast is OK but don't really have much to work with in terms of material. Bacon is much more interesting when not on screen than when he is. His character is too thin and he fails to portray any sort of `descent' in his character's behaviour. Shue is pretty good and seems to enjoy running round with a flamethrower. The rest of the cast are OK but basically just act as fodder in the way that a normal slasher movie will have actors to be disposed of as the film rolls.

Overall I really enjoyed this film as it is a very expensive special effects movie which relies on spectacle to keep things moving. The effects are great and take the mind away from the lack of real substance and the action at the end is very enjoyable. A really good special effects movie as long as you don't expect anything more.