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FreeJack (1992)

Cast:

Emilio "Nephew of Joe Estevez" Estevez is Alex Furlong
Rene Russo is Julie Redmund
Mick "He played in a band, I think" Jagger is Victor Vacendak
Anthony "Hannibal the Cannibal Lector " Hopkins is Ian McCandless
David "BUSTER 'FEELIN' HOT, HOT, HOT!!! ' POINDEXTER" Johansen is Brad


FUTURE SHOCK

Read the review for Johnny Mneumonic



What the box says:

Bounty hunters from the future raid the present to provide new bodies for the super rich in the all-out, pedal-to-the-metal sci-fi thriller FreeJack, directed by Geoff Murphy (Young Guns) and sparked by the imagination of Alien and Total Recall veteran Ronald Shusett.

Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Anthony Hopkins, and Rene Russo star, keeping pace with the scenic, supersonic excitement. Prior to a crash, race car driver Alex Furlong (Estevez) is snatched from his cockpit and hurled into the futureworld of 2009. He's dead. And running for his life. He's a "freejack," a stranger in the strangest of lands. And a relentless "bonejacker" (Jagger) can collect millions bringing him in.


Plot:

Credits roll as futuristic vehicles are driving somewhere. It’s always good to be this specific from the beginning.

In a bedroom, with pictures of Alex and Julie, the alarm clock sounds and Julie gets Alex out of bed. We learn this is his girlfriend he can’t commit to the next level of their relationship. Alex is going to with the big race, today. Foreshadowing…

Mick Jagger is in the lead battle wagon. They still haven’t got to where they’re heading yet.

1991, racetrack, Alex finishes his practice run. Actually, says he’ll be fine, which is waving the lightning rod in the storm that means something bad will happen.

2009, Jagger’s crew demolishes the shanty town as they arrive.

Alex’s agent, Brad, played by a very cleaned up BUSTER POINDEXTER, singer from the 80s, has him meet several potential sponsors.

In the future, device is being readied. Alex is about to start the race in present day. Jagger is watching a video of the crash, getting the spatial temporal coordinates. And, the race is on. Jagger orders the laser grid activated, no idea what it is but sounds cool. Countdown, car bumps the back of Alex’s car which promptly crashes into an overpass. Julie is screaming and Alex is surrounded by guys wearing aluminum foil suits.

The medical team revives Alex, the trucks head out. Jagger isn’t risking $7 million dollars until they’re secure. Alex tries escaping. An armed group attacks the convoy. The medical team is accidentally lobotomized en masse by Alex.

Alex is fairly wide-eyed about the fighting, to tell the truth his eyes seem awfully wide for the entire picture. Jagger spots him from a distance. And, the chase after Alex begins in earnest, sounds painful…He is in a building near a giant wall fan.
Movies ripped off by Freejack Count
fan ripped form Blade Runner 1

He rushes to the street and flags down a taxi.
Movies ripped off by Freejack Count
taxi rescue from Escape From New York 2

The cabbie takes the fare first. Being chased by bonejackers, Alex jumps from the taxi.

Alex heads for his old apartment. The landlord lets him in the building. Alex rushes to his old apartment looking for Julie. The couple reveals they bought the place from Julie and force him to leave when they realize he’s a freejack.

Jagger’s forces are searching for Alex. Alex finally sees the year is 2009, he’s from 1991.

Executives complaining about delivering bad news to the boss.
Movies ripped off by Freejack Count
executives complaining about giving bad news from Robocop 3

The missing freejack is reported to the client who wants Alex’s body. The client only has 36 hours left on life support. We see the client is a digitized hologram of Alex to keep us from seeing who really the client is until it can be more shocking.
Movies ripped off by Freejack Count
scene when Luke sees his face in Vader's mask Empire Strikes Back 4

Alex breaks into a building to escape the night.

Mark Michelette is complaining about Jagger’s job. He fires Jagger and will use company security instead. Jagger vows to retrieve Alex.

In the morning, Alex sees a nun approaching him. He broke into a church. A gun-toting nun questions why Alex is in the church.

Jagger has Alex’s image scanned into the computer identification databanks to find him. Jagger thinks that it was an inside job. He checks Ripper (not the Dreadnok) on the palm lie detector. He’s clean.

The nun, played by Amanda Plummer, tells how the rich download their minds into a giant computer when they die called the Spiritual Switchboard. They transfer their minds into a new body. Nun tries looking for Julie can’t find her then checks for Brad and locates him. Alex is in typical street clothes instead of his racing outfit and given a gun before he leaves.

Urban ghetto, marketplace, which is too commonplace to count. Random gangs fight in the middle of the streets. He finds Brad’s building. Eventually, Brad grabs him, ecstatic to see him. Brad thought that Alex was snatched. The reason Alex was picked was because it had many cameras on the crash. Have the exact space time coordinates and people from the past are healthier, too.
Movies ripped off by Freejack Count
stealing people from the past to take to the future Millennium 5

Alex asks about Julie and learns she works for the powerful MacCandless Corporation. He has to see her.

Julie and Michelette are negotiating a deal with a Japanese corporation. Michelette is antsy about the deal and wants mineral rights taken off of it. Julie speaks Japanese and demands the mineral rights to which they acquiesce. Michelette isn’t happy that Julie got a better deal than he would have. MacCandless calls Julie, needs her in Tokyo tonight. He’ll be back tomorrow night.

Brad has Alex fit in with the shuffling, unclean masses. They head to a local greasy spoon. Brad realizes the video-phones are probably set up to search for Alex. Brad returns grinning like an idiot, or realizing his comeback tour is successful. Alex gets worried, when cops arrive, realizes Brad turned him in.

When trying to escape, Brad grabs him. Somebody shoots Brad. Gunfight ensues. Alex is trying to escape from the pursuing cops. Through the alleys, he steals a police motorcycle, drives through the greasy spoon and onto the streets. Jagger’s computer informs him when Alex crashes through a checkpoint.

Julie heads to her apartment. Alex is there.


I'm starring in Young Guns 3: Season of the Witch

She’s spooked, thinking someone has stolen Alex’s body. He tries convincing her. Jagger’s men slowly head to Julie’s apartment. Alex claims the door was open and, she checks the apartment computer setting off the alarm after learning from the computer, the door was always locked. Alex gets out fast. Jagger’s men search Julie’s apartment.

Alex steals a truck. Jagger in his battle hummer and fleet of industrial warfare go-carts chase after him. Jagger continually calls Alex over the videophone in the truck. Several exploding cars, flattened pedestrians, but no demolished fruit carts. Alex jumps into the river off a bridge.

Alex climbs onto the dock at the feet of crazy philosophical bum. He gives Alex the motivational bum speech about eagles. And, if you think the story is crazy, the crazy thing has inspired Alex to keep fighting. The bum knew who he was all along.

Julie and her assistant, Boone, are looking for Alex, who is in a shanty town. That night Julie and machine pistol packing Boone look in the shanty town. Alex finds her. Jagger set them both up. He fixed the lock on her apartment to let Alex in but look like he broke in the place. Julie wants to help Alex now. We see a $10 million dollar bounty is placed on Alex. Julie calls a friend, Morgan, will meet at a trendy club.

Punks and all sorts are going to this club. Julie looks for Morgan. Alex waits at the bar, gets a drink that causes him to start tripping. Alex interviewed on television. Jagger is alerted by Alex’s television appearance. Morgan uses a flash grenade to help get Alex clear.

Morgan can’t help Alex, too high profile. He advises Julie to contact MacCandless who’s apprised of the situation. Apparently, MacCandless runs the Spiritual Switchboard even though he doesn’t know who the clients are.

Alex and Julie are alone. She talks about she’s older now. Alex doesn’t seem to care. Sweet future lovin’ ensues.

Michelette watches a video of Alex’s crash. The nun is brought in for questioning. Michelette smacks her. HE SMACKED A NUN!!! She turns the other cheek by kicking him right squa in the nuts…

Alex will be smuggled out of the country. Julie is staying. They have a talk about their relationship. Boone escorts Alex to the boat. Boone tells him why he’s helping Alex. Apparently, Alex is becoming a folk hero for not being caught. He’s a hero to Boone’s grandmother. The boat explodes. Jagger has men all over the place.

Ensuing gunfight, Alex and Boone are on the run. Michelette’s men have orders to kill Alex. Boone and Alex are trapped. Boone manages to get around behind them and shot them but is shot in the end. Wounded Boone will hold them off for Alex to escape. Jagger is skulking around. A bonejackers chases Alex into a warehouse. Fight looks bad for Alex until he electrocutes the bonejackers.


I can't get no satisfaction from this movie

Jagger is still hunting for Alex who waits in the shadows. Michelette’s men are after Jagger. Alex guns them down. So only, Alex and Jagger remain. Their first meeting face to face. Alex wants to know who hired Jagger. It’s MacCandless. Bonejackers surround Alex. Jagger gives Alex a 5 minute head start for helping to save him. Alex doesn’t delay, running man.

Alex spots battle hummer; Julie is driving it and gets in, too. Julie learns that MacCandless is behind everything. They call Michelette. Alex has a gun on Julie as his hostage demanding to see MacCandless. Michelette agrees. They head for MacCandless Tower.

As Alex and Julie enter the building, Jagger and his men rush after them. It looks like Julie is a hostage of Alex. They arrive at Michelette’s office. He’s playing the tape pf the crash. MacCandless is in the building. He died 3 days ago. MacCandless wanted Alex’s body. Michelette was to make the arrangements to retrieve Alex. Michelette takes over the company if MacCandless dies. HE doesn’t care what Alex and Julie leave lets them go. After they leave by the elevator, Michelette orders his guards in the lobby to kill them both.

They realize that Michelette let them go too easily; try to think of a way to escape. Jagger and his bonejackers decimate the company security guards. Alex and Julie try to head to the 100th floor. Elevator is going to the 200th floor instead, where the Spiritual Switchboard is located. They arrive and head on. Entering a sealed room, a giant video screen rips off of 2001: A Space Odyssey.


Mind if we rip off 2001: A Space Odyssey

Movies ripped off by Freejack Count
Spacewarp scene 2001: A Space Odyssey 6

Alex and Julie are in holodeck. Hologram of MacCandless appears, apologizing to both of them. MacCandless is in love with Julie but, she didn’t reciprocate. If MacCandless became Alex, then maybe. He contacts Jagger terminate the contract to capture Alex. MacCandless decides to give up. He will let Alex take over everything he controls as if the transfer took place.

A giant jack appears from the floor. It looks like a giant plastic jack because; the metals ones are too dangerous for kids. MacCandless gives Alex instructions on how to terminate MacCandless’s consciousness. He doesn’t vanish, Alex enters the code again, still no good. Jagger and his bonejackers arrive.

MacCandless was stalling for Jagger to arrive. Michelette is still loose. Going through with the mind transfer and starting the transfer. Computer graphics, flashbacks, and earlier scenes are distorted. Mindwarp…


What happens when you realize every movie Freejack stole from...

Michelette arrives. Julie grabs a gun, shooting the Giant Jack which ends the mind transfer. Alex collapses.

Michelette claims to control the company. Alex gets to his feet claiming to be MacCandless. The technicians don’t know whether the transfer took place or not. Michelette demands Alex state MacCandless’s personal identification code. Jagger has a small palm computer and draws a gun on Alex for him to give the identification number. Alex rattles it off. The cackling Michelette pulls a gun, but shot by Jagger.

Jagger welcomes MacCandless back. Alex orders Julie to go with him.

As they drive off, Jagger and his bonejackers surround the car. Jagger walks up to the car, knowing Alex would make a mistake. MacCandless couldn’t drive. Jagger cautions Julie to coach Alex better in the future.

She questions if it’s Alex, knows it’s him. Jagger lied about identification number. He walks away, the bonejackers leave. Alex and Julie drive away.



What I say:

This movie is based on the novel “Immortality, Inc.” by Robert Sheckley. I haven’t read it, so unsure how close it is to the source. I imagine it is a distance in light years between the novel and this movie. I can't imagine a novel written in the 1950s, turning out anything like this movie does. I saw how different Puppet Masters was from Heinlein's novel. Think it's safe to safe that Puppet Masters is closer to its source than Free Jack. For no other reason, that Free Jack didn't really admit it was based on a sci-fi novel.

Mick Jagger hadn’t acted in any movie in the 20 years or so before this movie was released. It’s not like he really did much than shoot, and just acted cool. Anthony Hopkins’s role seemed more like a glorified cameo than anything else. Rene Russo hadn’t starred in many movies at this point in her career and acquits herself tolerably.

Emilio Estevez had this big-eyed look about him the entire movie. I can only hope he thought it wasn't a good idea during the filming. He wasn't too convincing as an action hero. The Young Gun movies are a little different, they had such large ensemble casts you could believe him as a cocky gunfighter. But, a temporally displaced race car driver running from Mick Jagger, is a little harder on the belieavability scale. I kept thinking he’d start thinking this was Young Guns and doing the “I’ll make you famous speech.”

Jonathan Banks is Michelette. How they let him ruin so much of the movie? I don’t understand. The executive in any type of these movies can be coldly steely or emotionless. Think of Ronny Cox in Robocop. Banks seems more incapable of any emotion whatsoever. His role just seemed to be humiliated. Kicked in the nads by a nun. Despised by Mick Jagger. Scorned by Rene Russo for his terrible business sense. If they could have gotten any actor with a little charisma, it could have shored up a lot of the movie. I did like the part where he wasn’t going to deliver Alex to MacCandless to gain control of the company. What reason did he want them dead? Because, he’s evillll.

Why was it so important to retrieve Alex? I know MacCandless needed him for the mind transfer. So, all Alex needed to do was hide for a couple of days until MacCandless died. Granted, he didn’t know that MacCandless was dead. They could have at least tossed out a line about how much cheaper and easier it would be to use his body than to retrieve a body from the past for some other rich guy. Any freejack that was running around in 2009 would be cheaper than finding one from the past.

They did mention they needed the exact space time coordinates to grab a person. It would have been nice to have explained the background in some more detail. They can steal bodies from the past but not clone a body to a certain age. But, who dies with a lot of video footage of it enough for the bonejackers to retrieve the body?

What’s the best way to describe this movie? Big, dumb, with explosions. It has car crashes with the hero and villain exchanging one-liners. This isn't exactly a very deep movie. If Freejack were any more shallow. Men At Work would seem a thought-provoking tale of custodial engineers and handcuffing guys in inappropriate positions.

I have seen this movie several times over the years, never thought much about it. That’s why I never realized how many things were stolen from other movies. Escape From New York, Robocop, Blade Runner. I even thought the cars in this movie seemed a lot like the cars from Back to the Future 2. With it being so long since I saw Brainstorm, I wasn’t willing to claim Freejack stole from it. And, why does every movie set in the future have to have a scene where the characters go to a trendy club designed to show that future people are so different? There are no telling how many future movies have the club scene Free Jack stole.

The number of movies that were stolen from to make this movie is hard to believe. More than that, I don’t have much respect when they steal like they have. This was a big budget movie, but it brazenly stole from other movies like a low budget B-movie. This movie cost enough to have not used all of the plot point from other movies, like it did. A small movie can be excused for stealing brazenly from big movies. But, big movies that steal seem to cheapen the notion of stealing from other movies.

I can’t honestly think of recommending this movie unless you get a group to try to pick it apart. A group of sci-fi fans and Trekkies could scalp this movie in no time flat. This is an attempted action movie with a few sci-fi undertones, hoping to skate by on sci-fi fans and failing miserably.



2 NINJAS

Quotable Dialogue

“Clamp him and get the lobotomizer.”
“Get the meat.”
“Know anyone indulging in a little commerce on the side, Ripper?”
“If you drink anyone of that, I’m out of a job.”
“This is good eatin’ rat.”
“What do you mean we, white man?”
“For these crimes, I sentence myself to death.”


Morals of the Story

Timetravel requires cardiac resuscitation.
Lobotomizers electrocute guys wearing aluminum foil suits.
Rene Russo from 1991 looks the exact same age as she will in 2009.
In the future, giant companies control everything, and deal with a massive Japanese corporation, too.
Futuristic battle wagons are named "SHELIA"