A group of FBI trainees are taken to a remote island for simulation training. However, once there, they realize that they are being hunted by a serial killer, who might be someone amidst the... Read allA group of FBI trainees are taken to a remote island for simulation training. However, once there, they realize that they are being hunted by a serial killer, who might be someone amidst them.A group of FBI trainees are taken to a remote island for simulation training. However, once there, they realize that they are being hunted by a serial killer, who might be someone amidst them.
- Awards
- 4 nominations
- Gabe Jensen
- (as James Todd Smith aka LL Cool J)
- Second Man in the Bar
- (as Daniel Boissevain)
- Man in the Bar
- (as Anthonie Kamerling)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe primary reason the film was able to be done on such a modest budget was due to a generous tax break from the Dutch government.
- Goofs(at around 31 mins) Exposure to liquid nitrogen is relatively harmless, and the liquid nitrogen will not freeze a person's legs or body instantly. Someone's legs wouldn't be frozen and broken just after only few second exposure.
- Quotes
Lucas: When I was a kid I lost both my parents. Freak thing, ten years old- BANG. - mortality. So I grew up livin' real hard; racing cars, smoking, drinking, sleeping with any girl I could find... Real stupid, dangerous lifestyle... then I turned eleven
[laughs]
Lucas: ... All I know is this; you don't confront your demons and defeat them. You confront them, then you confront them, then you confront them some more, every single day.
- Alternate versionsCertain international DVD distributors included deleted scenes not seen in the original theatrical release, which provides more character development and makes the film more complete. There are numerous sequences and the major ones are noted as follows:
- "Sara's Regret" - This scene expanded upon how vulnerable Sara Moore (played by Kathryn Morris) was. The FBI agent's character is developed further. The setting has the agent behind a desk after cracking under the pressure of an intense field assignment. The scene is introspective in nature.
- "The Instructor's Office" - The scene is set in the FBI instructor's office for the character Jake Harris played by Val Kilmer. Harris speaks with Sara played by Kathryn Morris and J.D. Reston played by Christian Slater. The verbal communication between Harris and J.D. is professional and almost military in nature, but it is clear that Harris has doubts related to Sara's performance. The performance review is completed and in the process a caustic exchange transpires in which Harris directly questions her ability. This establishes Sara's potential motive.
- "Ride Along" - In a scene on the helicopter pad at the FBI training complex, Gabe Jensen played by LL Cool J and Jake Harris played by Val Kilmer speak in a caustic capacity before any of the agents arrive. Harris is ordered by his superiors to allow Gabe Jensen to observe his class and teaching methods. In this exchange Harris and Jensen makes their feelings plainly clear. This established a potential motive for both Jensen and Harris.
- "Rappelling" - In a brief scene in the film personnel are seen rappelling out of a helicopter and securing a hot landing zone during a training exercise. This scene set the stage for later in the film when Harris tells his class to get their rappelling lines out of the back of the helicopter when nearing Oniega. The joke then seems more intense and relevant.
- "The ending" - Several variations of the ending were filmed. One of them included Jake Harris (Val Kilmer) and numerous others included modified character development from the final theatrical ending.
- SoundtracksPuppet Playtime
Words and Music by Drew Fitzjohn
Performed by Bobby No and GaGa
Courtesy of Faber Music Limited
Since Fincher's Se7en, thrillers have taken the macabre turn in the crime genre. Reaching the point of Wan's Saw set within one of those trials of torture. Mindhunters similarly attempts the same zenith, upping Se7en's police duo with a ragtag team of FBI agents, racing to solve an ongoing test of intelligence and insanity. Despite the blatant exposition and character development, none of these people seem smarter than Pitt's hardheaded detective.
The agents muster a fun mix of "oh, they've come a long way since" and "oh... who?" Notable entertainers here are Johnny Lee Miller sporting his best Blanche DuBois, Christian Slater and Val Kilmer competing in their natural friendly-yet-suspicious-yet-bored acting styles, and LL Cool J acting as if he was John McClane in yet another preposterous scenario.
Attempting to outdo predecessors with 'bigger is better', the story takes place on an isolated island complete with an entire city simulation for a training exercise. According to their teacher, representative of "the mind of a sociopath", presumably not meaning laughably inane and ridiculously convenient for the killer's grand scheme. The film, of course, never slows down to let you question how the entire plot hinges of this arbitrary setting.
The script of Mindhunters is definitely where entertainment hinges on as Harlin desperately races ahead of logic and common sense. For such a complex and convoluted mystery build, there are a remarkable number of legitimate plant and pay-offs. Many of them are obvious enough to predict despite the suspension of disbelief being thoroughly tested. Much how Jigsaw relies on sheer chance amidst his philosophical soliloquies, a great number of set-pieces and foreshadowing relies on pure coincidence.
The script is constantly testing whether these characters are supposed geniuses outmatched or merely idiots outwitted by another idiot. One particular if insignificant moment of clumsy writing is the repeated mantra of a situation only being secure "on the drive home", the heroes of course proving this right... when boarding a helicopter to safety. Could've easily been fixed for "on the way home" but it doesn't affect the story.
In a world of post-modern, meta-narrative ironies, Harlin is successful in his sheer earnestness for pure, dumb, entertainment. For a film about investigative geniuses battling a criminal mastermind, it's best to leave your brain at the door.
- absolutetravist
- Jul 5, 2016
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Mind Hunters
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $27,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,480,744
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,000,000
- May 15, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $21,148,829
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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![Val Kilmer, Christian Slater, Jonny Lee Miller, LL Cool J, Kathryn Morris, and Patricia Velasquez in Mindhunters (2004)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzU2MDQ0NTgtOTUzNC00OGM5LWE3ODUtNzNjMDlhMzc5ZmJhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc3MjQzNTI@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,0,90,133_.jpg)