The Thirteenth Floor
| The Thirteenth Floor | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Josef Rusnak |
| Screenplay by | Josef Rusnak Ravel Centeno-Rodriguez |
| Produced by | Roland Emmerich Ute Emmerich Marco Weber |
| Starring | Craig Bierko Gretchen Mol Vincent D'Onofrio Dennis Haysbert Armin Mueller-Stahl Shiri Appleby |
| Cinematography | Wedigo von Schultzendorff |
| Edited by | Henry Richardson |
| Music by | Harald Kloser |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates | April 16, 1999 (Denmark) May 28, 1999 (United States) November 25, 1999 (Germany) |
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Countries | United States Germany |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16 million |
| Box office | $18,564,088 |
The Thirteenth Floor is a 1999 science fiction film directed by Josef Rusnak and loosely based upon Simulacron-3 (1964), a novel by Daniel F. Galouye. The film stars Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Dennis Haysbert. In 2000, The Thirteenth Floor was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film, losing to The Matrix.
Plot
In late 1990s Los Angeles, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl) owns a multi-billion-dollar computer enterprise, and is the inventor of a newly-completed virtual reality (VR) simulation of 1937 Los Angeles. When Fuller is murdered just as he begins premature testing of the VR system, his friend and protégé, Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko), becomes the primary suspect. The evidence against him is so strong that Hall begins to doubt his own innocence.
Between interrogations by LAPD Detective Larry McBain (Dennis Haysbert), Hall meets Jane Fuller (Gretchen Mol), the estranged daughter of Hannon Fuller, who is busy with the shutdown of the new VR system. Hall romances her. When a local bartender claims to have witnessed a meeting between Hall and Fuller on the night Fuller was murdered, Hall is arrested. He is released when Jane gives him an alibi.
With the assistance of his associate Whitney (Vincent D’Onofrio), Hall attempts to find a message that Fuller left for him inside the simulation. Entering the virtual reality, Hall becomes a banker named John Ferguson. He learns that a bartender named Jerry Ashton (Vincent D'Onofrio) is aware that he is an artificial creation after reading Fuller's message for Hall. Frightened and angry, Ashton tries to kill Hall. Hall barely survives to escape the virtual reality.
Now unable to find Jane, Hall discovers her double, Natasha Molinaro, working as a grocery store clerk — but Molinaro does not recognize Hall. This leads Hall to perform an experiment outside the VR system, something that Fuller’s letter instructed him to try: drive to a place where he never would have considered going otherwise. He does so, and discovers a place that resembles a wireframe model. Hall grasps the truth, the meaning of Fuller's message: 1990s Los Angeles is itself a simulation.
Hall ultimately realizes that his world is one of thousands of virtual worlds, but it is the only one in which one of the occupants has developed a virtual world of its own. Jane Fuller lives in the real world outside the 1990s simulation, and only entered the virtual version to assume the role of her simulation, gain control of her father's company in that simulation, and shut down the simulated 1937 reality. The virtual Hall is modeled after David, Jane’s real-world husband. It was David who committed the murders via Hall’s body, being driven to jealousy when Jane fell in love with the Hall character.
Whitney enters the 1937 simulation, assuming the role of bartender Jerry Ashton, who has kidnapped Ferguson (Hall’s 1937 identity) and bound him in the trunk of his car. When Whitney is killed in a car crash inside the 1937 simulation, Ashton’s consciousness takes control of Whitney’s body in the 1990s simulation. David assumes control of Hall again to kill Ashton, and then attempts to rape and murder Jane. Jane is rescued by Det. McBain, who shoots and kills David. McBain at this point has realized the nature of his own reality, and jokingly asks Jane "So, is somebody going to unplug me now?" She answers "no", so McBain follows with the request "Look, do me a favor, when you get back to wherever it is you come from, just leave us the hell alone down here, okay?"
David's death as Hall in the 1990s simulation allows Hall’s artificial consciousness to take control of David’s body in the real world. He wakes in 2024, connected by a device to the VR system. He disconnects the system and finds Jane and her father, the real Hannon Fuller. Jane wants to tell Hall more about the simulation, but as she begins the film ends, the screen image turning black like a computer monitor being turned off.
Cast
- Craig Bierko as John Ferguson (1937), Douglas Hall (1990s), and David (2024)
- Armin Mueller-Stahl as Grierson (1937) and Hannon Fuller (1990s)
- Gretchen Mol as Natasha Molinaro (1990s) and Jane Fuller (2024)
- Vincent D'Onofrio as Jerry Ashton (1937) Jason Whitney (1990s)
- Dennis Haysbert as Detective Larry McBain
- Steven Schub as Detective Zev Bernstein
- Shiri Appleby as Bridget Manilla
- Leon Rippy as Jane's Lawyer
- Rif Hutton as Joe
- Janet MacLachlan as Ellen
Production
The Thirteenth Floor was a co-production of Columbia Pictures and Centropolis Entertainment. Most of the film was shot in Los Angeles, California.
Visual effects
The producers of The Thirteenth Floor used special digital effects to create the 1937 and the 2024 worlds.
Release
The Thirteenth Floor was first released on April 16, 1999 in Denmark, then released in North America in May 28, 1999. It grossed $11 million in North America, and $18 million worldwide. The Thirteenth Floor was released on DVD on October 5, 1999 and on Blu-ray on April 14, 2009.
Reception
The Thirteenth Floor received overall negative to mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 27% of critics gave the film positive reviews, with an average score of 4.4/10, based upon a sample of 62 reviews, therefore, this film is rated rotten.[1] At Metacritic, the film received an average score of 36/100, based on 35 reviews.[2]
Awards and nominations
| Award | Category | Year | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturn Award | Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film | 2000 | Nominated |
See also
- Welt am Draht, 1973 film based on the same book
- Simulated reality
- Simulated reality in fiction
- Brain in a vat