History YMMV / MinorityReport

* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:Lamar Burgess is the director and founder of the [[PreCrimeArrest Precrime program]], which uses premonitions extracted from three telepathic humans to predict and prevent all murder within the Washington D.C. area. However, at the same time Burgess is cunning enough to have literally made a career out of faking out Precrime; first by disguising Anne Lively's murder as an "echo", then by disguising ''all three visions'' of Crow's death as brown balls by putting the plan in action while Anderton was at the office, ensuring that he would either be arrested immediately or run, so when Crow would be found with the OrgyOfEvidence that could lead Anderton to murder him, it looked planned by Anderton. When Federal Agent Danny Witwer catches on to him, Burgess prompty murders him, knowing that the system being deactivated will allow him to get away with it. The only thing Burgess couldn't see coming was Anderton figuring out everything in time to tell it all to his wife, even if he wasn't free to act on the information himself. However, even when his plot is exposed and faced with the impossible choice of either killing Anderton and going to prison or letting him live and discredit Precrime, Burgess manages to go out on his own terms by killing himself instead.]]

** [[spoiler: After Danny is murdered, the scene with John pointing his gun at Witwer's throat becomes almost painful, knowing that later in the movie, it will be the same gun used to murder him.]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/JessicaCapshaw (Spielberg's stepdaughter) has a small role as the Precrime pilot during the spider sequence; she went on to become a regular on ''Series/ThePractice'' (44 eps) and ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' (140+ eps).

* IdiotPlot: The entire plot relies upon the fact that Anderton, a man whose job is to ''avert'' predestined murders, wouldn't think to avert a predestined murder he is supposed to commit when he knows for a fact where and when he'll commit it. The film justifies this by noting that Anderton wants to prove his innocence, but the fact remains that Anderton himself says out loud exactly what he should do then allows himself to be talked out of it by Dr. Iris Hineman, even though her logic (how can he avoid a man he's never met) is flawed because he knows where (in general terms, at least, enough to know what to avoid) and when the meeting takes place.

** It's a Music/JohnWilliams score! For a highlight, the tension of the spider scene is greatly enhanced by [[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfR_FMVOAxo a track full of]] PsychoStrings.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The video game version, ''Minority Report: Everybody Runs,'' has a different-looking, blond Anderton, as Creator/TomCruise's likeness couldn't be licensed. The game only vaguely follows the plot of the movie, Anderson acts like a completely different character, and the pre-crime organization is still in place at the end. It probably has more in common with ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd'' than the movie. And the gameplay is much repetitive.

* IdiotPlot: The entire plot relies upon the fact that Anderton, a man whose job is literally to avert predestined murder, wouldn't think to avert a predestined murder he is supposed to commit when he knows for a fact where and when he'll commit it. The film justifies this by noting that Anderton wants to prove his innocence, but the fact remains that Anderton himself literally says out loud exactly what he should do then allows himself to be talked out of it by Dr. Iris Hineman, even though her logic (how can he avoid a man he's never met) is flawed because he knows where (in general terms, at least, enough to know what to avoid) and when the meeting takes place.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: At a certain point, a television plays an episode of ''Series/{{Cops}}'', still on Fox (then sister company of the film's co-distributor). The show had a ChannelHop to Spike TV on 2013 and was cancelled, probably for good, in 2020.
** As of 2018, however, we have seen a few shows from the '80s and '90s revived, like ''Series/WillAndGrace'', ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', and ''Series/{{Roseanne}}''. By 2054, Fox could bring the show back.

* NightmareFuel:
** The AndIMustScream life of the precogs is a little terrifying.
** Also the fact that some people have their [[EyeScream eyes removed and replaced]] by a BackAlleyDoctor to evade the [[BigBrotherIsWatching pervasive retinal scans]].

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The video game version, ''Minority Report: Everybody Runs,'' has a different-looking, blond Anderton, as Creator/TomCruise's likeness couldn't be licensed. The game only vaguely follows the plot of the movie, Anderson acts like a completely different character, and the pre-crime organization is still in place at the end. It probably has more in common with ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd'' than the movie.
** Nonetheless, the game is fondly remembered by some in a [[SoBadItsGood So Bad It's Good]] kind of way, with its hilariously bad [[RagdollPhysics ragdoll physics,]] numerous [[ClassicCheatCode cheat codes,]] and surprisingly deep [[StylishAction combat system.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Was Lamar [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]] because his grand plans failed spectacularly and unexpectedly, or did he finally mentally break down from all the clandestine activities he had to perform to make Precrime work? Perhaps a combination of all of the above. More specifically, [[spoiler: was he just panicked over being exposed for murdering Anne Lively, and/or did Anderton going berserk over his missing son being used to drive him to murder [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone help break Lamar.]] and start loathing what he became.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Was Lamar [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]] because his grand plans failed spectacularly and unexpectedly, or did he finally mentally break down from all the clandestine activities he had to perform to make Precrime work? Perhaps a combination of all of the above. More specifically, [[spoiler: was he just panicked over being exposed for murdering Anne Lively, and/or did Anderton going berserk over his missing son being used to drive him to murder [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone help break Lamar.]]]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Was Lamar [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]] because his grand plans failed spectacularly, or did he finally mentally break down from all the clandestine activities he had to perform to make Precrime work? More specifically, [[spoiler: was he just panicked over being exposed for murdering Anne Lively, and/or did Anderton going berserk over his missing son being used to drive him to murder [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone help break Lamar.]]]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Was Lamar [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]] because his grand plans failed spectacularly, or did he finally mentally break down from all the shady activities he had to perform to make Precrime work? More specifically, [[spoiler: was he just panicked over being exposed for murdering Anne Lively, and/or did Anderton going berserk over his missing son being used to drive him to murder [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone help break Lamar.]]]]

* AwardSnub: Despite [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome astounding visual effects]], cinematography and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic score]] (of course one from Music/JohnWilliams), and being named as the best film of the year by no less than Creator/RogerEbert, it was only nominated for a single Oscar: Sound Editing.

* DesignatedHero: John Anderton, at least in the movie. He turns against the system not out of moral concerns, but because it would inconvenience him and his goal ([[MoralMyopia to avoid a fate that he had absolutely no trouble subjecting countless others to]]), later rescues Agatha likewise solely because he needs her, and even shows very little initiative to prevent Leo Crow's death at his hands. All of this might not be so bad if the film didn't use him in the climax as the mouthpiece to [[spoiler:condemn the system and call out Lamar Burgess]]. Considering Anderton himself put just as much effort into running Precrime as [[spoiler:Burgess]] did, this makes him look like a total hypocrite.