Hologram Man (1995)

HOLOGRAM MAN

WRITERS: Story by Evan Lurie

Screenplay by Richard Preston Jr. and Evan Lurie

DIRECTOR: Richard Pepin

STARRING: Joe Lara as Decoda

Evan Lurie as Slash Gallagher

William Sanderson as Manny/Giggles

Tiny "Zues' Lister, Jr. as Eightball

Arabella Holzbog as Natalie

Nicholas Worth as One-Eye

Michele Smith as Casey

Derek McGrath as Secretary Culkin

Joseph Campanella as Dr. Stern

Michael Nouri as Edward Jameson

John Amos as Wes Strickland

QUICK CUT: A convicted felon gets out of prison early, and tries to reconnect with the officer who sent him to jail

THE MORGUE

Decoda - A cop who was once a by the rules kinda guy, but now he’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done. He doesn’t like crime, and will bend whatever rules to stop it.

Slash Gallagher - A crook who is a freedom fighter against the corrupt corporate government. He’s violent, determined, and a bit unhinged. And don’t call him Norman.

TRISK ANALYSIS: Welcome back, Triskelions! We're back to normal this week, whatever that means here, and we are moving on from the "atomic age" and moving into the "holographic age" with the scifi action flick, Hologram Man!

Look...this movie's first shot is of a burning futurecar, which leads directly into a shootout between cops and some goons. There is a LOT of fire, tons of explosions, and people getting shot left and right. Regardless of where the movie goes from here, it is at LEAST an ambitious opening, and all practical, so I am digging this already.

We are quickly introduced to Decoda, who I have written in my first pass notes as "Dakota" because I am a normal person. I'm sure one or two of those will slip through. It's his first day on the job and boy is it a doozy! They hammer home how by the book he is, to the point he has the literal book of regulations in his pocket.

He's at the shootout with the police captain, who pulls out a non regulation gun and non regulation bullets, because see, he's NOT by the book! The contrast! These bullets make cars explode, because...THE FUTURE. They will never be mentioned again.

This is all part of a plan by Slash Gallagher to attack the governor, which leads to Slash stealing a bus, chasing the governor's motorcade, and starting ANOTHER shootout with the cops elsewhere in LA.

We also have Slash's right hand man, a man with one eye, who is a latter day Zartan, with how much he does disguises at the start of the movie; once as an old woman crossing the street to stop the motorcade, and then again a few minutes later he tricks a cop into thinking he’s also a cop, to shoot him. These skills will never be mentioned again.

Oh, there's also a random shot of Slash and his girlfriend having sex for all of two seconds, as, I dunno...a transition between scenes?? That might be a first.

To cut past the chase, the stolen bus driven by Slash runs the governor's car off the road, Slash gets ahold of him, and he has a standoff with Decoda and Captain Strickland.

The governor gets shot, and in a twisted version of Russian Roulette, Strickland is killed when he takes a bullet for Decoda.

Also in all of this, Slash’s girlfriend gets killed, but it’s hard to care much, because we’re only a few minutes into the movie, and she had all of like…one line.

Slash is taken into custody, we learn his real name is, teehee, Norman, and he is sentenced to imprisonment. Since this is THE FUTURE, his body is placed into suspended animation, while his mind is uploaded into a computer system until such a time as he has been retrained and rehabilitated to be a productive member of society.

We then jump forward in time five years, just in time for Norman's first parole hearing. They have also erected a Bio Dome over LA, which DOES get mentioned once or twice over the course of the movie, but doesn't really play a factor into the plot. It’s more of a “look what the government has done to you!” shiny thing.

Next, we jump to the scientists running the program, as they get things ready, and we get to see a normal parole hearing, where things work fine, and the priosner has been rehabilitated.

They take the tube the consciousness is stored in, bring the personality online, and project their form on a holographic platform, so they can interview and interact with the prisoner. Phew, good thing they're just a hologram, and nothing can go wrong!

We see one of the scientists is working with One Eye to try and sabotage things to free Slash, and oh, well, I guess things are gonna go wrong.

On his way to the hearing, Decoda gets a call about another shootout that he responds to. he takes several actions that are against regulations but...gasp! He used to be...BY THE BOOK! See how Decoda has been affected over the last five years of fighting crime??

Slash has made zero progress, and they decide not to release him, obvs, but oh no. As he is being returned to stasis, the scientist working for One Eye does something that causes a power surge, and enables Gallagher to leave the platform, and maintain his form.

How? Shrug emoji!

Bullets can't touch him, he can walk through walls, and throw lightning, all while people say how he can't do this! They eventually throw out some sciencey technobabble, but whatever.

So they don't have to constantly turn him into a special effect that looks like he's trapped inside a cathode ray tube next to Horace Pinker, they contrive a Darkman-esque solution of a chamber he can get into that will cover his electrons in a flesh like substance, that gives Slash mass and the ability to touch things again. Also, he can now look like anyone he wants to.

Once he has a more physical form, Slash begins to put together his plan to free the state of California from the rule of corporations, so people can be free of the bio dome, can turn off the corporate news feed without committing a crime, and uh, am I supposed to be rooting AGAINST this guy?

They kidnap the secretary of state or something, and...well, he just kinda hangs around, it's not really clear WHY. I guess for information, since he's easily intimidated. Anyways, this leads to Slash being informed he's broke, so hey! Bank robbery time!

And of course, the bank robbery leads to yet another shootout. This movie is not short on action, at least.

Elsewhere, officials are panicking over the loss of money, and Slash’s spree of terror. Decoda shows up and kills a guy...until he Mission Impossibles his face off, and is revealed to be Slash! Which...feels like they could have done more with? Frame Decoda for the murder, make him an enemy of the state, on the run, but nah. Just instantly reveals it wasn’t Decoda.

Slash tries to kidnap the state treasurer, but is stopped by the real Decoda outside, who asks for him back. But hey, sure! Here ya go!

The only problem is, Slash gave the treasurer back so easily, because he was wired with explosives. The ensuing kaboom kills Decoda's partner who has barely been a plot point thus far. Female partners of our male leads are SORELY underdeveloped in this movie.

Decoda wants to quit the case, but the president of California refuses, since he wants to maintain power, and Decoda is the best chance to stop the Hologram Man. As a side note, take any position I give people in this movie a grain of salt, because the politics of the future, which are very important, are also poorly fleshed out. Also, anyone beyond Decoda and Slash aren’t developed much, save for Slash’s merry band with merry pirate nicknames.

This all leads to Decoda at least heading to the storage facility where Slash's body is stored, and put a few bullets into it, so he can't ever be human again. I do see a downside to this point, or at least an UPside for Slash, and he agrees.

Slash soon shows up to reclaim his body, but is both pissed off and fine with it being dead dead now. But that’s enough talking, you know what it's time for? Another shoot out!

In all the ensuing chaos, Decoda gets shot, and Slash leaves him for dead. But he should know better, as one of the scientists on the project, and Decoda's girlfriend, does the same thing to him that happened to Slash. She couldn't do it at full power though, so he's weaker than the bad guy.

The president calls Decoda in to yell at him over all the dead bodies piling up, but since he's more than human now, Decoda is feeling a bit more bold, and tells him we’re gonna do things HIS way now.

Later, Slash's gang crashes through the president's home, and kidnaps him, so Slash can replace him and take over.

But gosh darnit, wouldn't you know it?? Turns out the president is really Decoda in disguise! He beat Slash to the punch! Great minds think alike. And these two dolts had the same idea too.

Which leads me to a question I probably shouldn't be asking; every time one of the hologrammers get into disguise, it's not over their electrical form, but over their flesh over their electrical form?? Isn't that like a hat on a hat? Or a mask on a mask, as it were? Wouldn't that be just as effective as a guy wearing a regular mask? Why not do the disguise over the bare ionic form?

Slash is surprised to see his nemesis still alive, and Decoda tells him, "I'm Wonder Boy." But what is the secret of your power??

The two hologram men slap fight it out, showing off their powers, as one last shoot out goes down around them.

Decoda's body gets caught in some flames, losing it's flesh, as does Slash's, and more fighting ensues.

The two continue to fight it out in their staticy way, until Decoda knocks Slash back towards one of the holographic platform devices. While he's there, Decoda uses a terminal to download the consciousness back into one of the tubes, and destroy it.

On the way out, Decoda has one more confrontation with the chairman/president, and the guy gloats about how he will remain in power thanks to Decoda.

So, our once by the book hologram cop MURDERS THE PRESIDENT IN COLD BLOOD and walks away. I mean, yes, good for him, but at the same time...weirdly dark??

TRISK ASSESSMENT

Video: It’s a bit lacking, to be honest. It looks okay, but the colours are all weirdly dark and washed out.

Audio: Bare average.

Body Count: …Look, there’s a LOT of shootouts with a lot going on, and rarely is it confirmed if people are dead. At some point I kinda gave up trying to keep track of anyone who wasn’t a named character dying.

0 - A few people probably died during the opening shoot out, but nothing confirmed.

1 - Eight and a half minutes in, and we do find a dead bus driver though

2 - A cop surely died in fire when his car exploded.

3 - Another cop gets shot

4 and 5 - two thugs get shot.

6 - One eye shoots another cop

7 - Another cop gets caught in the shootout

8 - Decoda shoots Slash’s girlfriend in the car chase

9-11 - Baddie shoots down four cops in his anguihs

12 - Slash shoots the mayor

13 - Strickland dies from lead poisoning

14 - A goon gets shot

15 - And another

16 - And another with bonus electrocution

17 - But then a cop gets shot!

18 - Decoda shoots a goon

19 - And another

20 - And yet another

21 - Gallagher's men shoot the bank manager

22 - Cop shoots a civilian accidentally

23 - 25 - A bunch more cops get shot.

26 - Slash flings the chairman of Cal Corp off the balcony.

27 - Decoda’s partner dies in the treasurer's explosion

28 - Gods, more goons and cops die in yet another shoot out

29 - Slash kills Dr. Stern

30 - Slash kills the police chief through the internet.

31 - Slash kills the secretary

32 - Giggles gets killed by Decoda

33 - Decoda suffocates the cyclops in skinwax.

34 - The flamethrower goon gets roasted by Decoda

35 and 36 - Eightball kills a pair of cops

37 - And then more kill Eightball

38 - Dakota kills what remains of Slash

39 - And then he kills the president

Best Corpse: Bleh, despite all those bodies, the movie is very safe, and doesn’t show much. The flamethrower dude is probably the best, because there’s at least a half second of a body burn.

Blood Type - D: This is mostly for special effects. There’s very little blood, bu the static effect looks good, and so much fire.

Sex Appeal: Random three second sex scene!

Drink Up! Every time there’s a shoot out.

Movie Review: The plot can be summed up as what if Demolition Man and Virtuosity got together and had a baby. A stupid, stupid baby, but oh I had SO MUCH fun it. It is such a throwback, even though it’s kinda in those final days of the mid/low budget straight to video action movie. The action scenes and practical effects give it a lot of scale and production values, even if so much of the movie feels cheap. The movie does suffer from too many characters who are poorly fleshed out, a world that is never quite fully realised, and what feel like a lot of missed opportunities. It dumped a lot of better movies into a blender, and came out with something actually okay. A flawed movie with a bit too much going on to fully flesh things out, but more fun than expected. Three out of five vats of flesh

Entertainment Value: It’s fun picking out which movies inspired which bits, to see what they thought the future would look like in '95. Slash is having a blast being a scenery chewing villain, and is a definite highlight. And again, seeing a lower budget movie with so much explosions and practical stuff just felt charming, quaint, and almost like comfort food. A fun little popcorn scifi action flick to sit back and just have a good time with, if you want something like Demolition Man, but you’ve seen that already. Four out of five future cars.