The coolest film I've seen in years.

Rating: 10/10 (5 April 1999)

Nearly every aspect of this movie was impressive. The plot was internally self-consistent, there was no problem with suspension of disbelief, and it had a workable premise. As a pure SF movie, it worked well. As a cool story it flowed nicely. As an action movie, there was not a pause in the rush. It had no gratuitous sex, and all the violence was an integral part of the plot line. The FX were entirely apropos to the story, and worked seamlessly. I intend to watch it again this week, and to purchase the DVD on its release date.
I expect the critics panned it because it either disagreed with some aspect of their personal taste, or (more likely) because it wasn't simplistic easy to swallow pablum.