Freejack

Plot synopsis:
In 2009, the super-wealthy achieve immortality by hiring "bonejackers", mercenaries equipped with time travel devices, to snatch people from the past, just prior to the moment of their deaths, for use as substitute bodies. Those who escape are known as "freejacks" and are considered less than human under the law. In this dystopian future, most people suffer from poor physical health as a result of rampant drug use and environmental pollution, making them unattractive as replacement bodies.
Alex Furlong is a Formula One racer who is about to die in a spectacular 1991 crash when a time machine snatches him from the cockpit and into 21st century New York City, now a futuristic dystopia populated by scavengers and killers. When Furlong's captors are ambushed by a hit squad, Furlong escapes from Victor Vacendak, a hardened mercenary who has snatched him on behalf of the powerful McCandless Corporation. Alex's former fiancée Julie Redlund is now an executive at McCandless, handling high-stakes mineral negotiations with a rival Japanese firm.
Alex spends much time escaping the clutches of Victor, a ruthless pursuer who nevertheless lives by a code of honor, and rekindling his relationship with Julie. Ian McCandless, Julie's boss, is revealed to have died and seeks to install his backed-up personality into Furlong's body. Besides evading Vacendak's army of mercenaries and McCandless police personnel, Alex and Julie also have to deal with fleeing from the private guards of McCandless' corporate X.O., Mark Michellete, who is gunning for McCandless' position. Alex finds he cannot trust his old friends from 1991, who are now eager to sell him out.
Tired of running, Furlong pretends to take Julie hostage and negotiates with Michellete to arrange a meeting, counting on Michellete's not knowing about their past relationship; however, Michellete has seen the footage of Julie's grief after Alex's 1991 accident. After she slaps him in return for his mockery, the couple flees. They are thwarted when they encounter a gunfight in the lobby between two factions, now in opposition: McCandless's security guards and Vacendak's mercenaries. Despite Julie's plan to leave the building through an "escape module" on the hundredth floor, the elevator takes them automatically to the complex at the very top of the building where McCandless' mind is in storage. In a virtual reality encounter with McCandless's essence, he explains his goal: to use Alex's body to satiate his love for Julie. Apologizing, he offers to die and let Alex run the company under the guise of being McCandless.
As they consider the offer, Vacendak arrives, and McCandless reveals he was merely stalling for time. Alex fights the process as Michellette stumbles in, wounded from fighting Vacendak's soldiers. In the confusion, Julie grabs the gun of the soldier holding her and fires off a shot that disrupts the transfer process. The results are inconclusive as to whether or not it is McCandless or Furlong in Alex's body now. The scientists cannot determine the answer, but Vacendak can, as only Vacendak knows a secret code McCandless gave him.
Alex reads the code, slowly, and Vacendak asks him to continue. Alex finishes the code quickly. Michellete tries to kill Alex but is gunned down by Vancendak's men. Alex remarks about how he feels in his "new" body, before telling Julie that she will be dressed more appropriately so that the two of them can take a drive. Hours later, after the coup is over, Julie and Alex get into one of McCandless' favorite vehicles; Alex tells the driver that he will do the driving today. Vacendak stops them as the car leaves the estate. It turns out that the transfer was not complete after all; Furlong got McCandless' secret number wrong, though Vacendak went along with it. He simply waited until Furlong made a mistake: McCandless did not know how to drive. Vacendak admonishes Julie that "you'll have to coach him better than that", then leaves while Furlong and Julie speed away.

Tags: violence, murder, romantic, sci-fi

Review:
This 1992 flick has been sitting on my DVD shelf for some time now and I've decided to re-watch it after seeing the new sci-fi blockbuster "The Island" (I've seen some parallels between the two that brought "Freejack" back to my mind).
There is just that much of a better story telling, coherence, actor play and a general ambiance that makes "Freejack" a movie one would want to watch over and over again.
I don't think Freejack was ever intended to be made for serious viewing - I think every actor in it at one time during the movie has got their tongue in their cheek.What you do get in this movie are some spectacular effects, and I'm not talking about the end when you could just as soon go get a sandwich rather than watch the 2001-type slideshow.It's just downright funny.
"Freejack" has one of the more unique twists on time travel, with people of the present being snatched away from a certain death to the future.
Rene Russo is wonderful as always, and Anthony Hopkins does the best he can with his limited character, but both of them are spent on the sidelines.The real surprise was Mick Jagger, who made a wicked villain.
Auto racer Alex Furlong (Emilio Estevez) has a horrible crash in front of his girlfriend Julie Redlund (Rene Russo).
He is kidnapped by Victor Vacendak (Mick Jagger) at the moment of impact and transported into the future known as a Freejack.
Victor must hunt down Alex for Ian McCandless who has 36 more hours to transfer his mind into a body.This is one of those cheesy 90s sci-fi movies.
So I'm the type of person who'd like this film.But I do have some basic standards, and Freejack is just the right sort of campy flick, sort of a "Blade Runner" gone slumming.
It's bad, but it's a good bad, if you're into cult classics.Who should see this film:-- sci-fi movie buffs, but don't go out of your way, oh and see Demolition Man too which is similar but better-- nobody elseI enjoyed the film, but campy special effects and silly plot mean I can only give it a 6 out of 10..
Emilio Estevez is on the run in this not-too-futuristic movie about a Gran Prix driver who dies in a crash out on the race course....or did he?
Mick Jagger is the man being paid to deliver him to the man who wants Emilio's body.The first thing I ask myself is whether this movie is believable or not.
Director Geoff Murphy seems to be trying to make this a Good film, despite the fact that he has to work with a Poor story and awful performances.This is the Kind of film you forget about the moment you walk out of the theatre.And in the Case of this film, It would be amazing if you ever thought about it again.The Story goes like this...In 1991 race car driver Estevez is taken from a Race car moments before a blazing Crash and is hauled into the Year 2009.The Idea is a Businessman who is already dead????...wants to get into his body cause Estevez's ex love rene russo who now works for the Businessman still mops about her Ex BoyfriendFirstly Estevez and Jagger give awful performances...Jagger is so bad that he comes off as more amusing than terrifying...and Estevez is all wrong for this film,He simply cant do a Dramatic role,(and the scene where He trys to pretend he is Anthony Hopkins left me in Stitches).Rene russo isnt to bad,although her and Estevez are so mismatched in this film,that I can hardly imagine her spending 18 Years crying over him.Anthony Hopkins certainly made a Mistake doing this film,He gets a Huge demerit for this one.And some of the Effects in this film look downright cheesy.And a Lot of the Direction is poor.The Film have some Funny moments,But it is all a letdown.When it was release in early 1992...I rushed out to see it...Mostly at the prospect of seeing Jagger play a baddie...that was a Mistake..I didnt mind the Film,But I expected much BetterI give this....3 out of 10.
Granted, Estevez is not exactly at the top of his game here, but in glorified B movies like Freejack, I'm extremely forgiving of acting and special effects.Maybe this movie works better if you were a teenager when it came out, but I've always thought it got unfairly savaged by critics and audiences who took it entirely way too seriously.
I enjoyed this movie, it was not the best film about a person fleeing for his life, but it had a nice twist to it as a dude who apparently died some eighteen years prior wakes up and is about to get to be a dying rich guy's new body.
This is not a very good movie...but not a very bad one either.It's like Highlander: bad acting in a bad plot...but in a sloppy, ill decorated sci-fi way still quite amusing.
Add a few interesting 'not often seen' ingredients like Mick Jagger and a hell raising nun...and it gets even more amusing...and with glamor icon David Johansen with his sandpaper voice the whole lot gets even digestible.If you enjoy seeing a semi-bad film more than once, if it, in spite of the sum of bad ingredients, still keeps you interested and has your sympathy...well...than it must be a CULT movie.And it is....
Against this shaky premise "Freejack" puts together a cast that includes the less lunatic of the Sheen brothers, the criminally underused David Johansen, the peerless Anthony Hopkins and, yes, in the Boba Fett role, Mick Jagger.
Anyway, in short, people who like their sci-fi cheap and cheesy or anyone who wishes Mick Jagger and David Johansen had done more movie work will be all-jacked-up by this film..
Geoff Murphy directed this science fiction story starring Emilio Estevez as race car driver Alex Furlong, who is snatched away from certain death in an auto accident from 1991 by technicians from the "future" of 2009, which is a bleak dystopia world where his mind is to be eliminated, and a rich businessman(McCandless, played by Anthony Hopkins) will have his mind transferred into Alex's body, but he escapes, and goes on the run, becoming a wanted man hunted by a determined bounty hunter(played by Mick Jagger) as Alex tries desperately to get out of this bad situation...
None of those things came through in this movie, which was reduced to a boring sci-fi chase movie.The only people that might 'possibly' enjoy this movie are fans of Mick Jagger, as you can watch him running around on screen.Robert Sheckley's work deserves better, as he is one of the best science fiction authors of all time..
There are some great action sequences, the stars are fun to watch, and the premise, which focuses on a New York race car driver(Emilio Estevez) who is kidnapped and brought to the year 2009 so that his body can store the mind of a terminally ill billionaire (Anthony Hopkins) is silly and done without much imagination.
Every member of this movie's cast fits his or her role very well (even Emilio Estevez, whom I don't typically care for), but Mick Jagger really steals the show as the bounty hunter, or "bonejacker," hired to catch Estevez after he escapes from his captors.
Another stand out cast member is Anothony Hopkins, who as usual, plays a very sophisticated bad guy and does an excellent job of it (however, it is all to clear that he was in this movie for the money alone, giving a good but very brief performance.
The good performances, action, and special effects should be enough to keep you interested throughout the movie's hour and fifty minute running time, but probably won't make the movie stick with you for very long after you have finished watching it..
Freejack: best Mick Jagger movie in which he wears a helmet.
Emilio Estevez makes yet another argument for his candidacy as the worst actor of the 20th century in this mind-numbingly bad time-travel disaster.
Estevez plays Alex Furlong, a race car driver (unfortunately) snatched from death by futuristic body snatchers from the impossibly distant year 2009 who want to suck out his brain and replace it with the noggin of a dying bazillionaire.
("Under Siege II", anyone?)Kitschy, campy turns by David Johansen and Amanda Plummer are worth watching, but the rare starring role by Mick Jagger is a letdown.
Given Estevez' almost insanely serious performance and the presence of so many cult figures, it's possible that in future years, "Freejack" might gain a following of fans of "so bad it's good" cinema.
This movie is like a low budget film from the early 80's, but features a couple big-name actors and actresses and was made in the 90's.
In that one people from the future were snatching wholesale the persons who were in plane crashes a milli-second before impact killed them to replenish the gene pool.Here it's only one man, gazillionaire Anthony Hopkins who's company has perfected a kind of time travel.
Estevez's presence has also set off a power play in the company that involves the head of security, Mick Jagger, the Vice President Jonathan Banks, and Rene Russo who was Estevez's old girlfriend back in the day.Freejack has some nice special effects in it and good performances by all the principal players.
In the supporting cast also look for good performances by David Johansen as Estevez's former agent, Amanda Plummer as a rifle toting nun, and Frankie Faison who's become a philosophical gourmet cook of rats.Science fiction fans will especially like Freejack..
Although it obviously skimped on effects to get a better cast.It is what I call, a long line of "The Future is a Wasteland" movies, that Hollywood likes to make, or at least did like to make in the late 80's early 90's.This is no exception.
But Freejack brings in more of the action and high drama such a film would need to carry the plot line.Not bad to watch on cable, which it has been on lately, but this is not a MUST have for the home collection..
This picture surfing on the waves of post apocalypse era which have a bunch of them in previous decade,but in this future has a rupture of the society between rich and homeless due the economic crisis,first all Estevez is totally miscating for the role maybe more appropriate for Tom Cruise or mature actor,the future is presented by new kind of cars,ludicrous idea indeed,the best things are Jagger and the sexy Rene Russo in glorious days,a enjoyable flick very underrated by IMDB's users,certainly a second look could be necessary!!Resume:First watch: 1994 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.
But even with Estevez putting In a solid job, and Jagger doing better than I expected, it could not offset the "phoning it in" performances from Russo and Hopkins.
I wonder if the makers of Freejack knew that 2009 isn't as crazy as they thought it would be.Still the concepts in this movie are fresh and sci-fi, down to traveling back in time, replacing your about-to-be-killed corpse with a clone with the intention of kicking your supposed-to-be-dead soul out of your body and replacing it with a high paying client's well-to-do spirit, among other things!
This movie is a really great sci-fi movie it stars of with Emilio Estevez who is a car racer who dies and he gets brought through time to the year 2009 to have his mind erased and someone to take over his body.Mick Jagger from the rolling stones stars as the man trying to catch Emilio Estevez and this is the first movie i have seen him in and he did an OK job of acting.The film all so stars actors like Anthony Hopkins from the movie red dragon,Rene Russo,Amanda Plummer and Jonathan Banks.Over all this is a MUST see film and u should rent it or bye it if for $16 dollars or less and my rating is 6 and a half out of 10..
Were you to want to watch this 'seriously' you'd be in for a terrible time, but as an amusement it ranks up there with Segal's 'Marked For Death' in the "So bad it's a barrel of laughs" stakes.Jagger's lisped phrases containing the words "Missster McCandlesssss" are wonderful and Estevez is dire in his normal way.
Mick Jagger do a good job as the villain and Estevez/Russo make a perfect duo on-screen.
I love "Freejack."  This is a creative, original sci-fi movie, featuring Emilio Estevez in one of his best-cast roles, as well as Mick Jagger, who, in my opinion, does a fantastic job portraying Estevez' nemesis, Vicendak.
Renee Russo balances out the excellent cast (superseded by the great Anthony Hopkins), and the entire movie is well done.
Mick Jagger doesn't look like he's even trying, but comes off enjoyably meaty (thanks to some choice dialogue).
It's quite dreadful, but no worse than the frequently annoying Emilio "silage heap" Estevez, who can add this to his long-running list of bad films (Men at Work, Young Guns).
But for any list not to include Freejack is dreadfully mistaken!!Everyone in this movie does a nice job INCLUDING Mick Jagger!!
That said, I think the concept behind this movie is a good one, it's interesting, and it sparks the imagination.
Now he's being hunted and he has to figure out how this ties in with ex-girlfriend Russo, her boss (Hopkins) and the dangerous man who is trying to capture him (played surprisingly well by Mick Jagger!).There's a memorable and hilarious portrayal of a futuristic nun by Amanda Plummer, which should not be missed.
Not a bad movie, especially if you like the time travel aspect..
I'll give any movie a try that has Rene Russo and Sir Anthony Hopkins.The premise sounds something like a sci-fi variation of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, known to modern movie goers as Heaven can Wait.
i love both movies, so this has peaked my interest.Mick Jagger is not an actor, but he gave a reasonably good impression of one here.
This is where Alex catches up with Julie (Russo), who doesn't believe it is him.This is a fantastic and explosive action movie with everything one could want.
Emilio Estevez stars in it, badly, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins are wasted and Mick Jagger is deliciously villainous.
Personally, I like Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, and I also enjoy Emilio Esteves.
Fox doing the honors.Mel Gibson would have been a good choice but, he would very likely  have hated the script.There are some really good moments here.The moments are few and far between and, the flick has too many slow moments.The main actors here, Estevez, Russo and Hopkins (on screen for about 8 minutes total time and third billed) seem like musicians trying to act in a film.Meanwhile, the only good performances come from musicians, Mick Jagger (first dramatic role since 'Performance 22 years earlier) and David Johansen.It's ironic that, these two rock singers out act Anthony Hopkins and company!I can not recommend this but I enjoyed moments of it..
Jagger is not, repeat, NOT, an actor, although his performance in this film is much better than I expected.
Jagger actually out-acts Estevez in this film.
There have been many movies about time travel, but "Freejack" is quite unique.
It portrays race-car driver Alex Furlong (Emilio Estevez) getting unwillingly transported to 21st century New York, where some people want to give his young body to aging Ian McCandless (Anthony Hopkins).
Estevez, Hopkins, and Rene Russo all do fair jobs with their roles, but it's really impressive seeing Mick Jagger as the villain's henchman Victor Vacendak.
Gravitating between menacing and jolly, this must have been a role through which he got some satisfaction.So, this movie does have an interesting plot, but it's mostly worth seeing just to see Mick Jagger as a bad guy.
It's possible that Hopkins was not actually with the rest of the actors (Estevez, Russo, etc.) when the movie was being filmed.
Mick Jagger driving around in futuristic green army tanks chasing Emilio Estevez, calling him a freejack, uttering things like "Ok, let's do it" and "One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi".
The film itself is a low cost B movie, a good craftsman's work, worth to be watched on a Sunday afternoon.BUT How it Should Have Ended (HISHE :) )McCandless: I am desperately in love, Julie Redlund.
The story concerns his survival, and his attempt to revive his relationship with his fiancée Julie, now 15 years older and an executive at McCandless....Loved this movie when it was released in 1992, had doubts if I would like it nearly twenty years later with rose coloured specs, and while the film has many flaws, you cannot deny the stupid fun you have whilst watching it.Basically, Murphy has taken Estevez's Billy the Kid and made him into a sci-fi hero, thats plain and simple, as there are many connotations to young guns 2.Even though the story and narration is convoluted throughout, watching Mick Jagger spouting many a classic line is alone worth watching the movie.The swagger he has when saying every line, and the audience can physically see him trying to act so much, he just stops caring toward the end, and it's all the better for it.Emilio is good, but as i've already said, it's just Billy the Kid.The rest of the cast really support well, even if its obvious Hopkins did this for the cash.
Mick Jagger is fun to watch, even though he makes no effort to even pretend like his acting.
And while this is not the most intelligent movie I've ever seen, it is quite entertaining, with a good basic premise, and some decent action.
I however thought that it was a fairly good movie with an  interesting story line.
I feel all the acting was fair to good Except for Mick Jagger, his was excellent.