Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Editor's Note Loosely based on a story by cyber-pioneer William Gibson, this futuristic thriller centers on a the title character (Keanu Reeves), a courier who loads vital data straight into his brain for storage and safe transport. Johnny has given up brainspace that his childhood memories occupied in order to save space for his chosen profession. He wants to pull one last job before he retires, and the one he gets is particularly perilous. He's got 48 hours to transport a large load of data from Beijing to Newark--and some futuristic samurai don't want him to make it to his destination! The directorial debut of conceptual artist Robert Longo is full of arresting visuals painting a bleak, yet eye-popping, vision of the future.

	Keanu Reeves
	Ice-T
	Dolph Lundgren
	Dina Meyer
	Takeshi
	Robert Longo - Director

In the year 2021, huge conglomerates rule the world, and Johnny "Smith" represents a new kind of smuggler. This is because top secret information has been "wet-wired" into his brain so he can easily transport it from Asia to New Jersey. But Johnny must complete his mission quickly, because if he doesn't download the data in time, his cranium will explode! His task is further complicated by the fact that Yakuza gangsters want this information for their own, and are willing to cut off Johnny's head to obtain it. Can this cyber-courier survive all these hurdles and complete the mission -- saving his own life in the process?

"Not on the head! Don't tell me you hit him on the head." (Ralfi to his bodyguard, after he has disabled Johnny Mnemonic)

"I had to dump a chunk of long--term memory... my childhood... Yeah, well, maybe I didn't lose anything I wanted to keep. I needed the space for the job." (Johnny, explaining how he prepared his brain to store the data he is carrying)

Variety
"...The computer special effects are slick and accomplished..." 05/22/1995