Minority Report, Tom Cruise
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Police Protection Cops travel in high style. In place of helicopters, they use hovercraft that look like the ships piloted by the Fett family in ''Star Wars.'' They also get nifty personalized jetpacks, which are great unless canny foes like Cruise (a police chief turned fugitive) hijack them as getaway vehicles. And instead of pepper spray, police have ''sick-sticks,'' which cause suspects to, um, vomit rather than fight.

Media and Entertainment The show ''Cops'' will continue, as will the Fox network (did we mention ''Minority Report'' was made by 20th Century Fox?). But TV will no longer be bound to a screen; it'll be a hologram-like image that floats in the air. Newspapers like USA Today will keep publishing, but they'll save trees by printing on computerized tablets that constantly update themselves with the latest news, complete with fresh photos.

Fun and Games People will still seek out virtual fun, but an Xbox won't be enough. Instead, thrill-seekers visit arcades where they plug their brains directly into computers for either benign adventures or kinky fantasy (one fella indulges in a foursome). Meanwhile, the more mundane pleasure of professional baseball survives with some familiar teams. Alas, the Mets still lack pitching.

Computers Forget carpal tunnel syndrome: Keyboards and mice went out around the time Britney retired (she doesn't score a mention in the movie, but she'll be 72 years old in 2054). Users will simply wave their hands in front of their monitors in sign-language-like patterns, allowing minute control over video and other data. It's unclear how that'll work for word processing, however.

Artificial Intelligence Despite all the futuristic advances in ''Minority Report,'' there's one type of computerized creation not seen in the movie: robots. After making ''A.I.,'' a movie packed with more mechanical men than Epcot Center, Spielberg must've needed a break.

Originally posted Jun 27, 2002
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