Such a frustrating disappointment

Good movie but grossly overrated

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

In the near future Jimi Dini is a computer programmer working on Nirvana – the newest and most expansive video game experience out there. Haunted by memories of his ex-girlfriend, Jimi is given a different focus when one of the characters in his game "Solo" appears to have developed consciousness as a result of a computer virus infecting the software. While Solo attempts to work out the world around him and negotiate his rigid world of regular "game overs", Jimi tries to get to the source of the game and delete the source.My first impressions about this film were mainly directed by my instant aversion to the bad dubbing and the obvious budget limitations but I tried to get passed them and look at the story and the ideas within the script instead. I admit that this was a hard step to make and one that I never managed to totally make. Perhaps the reason I didn't manage it was because there wasn't enough to consistently make me ignore it. It is a real shame because, despite the many negative reviews here, there is actually a lot of potential in some parts of the film that are clever and interesting. Surprisingly it is the in-game aspect that provides much of this, although at first this part looked to be the weakest. However the delivery of these ideas are weak and never really gets beyond the level of superficial philosophising. In the "real world" things are delivered with a visual flair that a better budget would have made great but the material really isn't there for the viewer.I won't add my voice to the moans about bad dubbing etc because a lot of the criticism here is blunt and thoughtless, but I will agree that this is a pretty weak film. It ripped at me so much that it would have flashes of good ideas that it then flushes away or wastes. Likewise the visual style and touches from Salvatores was laudable but lost in the cheap cyberpunk world that the budget allowed for. The cast are hard to judge because of the dubbing. Lambert is stiff and hard to really engage with. It is crude perhaps, but I can only comment on the rest of the performances based on the dubbing because it was such a dominant factor and turned the rest of the cast into hammy and gruff turns – whether they were like that or not I cannot say.Overall then, a mostly poor sci-fi that make frustratingly little of good ideas that are occasionally thrown up. Salvatores has some strong visual touches but the overwhelming nature of the uninspiring cyberpunk design takes away from those while the cast flounder beneath a terribly hammy dubbed soundtrack. Not as lacking in value as some would suggest but certainly not a film I would recommend to anyone but the most hardcore cyberpunk sci-fi fan.

Nirvana is a horrible and repulsive film.This is a very pathetic movie and I do not know what was Christopher Lambert thinking when he accepted the role in this movie.It seems that the director of this movie is laughing at the people who see it.I cannot believe how this movie was released in cinemas.From the first scenes(which seem a very bad joke),it seems that the movie is gonna be really bad.Nirvana is one of the worst movies in the history of the cinema.Be very far away from it.This movie could only be seen by students of cinema to show them how to don't make a movie.Rating:1(sadly it can't be 0)

Christophe(r) Lambert heads an international cast in this 1997 French-Italian(?) co-production. While the movie doesn't have the big budget a Hollywood blockbuster would have had, it still manages to create an interesting & convincing near-future world. Actually, it's one of the few films that really manage to create a decent cyberpunk setting; right now, I can only think of "Nemesis" which was a pretty good effort, and then there's always "Blade Runner", of course...As for the acting in this movie, it's always tough to rate the level of acting when the movie is dubbed, but all in all I'm not complaining. Lambert is good, and Diego Abatantuono (sp?) is interesting as the sentient game character Solo - and kind of appropriate, too, since he has the physical look of a real-life "Mario on steroids". :-)There are also several nice touches of humour, that prevent the movie from taking itself too seriously (check out the meditating guy later on in the movie for a nice example...). Finally, there is some nice music in there as well.All in all, an enjoyable little movie - with cult potential, I think.

I loved the movie. It's one of those movies where the plot isn't really that important. It's the mood, the world that is shown that's the great part. The acting is ok i guess, but i'm not sure. Thing is, i have seen the movie 4 or 5 times. And every time i just get swept away by the whole setting. The world around the actors (the sets if you will) and the music (could write a lot just about that) are great. So i haven't really started watching it really critically, i just watch. And for me, that's what represents a great movie. Your'e to busy watching to think about if the special effects are good, or if there's something else not performed with technical perfection. Take a look at it, chances are you'll love it.