Sleep Dealer

This is an amazing movie. There are so many humanity issues that this movie exposes. Overall This movie left me with a happy-sad feeling. The storyline is done well and even though this seems to be a non-Hollywood movie, it is just as good or better than good Hollywood movies. I will list some of the things that this movie depicts (Spoilers):-in this future, instead of migrant workers physically crossing the border and being exploited (worked) in person at a location, the workers work virtually through robots in long shifts. These 'workers' can then send money to family but with high taxes and fees. Instead of injuries in person from lack of safety protections by the employer, these workers can get injuries from electric surges and viruses.-Drone warfare and 'security' are in full swing in this future, and just suspecting a person of any wrongdoing means a drone operator is sent to assassinate the suspect. When the drone operators realize they did something wrong, they are fugitives.-People are so empty from being exploited that they are willing to exploit others by selling memories of them.-instead of drugs, people get some kind of stimulation to their nervous system through the nodes they have in their bodies.-Water is a means of controlling people and charging them high prices while keeping them in poverty.

An amazing science fiction take on our world and its border regions right now!

I picked this particular dvd since it dealt with robots and the future. There is an old saying that you shouldn't let facts get into the telling of a good story. Once you ignore the facts that the border will never be enforced as shown in the dvd, that innocent civilians would be target by armed drones for hacking into signals or stealing water and finally if the robots can be made to do the work, why would you need people. In spite of these drawbacks, the story sucked you in as you see the guilt the drone pilot had over killing an innocent civilian cause he was just following orders. How real memories are sold over the Internet to total strangers who pay, is an interesting idea. That the drone pilot gets the information from a "writer" about a suffering young man whose father had been killed, is a real reach, since there would be so many other "stories" to sift through till it was found. Lastly, robots today can now build cars, why not other things in the future. They are already programmed to build, without human oversite on most of their construction efforts.

Gripping and well paced with great themes: robotics and virtual reality, communication, romance, isolation, international labor and immigration, economic justice, drone warfare and conscience. Strong tech ideas I've not send before. I will follow this film maker.Just be careful to check if the cover is in English. Film is in Spanish, with subtitles (but that's okay, 'cause you can read, right? And this film is worth the trouble...)I ordered five copies so I could lend and give... But the covers came in Spanish, despite the picture. Amazon made the return free and painless, so that was good...

It was the premise of this movie that ruined it for me. I am a very liberal person, but when I hear the idea that only poor immigrants from Mexico and other countries will do the jobs "NO ONE ELSE WILL DO", and they labor for low wages, it stabs me in the gut. It is a huge insult to the American workers I know. I grew up in Pittsburgh where people, including my grandparents and parents (born here), fought for the rights of workers as those before them did, and took the most menial jobs available, working until they dropped, then bettered their lives the hard way....by working even harder. Even as a life-long liberal, this movie is false and very offensive. I felt it had to be said.

The premise of this film and storytelling vision are exceptional, but the first warning sign was the lowest cost BD I have seen in recent memory (my cost was lower than the DVD).The story follows a man becoming part of a futuristic version of slave labor being used in America, but from south of the border via cyber links instead of physically being here. Workers are connected to their counterpart machines working both dangerous and agricultural jobs here in the United States. There are several subplots involving love, redemption and corporate treachery, but the main theme of sending the money home still rings true, even in this cyberfuture. The special effects are low grade, but they only get utilized a few times to showcase the military drones and robot workers (less than 5 minutes screen time).The Blu quality is non-existent. There is an overwhelming orange/yellow tint that drowns out any clarity (tried to be like Traffic - Criterion Collection but didn't work). There was a different camera used in the overhead city shots so they turned out clear, but otherwise the scenery is overexposed, and the grain and artifact are prevalent throughout. The 5.1 is used minimally but sounds flat. The supplements include a decent 10 minute making of and a commentary. The making of is worth the watch and has a narrated track describing the origins and process of making a passion piece like this.3.5 for the film and .5 for the supplements, but zero for the BD quality. But for this price, why not give it a try?