With its overlapping action/sci-fi/romance genres and its time-warping story oscillations, Next exemplifies the word, convoluted.

This is the third movie (Total Recall and Minority Report) that screenwriter Gary Goldman has adapted from the reality-altering oeuvre of Philip K. Dick.

Based on a character in Dick's short story "The Golden Man," Nicolas Cage stars as Cris Johnson who possesses the paranormal aptitude to clearly see two minutes into his future.

Tormented as a kid by experts who prodded his pre-cognition talent with "the marathon 36 hour can-you-guess-the-next-flash-card game," Cris just wants to live under the radar.

And as a magician with a Las Vegas lounge act, he is succeeding until FBI agent, Callie Ferris, (Julianne Moore), nabs him to help her locate a stolen Russian nuclear bomb in terrorist hands somewhere in L.A.

Add to the mix the comely Jessica Biel, Cris's love interest who becomes his pre-cog muse allowing him to extend the range of his future sight far past 120 seconds.

I'll leave it to you to attempt to unravel the plot's leaps forwards and sideways.

Paramount previously released the DVD in the standard definition and HD DVD formats. The gorgeous transfer in this new Blu-ray version flexes its high def muscles when it captures the majesty of the Grand Canyon. Also, true to its literary lineage, the filmmakers have saturated many of the interiors in a warm golden hue.

Special Features

Part of the appeal of Next is seeing how the visual effects artists envisage Cris as he pre-cogs his path through a scene. And perhaps the best Extra on this DVD is the "Visualizing the Next Move" mini-doc with the crew explaining their creative process.

If you can wade past the adulatory comments, ("he was a joy to work with," yada, yada), "Making the Best Next Thing" does provide some insight into the collaborative filmmaking experience. And "The Next 'Grand Idea'" takes you behind the scenes of shooting on the Havasupai Indian reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Studio: Paramount

Director: Lee Tamahori

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jessica Biel, Julianne Moore, Tony Kittles

Length: 96 minutes

Rated: PG-13

Video:
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Audio:
English:
  Dolby Digital 5.1
  PCM 5.1 (Uncompressed)
French:
  Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish:
  Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles:
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese