Welcome to Movie Shortens. Follow us today to a 1995 American science fiction action film called: Virtuosity. Before we start, be aware: there are spoilers!
At a metro station, many gray suited figures are going about their business. Lieutenant Parker Barnes steps off a train with his partner Donovan. They run through the crowds into the street outside.
A holographic head warns people of a murder. Barnes notices glitches in the world around him. He sees a smiley face on the side of a Japanese restaurant which they enter.
They see the silhouette of a man called Sid 6. 7 and Barnes opens fire. Sid fires back and during the chaos, he kidnaps Donovan.
Barnes is ambushed and is shot in the arm. Sid tells him that he is just playing with him. He hides behind a sushi chef and Barnes shoots at the chef to get to him.
Donovan is in an ice tray behind the bar, his face crackling with electricity. Sid grabs Barnes by the throat and puts his finger into his wound. Barnes appears to shut down and disappear, followed by Donovan.
Sid says that he hadn’t finished as his own wounds close up. In a simulation room, there is a warning that the participants are getting a neural stimulation overload. Barnes & Donovan are brought out but Donovan goes into shock and dies.
The Police Commander, Elizabeth Deane, asks about the fail safe programme but the developer, Darryl, believes that someone has been tampering with his software. Deane discusses with a man named Wallace that VR was supposed to be a safe place to train her enforcement officers. They are using convicts to test but she wants it shut down.
Barnes is an ex-cop who has traded participation in this trial for some of his sentences. He tells the Police Chief Billy that Sid cheated - he didn’t have electrocution as part of his weapons log. Billy asks why he shot the chef.
Barnes replies because he wasn’t real but Barnes was supposed to behave as though he were. Billy warns him to pull himself together before he is taken back to the prison. He is scanned upon entry and his mechanical limb is detected.
He is directed through a wing where the prisoners shout and jeer at him. A prisoner emerges with “White Power” tattooed on his arm. He shouts at him for getting Donovan killed.
The guy has a knife and they fight. Barnes defeats him and the guards enter and remove him. In the simulation room, Darryl speaks with Sid and tells him that he knows he increased the sensitivity readings which killed Donovan, so now he will be shut down.
Sid says that he can’t change what he is and that killing for real was a rush. He beckons Darryl in to tell him a secret. DrCarter comes to see Barnes.
She was at the simulation the day before. Billy asked her to do a psychological evaluation on him. She asks about the fight and he tells her that he was defending himself.
He asks why she was there yesterday and she says that she was doing research for a book. He says that he knew to go into the Japanese restaurant because of the smiley face - programmers always leave clues. She asks about the man that killed his family and took his arm.
If they can prove that he was provoked then he could be helped. A technician named Clyde is enjoying a VR simulation of a woman named Sheila. Darryl tells him that while he is interacting with the simulation, it collects data about him.
Darryl ends the program and tells him that he knows that he has been trying to incubate a nanotech android. Wallace thinks that the software is the solution to Clyde’s problem so asks him to incubate Sheila. He agrees.
Sid arrives in the simulation and starts to have some fun with Sheila but Darryl removes him. He removes the software module from Sheila’s disk and replaces it with Sid’s. He finds Clyde who demonstrates the nanobots' regenerative powers by cutting a snake which then uses glass particles to regenerate its body.
He then removes the software module from the snake's body which causes nano death. Darryl gives Clyde what he thinks is Sheila’s module and puts it into a jar of nanobots. After a time, the incubation period is complete and a body climbs out of a cocoon that morphs into Sid.
He kills Clyde and Darryl runs. Sid cuts the finger off and then holds it near to some glass watching it regenerate. Some time later Billy, with Deane and Wallace, recruits Barnes to catch Sid in exchange for a full pardon.
He is tagged with a micro locator implant so that they can track him. Carter asks to go with him despite Barnes’ objections. Billy gives him his old Police Badge and he asks for his gun as well.
Barnes & Carter go to investigate a murder scene where they suspects Sid’s involvement. They then go to Darryl’s house and find his computer. Carter examines earlier versions of Sid which incorporates the genetic signatures of mass murderers who battle each other for supremacy.
Sid 6. 7 has 200 different personality signatures. One of them is Matthew Grimes - the man that killed Barnes’ family.
Carter goes home and calls Billy who explains that his family was killed to distract him from solving the case. Her daughter speaks with Barnes about her mum. In a club, Sid shoots an android bartender and the crowds scream.
He demands a girl to record the sound of the hostages screaming and crying. Barnes hears about the situation on the radio and leaves with Carter. There is a traffic jam and Barnes continues on foot.
Sid has composed a symphony. The police enter and he shoots them all. He encourages the hostages to scream but then Barnes arrives and shoots him in the back.
He exclaims that he is losing too much of himself as Barnes continues to shoot. Sid recognises him and then tries to escape in a police car. Carter arrives in her car and they give chase.
Sid eats glass from the windscreen to help himself repair. He taunts Barnes over the radio about how much they have in common before he crashes the car. Carter hands Barnes a shotgun but tells him that the only way to stop him is to destroy his software module.
Barnes shoots at him but he escapes over the edge of a bridge. Wallace tells Deane that he would prefer that Sid be detained. They still haven’t found Darryl.
Barnes believes that Grimes is the dominant personality within Sid. He says that Grimes also wanted attention - just like Sid craves. Carter realizes that Sid is free of any restraints that he may have had.
He is evolving. In the mall, Sid is thrilled to see news coverage of the incident on the TVs. Barnes realizes that he likes to be on TV and so he leaves for the nearby Olympic Auditorium where a big fight is being screened live.
Sid arrives at the Olympic Auditorium and starts a fight. He is about to bite a woman when a security guard uses a shotgun to stop him. Barnes arrives and Sid jumps down into the ring.
Barnes pursues him down to the Metro Line where he uses the glass from the train window to repair his hand. As the train pulls away, Barnes can see Sid with a hostage. He taunts him to shoot but reminds him that this isn’t VR.
Barnes shoots and misses Sid but the hostage falls to the ground. Sid escapes on the train. The police arrive and although Carter tries to tell everyone that he is a cop, people believe that Barnes shot the hostage in cold blood.
The body is removed and Barnes is led away. He tells Carter that he missed them both - he didn’t kill the hostage. Billy arrives and Barnes begs him to believe him.
Carter tells Billy that the woman was shot through the back so Barnes couldn’t have shot her. They are locking up the one man that could stop Sid. The prison van is ambushed by Sid who taunts Barnes with how he is responsible for his own family’s death, as well as the woman on the train.
Sid releases him and tells him that the locator that was implanted into his brain also contains a poison that can be used to kill him. He tells him that as two prison guards are lying here dead, how long will it take for his death to be authorized. Barnes takes the guard’s gun and runs back toward the city.
Billy receives news of Barnes’ escape. Deane asks Wallace if the fail safe is still online. Barnes calls Carter protesting his innocence.
He says that Sid only enjoys the game when he is playing against Barnes - his favorite opponent. Carter knew about the poison. She says that she can’t help him unless he tells her where he is.
He says that he is with his family. Carter calls Billy who is starting to believe her and she tells him about the poison. She leaves her house, waving goodbye to her daughter.
As she leaves, Sid pulls up in a van. Wallace tracks Barnes to the cemetery and authorizes his termination but Billy arrives at the last moment and smashes up the computer. Carter arrives to meet Barnes.
Barnes tells her that Sid craves a larger audience and then realizes where he is. Darryl is watching the news regarding a debate about immigration which is reported will attract a huge television audience. Sid is at the TV station and has killed the technicians.
He interrupts the broadcast and shoots the guest live on air. The online viewing figures increase phenomenally. Barnes & Carter arrive as Sid is asking the viewers what kind of executions they would like to see.
He introduces the first victim - Carter’s nine year old daughter. Barnes assures Carter that he will save her daughter but he first needs her to get the phone lines to the building cut. Armed police arrive and shoot at Barnes as he runs away and escapes.
Darryl arrives in the building. Carter sees him and asks him at gunpoint where her daughter is. He says that he doesn’t know and she hits him with the gun.
Sid addresses the audience when suddenly the lines are cut. He is furious and starts to rant as Barnes appears and shoots him. Barnes chases him when a helicopter arrives and opens fire.
Billy demands it is called off as Barnes continues to shoot at Sid. They fight, hand to hand on the roof, Barnes demanding to know where the girl is. Barnes swings off the roof taking Sid with him and they crash through a window.
Sid has been eviscerated by the glass. Barnes stands over him and asks again - where is the girl? Sid grabs his head and pulls him towards the glass as he starts to regenerate his body, but Barnes punches through his head and removes the software module from his brain.
Sid lies motionless as Carter arrives with Darryl. He tells them that by destroying Sid he has lost any chance they had of finding her daughter. Barnes looks at the core.
Suddenly Sid and Barnes are back fighting on the roof but this time Sid throws him to the ground below where he lies in a pool of blood. Carter arrives demanding to know where her daughter is and Sid takes her away. The blood disappears and Barnes gets up.
He is in a simulation being watched by Billy and Darryl. Darryl tells him that Sid has no idea that he is in a simulation. They watch him taunt Carter until he reveals where her daughter is.
When Barnes approaches, Sid realizes what is happening. Carter exits as Sid screams to Darryl for help. Darryl hits Billy, leaving Barnes inside the simulation.
Sid manipulates the VR world but Carter regains consciousness, shoots Darryl and releases Barnes. Wallace storms in demanding to know what they are doing but Barnes knocks him out. He unplugs the machine and they return for Carter’s daughter.
She is about to open the hatch but Barnes realizes that it will be booby trapped. He uses his mechanical arm to hold back the fan blades and climbs in through the top to rescue her. A video message plays from Sid telling Barnes that anything he thinks of has already been anticipated.
Barnes traverses the booby traps and tries to disconnect the bomb but Sid taunts him that he already thought of that and the timer speed increases. Ultimately, he uses some connections from his arm to disable the bomb forcing it into a time loop. They both climb out through the hatch and Carter thanks Barnes.
He climbs to the roof and throws Sid’s software module to the street below where it smashes into pieces. Like and Subscribe to watch more videos like this, and don’t forget to turn on your notifications. That really helps my channel.
Thanks for watching!
