Cyberpunk 2077 Players Should Watch This Dark Sci-Fi…

Co-written by James Cameron and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the 1995 sci-fi thriller Strange Days has a lot in common with the open-world game Cyberpunk 2077. After finding out helpful Cyberpunk 2077 pro tips, fans can watch Strange Days and get lost in an unsettling story about a unique, life-changing technological device.

While Cameron is, of course, known for his Avatar franchise, Strange Days is a movie that many might have overlooked. The story is definitely memorable, and when compared to Cyberpunk 2077, it becomes even more compelling.

What Is Strange Days About?

Strange Days is about Lenny Nero (Ralph Finnes) who used to be a police officer with the LAPD and now sells devices called SQUIDs (Super-conducting Quantum Interference Device) on the black market. He and the other characters live in Los Angeles, California in 1999, but it's a world that is violent, dark, and dangerous. There is a lot of civil disobedience and it's an unnerving place.

What Are James Cameron's Most Famous Movies?

The Terminator (1984)
Aliens (1986)
Titanic (1997)
Solaris (2002)
Avatar (2009)
Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022)

Lenny thinks that he has found the secret to wealth and happiness with his SQUID device, which records someone's thoughts and experiences. When someone gets this device, they can learn how the person from the recording was thinking and feeling. Lenny and his limo driver and friend Mace (Angela Bassett) see a recording of Iris (Brigitte Bako) being killed and, later, learn that Iris was there when Jeriko One (Glenn Plummett) was murdered. They are determined to find out what happened to Iris.

Although it's not as memorable as Rose and Jack's Titanic love story, Strange Days does have a romantic subplot as well. While Lenny is still in love with Faith Justin (Juliette Lewis) and watches SQUID recordings so he can remember the good times that they shared, Mace has feelings for him.

Strange Days Director	Kathryn Bigelow
Writers	James Cameron, Jay Cocks
Cast Members	Ralph Finnes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Michael Wincott, Vincent D'Onofrio, Tom Sizemore
Release Date	October 13, 1995 (United States)
Runtime	145 minutes
Rotten Tomatoes Score	68%

How Is Strange Days like Cyberpunk 2077?

A street Samurai in Cyberpunk 2077 — Street samurai facing the city

Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world game where players can enter the buildings, and Cyberpunk 2077 also has several fashion mods. It also has a lot in common with Strange Days.

Strange Days is like Cyberpunk 2077 because both have a California setting and are about technology that can be used for evil. Strange Days is set in Los Angeles and Cyberpunk 2077 is set in Night City. In Strange Days, people buy the SQUID device on the black market, and in Cyberpunk 2077, the main character V (Cherami Leigh and Gavin Drea), who is a mercenary, has a bio-chip.

Strange Days	Cyberpunk 2077
set in Los Angeles, California	set in Night City, California
about a SQUID device	about a bio-chip
Iris sees Jeriko One's murder	V sees Saburo Arakaska's murder

Both Strange Days and Cyberpunk 2077 also feature a character seeing a murder. In Strange Days, Iris sees Jeriko One get killed. In Cyberpunk 2077, Jackie Welles (Jason Hightower) and V see Yorinobu (Hideo Kimura) kill his own father, Saburo Arasaka (Masane Tsukayama).

It's interesting to watch Strange Days after playing Cyberpunk 2077 because the two complement each other so well. In Cyberpunk 2077, people play as V, who has a bio-chip of Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves), a terrorist and musician. V's life is on the line because he can hear Johnny's thoughts and he needs to be able to regain his own identity. Throughout the game, V can make a number of decisions, which keeps it interesting.

How Does Strange Days End?

Strange Days ends with a shocking final scene. After Lenny sees that Philo Gant (Michael Wincott) has died, he watches a recording and learns that Max Peltier and Faith were romantically involved. After Max (Tom Sizemore) says that he wants people to think that Lenny is the killer, Max and Lenny have a brutal fight. Lenny kills Max by launching him off the balcony of Philo's apartment. Like the record-breaking Avatar 2: The Way of Water, the ending of Strange Days is definitely memorable.

By now, it is clear that police officers Dwayne Engelman (William Fitchner) and Burton Steckler (Vincent D'Onofrio) are the ones who killed Jeriko One, as they didn't like his song lyrics criticizing the police. Other police officers kill Steckler, and Engelman takes his life. As the night turns into the next morning and it's 2000, Mace and Lenny kiss as they finally admit their romantic feelings for each other.

While Strange Days has fast-paced fights and a murder mystery, it also tackles serious subjects such as the relationship between citizens and police and how technology can go wrong. As co-writer Jay Cocks said during a press conference at the 1995 New York Film Festival:

"For me, this film is about a city, and about a time that might happen. It's also a movie about movies, about life at arm's length, about watching and being watched... I was working with Kathryn on a project called Company of Angels; when Jim left Straight Days to do True Lies, I continued to work on this with Kathryn. I'll tell you, life is in high gear with those two. We'd act out the characters, back and forth, but they are all Cameron's creatures."