User Reviews

I've been a fan of Gabrielle Salvatores' dreamy, surrealistic style ever since I saw the first 5 minutes of "Denti" (2000). Now there's a film for movie buffs to sink their teeth into, lame pun intended. I immediately went on the hunt and found his follow up films, "Io non ho paura" (2003) and "Quo Vadis Baby" (2005) which I also thoroughly enjoyed, and now I'm working my way backwards to his earlier films.

Then I saw "Nirvana" (1997) and it stopped me dead in my tracks. My first impression was that it's a really good story but the presentation fell short, felt incomplete and lacked authenticity. Then I found out that's because the Miramax (DVD) is a total hack job of the original film, with 20 minutes chopped off and distracting dubbing of all the actors' voices. In case you didn't already know, the original film is in Italian, and it was dubbed into English for this particular DVD.

The story itself is really interesting, and it's a cut above all the other cyberpunk movies that were churned out in the late 90s capitalizing on the burgeoning net culture. "Nirvana" is set in a dystopian future à la Bladerunner and follows 3 days in the life of a software programmer (Christopher Lambert) who is about to deliver his masterpiece virtual reality game called Nirvana. The problem: with only 3 days to go before it hits the market, the main character in the video game becomes self-aware and starts questioning the game he's in. The movie then splits into 2 concurrent timelines, one with Lambert trying to stop the game's release, and two with the video game character trying to understand his own existence.

With a good dose of action, lots of style and peppered with some good unexpected comedic moments, the film is entertaining. But (I'm assuming due to the Miramax hack job) it often feels rushed, disorienting or just plain nonsensical at times. If you watch the Miramax DVD (96 mins) be sure to take it with a grain of salt, or as I'm trying to do, hunt down the original 113 min Italian version which is generally loved by all who have seen it.

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.

Films generally carry a title for a reason. Salvatores's Nirvana's is the key to understanding it. Without the key, the film will look like rubbish, like many comments here testify. But, if you get that key and use it, it can become one of the most astonishing movie experiences you may make.

The title is not just the name of a videogame. That is totally incidental.

The movie is about the voyage towards Nirvana - the real thing - of two men (or maybe of one man and his own projection in a virtual world): how the two (or maybe the man and his own inner conscience) start to understand what Nirvana is and how they eventually reach it, in spite of all misadventures and (that is not casual at all...) the cycles of deaths and rebirths that the virtual self Solo (meaning alone, in Italian, not Star Wars' character - again not a coincidence) has to go through.

This is a movie about symbolisms. This is a movie about the deepest searches of the soul. Searches that cannot be disturbed by petty concerns (see Bebo Storti's apparently bizarre line after he appears in a flash for just a few seconds to shoot and kill a very unlucky henchman "I am MEDITATING [profanities deleted]!").

Science fiction is incidental to its aims, and provides a fabulously well used tool to unravel the story in what I regard as a cinematic masterpiece.

Blade Runner's climax ended on the recognition that replicants (and humans, maybe) were just "tears... in the rain". Nirvana's is about snowflakes that fall forever, and yet never fall.... Pity this is so far above the expectations of an average moviegoer that most viewers did not even recognize the genius in its simplicity. My congratulations to Cacucci, Corica and Salvatores!

I want to start by praising Diego Abatantuono's performance in this movie. He belongs in more cult films like this. I could see him working very well with the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, or Frank Miller's crew. The man just owns the screen and you can't help but feel his energy. Brilliant job, made the movie for me.

As for the rest of the story, I enjoyed it for what it was. A B style creative science fiction movie. I always admired Christopher Lambert for his choice to lend his talent to a more free and open market of film making. There are B Sci Fi movies and then there are B Sci Fi movies with Christopher Lambert, much in the same way Bruce Campbell enjoys the unofficial bad ass award when it comes to B Horror Movies.

This is a gem for fan's of the genre, other's may not enjoy or understand how to enjoy a movie like this. I can't really recommend this movie to everyone, but I will recommend it to people who enjoy this genre. 6/10

The version of "Nirvana" that I watched was badly dubbed into English, which didn't do it any favours. Unfortunately, the crappy clichéd dialogue wasn't all that was bad about this film.

"Nirvana" plays out like a badly-adapted sci-fi novel, directed by someone who's watched "Blade Runner" and "Alphaville" far too many times. The production values are slightly above Student Film level and I've seen better prosthetic makeup at fancy-dress parties.

Christopher Lambert has to make his money somehow, but it must be galling for him to have appeared in so many straight-to-video clunkers. He's not a bad actor but he struggles with the uneven tone of "Nirvana". Within 20 minutes of the start of the film, I was questioning his character's motivation and that was when I decided to switch off.

I decided to watch the film because of a 4-star review in a TV listings magazine. Presumably the reviewer likes to watch low-budget sci-fi with art house aspirations. Personally, I'd prefer to watch my underwear go round and round in the washing machine than sit through pretentious rubbish like "Nirvana"

Nirvana results to be a peculiar Sci-Fi film with an intricate screenplay dealing with the complex relationships between a game designer and program and how the main character , through a virus, controls the artist . Jimi (Christopher Lambert), a successful computer game creator , finds that his latest issue has been infected by a virus which has possessed consciousness to the program's main role named Solo (Diego Abantautono). While Solo has a tormented relationship to a computer generator prostitute named Maria (Amanda Sandrelli). Jimi affected by the memory of his fled sweet heart named Lisa (Emmanuelle Seigner)and begged by Solo to finish its useless "life", starts a search for someone who can help him both to discover what happened to Lisa and to delete his game before it is released . Meantime he is being pursued by a nasty corporation . Later on , Jimi goes to Marrakech and Bombay contacts to Joystick (Sergio Rubini) and Naima (Stefania Rocca). As utilizing the plot of portraying a program within a program, the summary has the spectator haunting if what they are watching is actual or a virtual reality.

This is a sci-fi movie in middling budget full of thrills , symbolisms , some action and weird events . I won't say that there aren't any issues because there are but overall the acting is pretty flawless.The reason that I think Nirvana is more reviewable than pretty much any other film is the story and the philosophical and cyberpunk elements of the story because with every viewing I catch something I didn't see the previous time I watched it. Nirvana not only supplies the world with a whole new level of passable special effects mixed with style and substance, it also brings a whole new meaning to the word 'cyberpunk'. The story was sometimes lame but it's worth watching for the background events and the environment packed with neon lights in ¨Blade runner¨style . Acting wise the film works excellently. Interpretation was wonderful, script, visual, sound, everything about this film is a tribute to a usually overlooked genre. However , it contains regular cinematography , it's necessary an urgent remastering . The motion picture is efficiently realized by Gabrielle Salvatores .The constant theme of his movies is the escape from the problems of the modern world and the most of his movies include philosophical themes . Almost always casts Diego Abatantuono; frequently also casts Sergio Rubini . Among his most important films are ¨Amnesia¨ , ¨I'm not scared¨ , ¨Marrakech Express¨ ,¨ Quo Vadis baby ¨ , his successful and Oscarized ¨Mediterraneo¨ and of course ¨Nirvana¨ .

An European hard-science action movie is rare these days, especially a good one, and Nirvana was a good surprise when released in France... The critics bashed it - with some interesting exceptions, and the public did not come to see it (bad promo material)... Nevertheless, it's still one of my favorite. This is not a Wakowsky Bros frenzy festival with "bullettime effect" (did you know that it was a french who created them ?) and kick-ass fighting, but Gabriele Salvatores (an "intellectual" director as it seems) did an excellent low-budget film with GREAT scenario, GREAT acting (Lambert at his best, seriously), a credible world...

It's not centered on the VFX, and it's great. Sometimes a bit slow, but it's for the "ambiance", and, what an ending... A must-see, not especially for Lambert-fans... Be open-minded, and try it...

I wanted to watch Nirvana as I heard it was made by the same people doing Mediterraneo, which I enjoyed. I watched it in Italian, so bad dubbing was not a real problem for me (even if Christopher Lambert is clearly not speaking Italian). A lot of reviewers compared this to films like Johnny Mnemonic and The Matrix, but that is just inviting disappointment. The best American film match that I know of is Existenz. The same ideas of games becoming too real, intermingling with reality, to the player's downfall.

The film has several things going for it. One is Christophe Lambert, who is always funny in any movie, no matter how bad it is. Another is the very beautiful Stefania Rocca, playing the mysterious Naima. The best thing, in my opinion, is that it is a truly Italian film, rather than a clone after an American movie, a feeling that is enforced by Diego Abatantuono playing the role of Solo in a typical Italian way. Other things, like the scene with the guy killing someone in the corridor because they were making too much noise 'ma che cazzo?!' or the car antitheft device spouting Italian insults are good examples.

The cyberpunk theme is clearly influenced by William Gibson's vision (I mean, what cyberpunk film isn't?), and in a way steals a lot of the elements you see in Johnny Mnemonic, released just two years earlier, but the moral of the story is more metaphysical in nature.

As much as I liked all of these elements in the film, I have to also complain about a lot of others. The low budget feel, the technicolor "virtual world", some of the clicheatic characters, etc. Overall I liked it, though, and I think for its budget, country of origin and ambitions, it was not a failure.

Solo suddenly finds out that what he's living has happened before. In the middle of a "deja-vu" he discovers that he's not really alive. He's just the main character of a video game, and he refuses to keep "playing" in a non sense life, where he'll be born and killed again and again and again. He tries to convince the people around him, that they are inside a game, that their lifes are not real; that everything that happens has already happened before. But its useless: he's the only one who realizes it. Like a prophet, like a Jesus or a Buddha, he has just realized what he is, and the stupid meaning of his life-game. And he's the only one who can speak to their creator; their designer: Jimi Dini, a succesfull video game designer of the real life. A real life where Jimi lives, depressed, bored and numb. He's got something in common with Solo, thats why he decide to help him, erasing the game, his last an great creation, Nirvana, before its too late.

Its not a matter of spoiling the great end of your life, but have you realized how repetitive it is? Maybe you should pay attention to Solo. Or try to find Jimi and ask him to be deleted.

Alright, as I can see, we have very mixed reviews on this one. I personally really liked this sci-fi flick. What's so cool about it? No, no, it's not thought-provoking like eXistenZ of David Cronenberg and then again YES forget about Matrix - Nirvana is magical in a way a Hollywood film will never be. Almost surreal, Nirvana presents the future world in a most atmospheric way, and quite realistically manages to capture the decadent atmosphere of a future cyberpunk world.

What's no realistic at all, and oversimplifying is the whole plot and stuff. But who cares? Characters manage to be quite interesting, the music builds an awesome atmosphere. As you see, I don't try to intellectualise any of it: i like it for what it is, a small euro sci-fi that, at least to me, delivered the goods!

A recommendation... especially if you like Gibson-like, cyber-punk literature. BUT DON'T EXPECT TOO MUCH

Bear in mind that Nirvana appeared a couple of years before Matrix fundamentally changed science fiction. Filmed at a time when Christopher Lambert's Hollywood glory days were over, Nirvana's only flaw is it's low budget. Modest financing presumably led to a limited release, but it is still hard to explain a lack of a proper DVD release for years.

In terms of concepts and ideas, particularly at the time of it's creation, Nirvana is an extraordinary movie. With limited means it went as far as a movie could get before kung-fu fighting and CGI became a regular staple in SF genre.

What we see here is a near-future dystopia where drugs and virtual reality are a part of everyday life. The references to Neuromancer and cyberpunk in general are obvious. So, if you're a fan of cyberpunk, you'll enjoy this one.

This little movie which flirts with the idea virtual reality gaming is a delight to look at but has an underwritten script. I would never expect anything intelligent or original from a B-movie, but Nirvana was neat. While there is certainly room for more dimension on the pages, everything in the frame, is of perfect dimension (or quality). This film has a colourful portrayal of the future, which plays with several different kinds of computer graphics, not to mention some other good quirks, like talking houses, alarms, and a computer game character who gains self awareness and has the ability to talk to his player. It's all fun and delightful. the dubbing is occasionally distracting, but I guess that depends on the manufacturer of the DVD copy. I just felt that there was a bit more room for story. The energetic climax, seems to zip by too quickly and the movie ends on a somewhat flimsy note. I think I can say I enjoyed this movie for what it was, It just needs more.

Gibson, Dick, Sterling all together in this movie... It's the only CP and real Sci-F movie ever made in Italy... I've had the fortune to see it in Italian and the depth of dialogs is great... The storyline follow the standard of Gibson's books... the plot is not necessary, but the landscape is everything and this is what happens in this movie.

I'm sorry for all the people who believe this is a crappy movie but in my opinion that means that they have never understood what cyberpunk means and how it must be represented... and this movie represents it.

Here there is everything: Sprawl, Hacking, Virtual Reality, Surviving, Cybermad, Corporations, Future...

When you go back over the history of films themed around cyber-punk dramas or thrillers, you'll find that the list is criminally short.

Nirvana is a bizarre little flick that is quintessentially 1990s-cyberpunk fanfare. It's low-budget but you really wouldn't think much of it given the way Gabriele Salvatores makes superb use of camera, lighting, and really fantastic set dressing and effects.

The action is limited but reasonable for the story being told. This isn't some world-ending, world-saving, earth-shattering, cataclysmic event unfolding here, the story is small, personal, and very contained, for the most part.

The adventure and thrills begin to ramp up as more information related to what's unfolding gets unfurled by the protagonists, a trio of unlikely heroes. However, what really makes Nirvana work is Lambert's dedication to the role; he's sincere and serious here, taking the material in stride as if he believes it, and that's about 50% of the believability right there, in conjunction with the set designs and scenarios.

The movie does a fine job of making it seem like a crummy, over-bearing, authoritarian, electronic dystopia. People are poor and yet overwhelmed with technology; slums are rampant yet there's a computer everywhere. Cash is a rarity and digital tracking allows everyone to keep track of everyone... especially corporations.

Like most dystopian cyberpunk films, the corporatocracy rules all, and you get a real sense of dread in terms of how little freedom there is in that world, which mirrors a parallel story unfolding (and overlapping) with Lambert's quest about a virus that injects corruptive awareness to the artificial intelligence in a popular online video game.

As the film progresses we see how both the main character in the game and Lambert's character are trying to escape from overbearing authority figures.

There's a lot more write about regarding this film, from the awesome weapon designs that look like they borrow from Blade Runner and Nemesis, to the hodge-podge of culture clashing in the various environments they visit, to the seedy depiction of a society on the brink of implosion.

Overall, though, this is a great little philosophically-themed existential adventure into a cyberpunk world one would probably expect from a French director rather than an Italian one. However, it's much easier to access than most French existentialists films, and doesn't worry itself with trying to be pretentious.

Instead it's authentic to its story and characters and follows through with events to a logical conclusion. It reminded me a lot of David Cronenberg's eXistenZ fused with Enki Bilal's Immortal, with a fine dose of Johnny Mnemonic, Strange Days, and The Matrix tossed in for good measure.

Well worth checking out for those who enjoy grungy-1990s cyberpunk fanfare with a bit of a philosophical twist tossed in.

OK, so you've always wondered what the matrix would be like with a good leading actor (rather than the wooden Reeves), a better script, no spectacular action scenes, and low budget. This is your film. We have Chris Lambert in one of his best films (along with "Subway" and of course, "Highlander"), this is not his average film. The goal is to erase the game in which its main character is aware of his condition of "gamething" and is damned to live and die. This Super Mario working for the Mafia (Abatantuono) is terrifically great. Sergio Rubini is great too, and the whole cast in general kicks ass! What to do with low budget? THIS MOVIE!

8/10

Jimi, a computer programmer, is trying to finish his latest role-playing computer game Nirvana for the Okasama Star corporation. He is surprised to find that Solo, the lead character has developed awareness of his location in the game, the fact that every time he dies he is reborn, and that he is doomed to live out the same life and situations over and over again. He asks Jimi to delete the game.

Jimi needs to penetrate Okasama's mainframe, and enlists the help of many technological wizards. Chief among them are Joystick, a poor hacker (or 'angel') who has sold his eyes to raise money and now sees with the aid of small black and white cameras in his eye sockets; and Naima, a woman whose memories have been erased and who can only remember things with the assistance of artificially created memories loaded through a port in her skull. The mainframe is protected by sophisticated anti-hacking devices known as 'devils' which feed off memories and mental energy to destroy the brains of the angels who try to penetrate it. Jimi is also battling painful memories of his own - his lost girlfriend who disappeared from his life leaving only a video recording and a picture to remind him of her...

Although there is not much in this film for action buffs, there is conceptually a link to other films about simulated experience such as Total Recall and The Matrix, as well as some existential musings on the nature of memory and experience in the digital age where such things can be easily synthesised. A delightfully ambiguous ending emphasises the film's main themes.

Good use is made of a medium budget to simulate an anarchic future world sliding into decay, with a decline in morality and a low value placed on the sanctity of life and the human body - the streets of the slums are replete with organ thieves; and Joystick's synthetic eyes are a physical complement to Naima's synthetic memories. A strong visual style is complemented by an insistent soundtrack.

I found Nirvana to be an intricate plotting between creator and program and how the program, through a virus, controlled the creator. Using the idea of portraying a game within a game, the Director has the audience wondering if what they are seeing is *real* or a virtual reality. Christophe Lambert and Diego Abatantuono give good performances of a man haunted by a dream and a dream haunted by a man. Definitely a sci-fi film worth seeing.

Tremendous movie. Astonishing. One into my personal top 10.

What makes it so profound, so pure, i cannot really express it, at least in english. All the philosophical background, the unexplainable colors, all kind of moods expressed into images...

Look for it. It can also be seen only on its surface, and it will look fine: nice action, good FX, great casting...If you're looking for some truth in your life, and want some guidelines, less restrictive than religion try this Hi-fi Virtual-based piece of wisdom. It took me several sessions to partially understand it, but you may be wiser than me :)

I won't say anything else...u know what i mean.

Basically if you liked "The Matrix", "Diva" and "Subway" you will love this movie which transfers the cyberpunk visions of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling et al to the screen in as accomplished a way as Blade Runner foreshadowed those same authors. Even though the budget was obviously not huge the production manages to feel "big" in the way it gives you a real feeling that you are seeing a full environment/world and not just a bunch of back-lots and interiors.

The way that Lambert as Jimi, computer games designer, interacts with his cyber-creation Solo is very funny and at times quite touching as he comes to realise he has a responsibility toward this digital creation which leads to a clever co-joining of the "real" and digital world of the computer game.

It is a movie that asks some interesting questions about what it is that we create inside a computer and whether it has any consciousness, rights or artificial intelligence of it's own - quite relevant in these increasingly virtual times.

Throw in a fantastic soundtrack and you have one of the best VR movies ever (not a large genre, but growing) which would easily hold it's own in a double bill with "The Matrix".

SEE IT - If you can find it!!!

It's a brilliant movie and I've been loving it for several years already. First I saw it in theatre in Germany, then I searched of it in USA and didn't found, then I found it in my home country, in Estonia in a local video rental, but it was a pirate copy with very bad quality. So I still don't have a copy of Nirvana myself. It's been called 'psychedelic', but I think, it's a perfect piece of cyber-punk as well and if you're a fan of William Gibson, then Nirvana is definitely a MustSee: brilliant soundtrack, mesmerizeing environment, adequate characters (Chr. Lambert really stars!), excellent dialogue etc, etc.

I've seen the Italian version and I found the dubbing marvelous,in particular Lisa-Emmanuelle Seigner, the interpretation very good, I really loved Solo-Diego Abatantuono in this new role. You know, in Italy he's a comic-cabaretist of the '80. Jimi decides to leave his normal and blank life of programmer to find his beloved Lisa, his life, in a cyberpunk "blade runner like" world. His story interlaces with Solo's story, the main character of the Jimi's video game. He gain auto-conscience thanks to a virus and find himself trapped in the game and is forced to repeat the same events over and over, he's only hope i Jimi... Particular story, I think it's from a book. Symbolisms, starting from the title...

I really liked this movie, it was intense, fast-paced, with a very good, or should I say suitable, soundtrack. I liked the futuristic world, with all the ethno stuff, gurus typing away on computers etc. I didn't like Bladerunner, but I loved this. Kinda philosophical even. And a real scifi problem, what with the guy trapped in the computergame gaining consciousness by a virus. Whoa! And then of course - the logical philosophical continuation: But what if the real world... is also only virtual... Booh! The breakin hacking scene in the end was kind of tired though, even though the Demons where a nice twitch, not to forget that luscious hackergirl. My younger brother hated it, btw. And I was kinda disappointed that the movie was dubbed into English, since I partly went to practice my Italian ;)

I've read a novel, recently, called "Neuromancian", from William Gibson. I was suprised, because many themes from this novel were in this movie. IA, Cyberspace, Cow-boys, Junkies, etc. This novel is the first from a litterature genre called "Cyber-punk". I think that anyone who liked this movie should read this novel, and vice versa. The movie took many simplifications, even unpossible things. But I liked it very much.