Nirvana
Nirvana
R | 22 August 1997 (USA)
Nirvana Trailers

Jimi, a computer game designer, finds that his latest product has been infected by a virus which has given consciousness to the main character of the game, Solo. Tormented by the memory of his fled girlfriend Lisa and begged by Solo to end its useless "life", Jimi begins a search for people who can help him both to discover what happened to Lisa and to delete his game before it is released.

Reviews
Protraph Lack of good storyline.
mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
lemon_magic I like a lot of things about "Nirvana" - the ambiance, the soundtrack, most of Lambert's performance, the central "quest" of his character, and the general depiction of a future world in which most human meaning and connection has been subsumed by virtual realities.I don't rate it as high as I might for a couple of reasons: 1) The actual depiction and rationale for Solo's abrupt shift to self awareness isn't convincing at all, and neither is the depiction of the game itself. Seriously in an age of immersive games like Skyrim and Crysis, or even World of Warcraft (for the 90's), who would want to play a dreary game like this? (It is kind of clever that Solo reminds me so much of Mario). If you want to see a real depiction of an immersive VR game that you can believe would seize the collective imagination of a huge worldwide audience, watch "Avalon".2) Some of the smaller roles aren't acted, depicted, or scripted very well ("Joystick"? Really?). I will gladly admit that some of this might be an issue with the dubbing in English, but I have to respond to the movie I saw, not whatever it was like in the original Italian - this is why I always prefer to hear the original voice acting and read subtitles if I can.3) Let's face it, the screenplay just drags in spots. I can sympathize with the balance the director had to maintain between mood, ambiance, and action, but I don't think the end result was as good as it could have been for about half the scenes. Again, the gold standard for me in this kind of subject is "Avalon", which is equally moody and full of discussion and ambiance and empty silences, but never drags.Still, if you want an "art house" movie version of "The Matrix", this might be worth your time, and you might disagree with my reaction to the movie's pacing and some of the dialog and end up enjoying it more than I.
ma-cortes 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¨ .
HighlanderArg 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
Switcher1972 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...