Minority Report
Movie Quote Quiz

Iris Hineman: If the unintended consequences of a series of genetic mistakes and science gone haywire can be called 'invention', then yes, I invented Precrime. (00:57:50)

Dr. Iris Hineman: Sometimes, in order to see the light, you have to risk the dark.

Officer Fletcher: John, don't run.
John Anderton: You don't have to chase me.
Officer Fletcher: You don't have to run.
John Anderton: Everybody runs, Fletch.

Agatha: You can choose.

John Anderton: That's all, huh? Just walk right into Precrime, go in the Temple, somehow tap into these Precogs, and then download this Minority Report.
Dr. Iris Hineman: If you have one.
John Anderton: And then walk out.
Dr. Iris Hineman: Actually, I think you'll have to run out, but yes, that is what you have to do.

John Anderton: Mr. Marks, by mandate of the District of Columbia Precrime Division, I'm placing you under arrest for the future murder of Sarah Marks and Donald Dubin that was to take place today, April 22 at 0800 hours and four minutes.

Officer Fletcher: John, don't run.
John Anderton: You don't have to chase me.

John Anderton: Why should I trust you?
Dr. Iris Hineman: You shouldn't. You shouldn't trust anyone. Certainly not the Attorney General who just wants it all for himself, and not the young Federal agent, who wants your job. Not even the old man who just wants to hold on to what he created. Don't trust anyone. Just find the Minority Report.

Agatha: I'm sorry, John, but you're going to have to run again.

Agatha: Can you see?

John Anderton: They set me up.

Dr. Solomon: Now, you understand I can't just give you new irises. Because if I do, the retinal scans will read the scar tissue, alarms will go off, and large men with guns will appear.

John Anderton: I'm not being set up. I really am going to kill this man.

John Anderton: Don't you ever say his name.

John Anderton: I have to know. I have to find out what happened to my life.

Danny Witwer: He came to see you the other day right before he was tagged. What did you talk about?
Lamar Burgess: The Mets. John doesn't think they have a deep enough pitching roster this year, and I'm inclined to.
Danny Witwer: Why are you protecting him?

Agatha: Is it now?

John Anderton: He set me up. He set me up.

John Anderton: There hasn't been a murder in six years. The system, it is perfect.

Dr. Iris Hineman: Find the minority report.
John Anderton: How do I even know which one has it?
Dr. Iris Hineman: It's always in the more gifted of the three.
John Anderton: Which one is it?
Dr. Iris Hineman: The female.

Plot hole: Anderton's wife gains entry into the jailhouse using her husband's eyeball - but he's already locked up inside, so his eye would not still have access to enter as it pleased. Any place anywhere that would have any sort of security system requiring anything from a simple passcode to a card key to a retinal scan, would immediately delete the user in such instances from all rights. And would also certainly report on any attempted use of such (retinal scan, pass code, whatever). (02:00:45)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: I thought that this was a mistake as soon as I saw it on screen, but reconsidered. It's perfectly possible that there was some, probably human caused, delay in updating the security system. After all, there wasn't a rush to do it since they already had the chief on ice. Maybe the sleep jail was still on a legacy system without automatic updating. Just assuming that in the near future that all systems are all perfectly integrated and instantaneous does not validate this as a mistake.

More mistakes in Minority Report

Trivia: Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed Tom Cruise in Magnolia, has a cameo on the train. It is reported that he is so hard to find that Anderson himself does not know where he appears.

More trivia for Minority Report

Question: There's a quote that I don't understand: "The fact that you prevented it from happening doesn't change the fact that it was going to happen." I immediately thought, "Yes, it does change the fact that it was going to happen." If Witwer hadn't put his hand there, it would have happened. However, he did, thus "changing the fact that it was going to happen," right? Isn't this the point of the whole movie: determinism is foolish and that different actions produce different consequences?

Answer: No, he didn't change the fact that it was going to happen. He prevented it from happening. But until he stopped it, it was going to happen. And no matter how many times you look back at that sequence, it was going to happen. Up until a point, it was going to happen. It was just prevented.

Garlonuss

Answer: The statement involves the idea of arresting people who did not commit the crime yet but are going to. Until the precogs tell someone to change things, the idea is that it will happen. If Anderton had rolled the ball and the other guy was not watching, it was going to fall. The only way to change it would have been for Anderton to say something. Things will happen unless the future is changed. Ultimately the idea is proven sketchy at the end at best.

oldbaldyone

More questions & answers from Minority Report
More movie quotes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.