Amazon.com: Johnny Mnemonic: Inc. Cinevision: Books

Amazon.com
Johnny Mnemonic is based on a story published in Gibson's collection of short fiction, Burning Chrome Fans will have the opportunity to see Gibson's imagination morph from short story to screenplay. In this special trade edition, which includes both the screenplay for the film, starring Keanu Reeves, and the original short story, Gibson fans will be allowed a rare glimpse at the evolution of the creative process.

Johnny Mnemonic takes readers into William Gibson's dark, slick cities of the future. Johnny is a 21st-Century smuggler. Data is his contraband. And he's got plenty of it. In fact, he has way too much. Caught in a situation he could not easily get out of, Johnny over-loads the computer-chip in his head. The data is white-hot and he has twenty-four hours to down-load or else he's fried. As he rushes to his destination, he realizes that an army of Yakuza killers is on his trail; they want the data he possesses--and they are willing to take his head to get it. In a non-stop, action-packed race against the time-bomb in his brain, Johnny's only allies are a cybernetic dolphin and a gorgeous girl streetfighter with a hardwired taste for violence.

From Booklist
With a few notable exceptions--2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner science fiction movies have not matched the innovative visions of their literary counterparts, either thematically or stylistically. If Hollywood heeds its call, Johnny Mnemonic, the movie, may inspire a new maturity in cinematic sf. Gibson's seminal short story, "Johnny Mnemonic," introduced his now familiar cyberpunk universe (later popularized by the huge success of his first novel, Neuromancer, which itself is now in film production) and thus gave rise to a new subgenre that is still sf's leading edge. This book includes the screenplay, illustrated with stills from the movie, and the original short story. The latter recounts the fate of Johnny, who guards an invaluable booty of classified electronic information that is stored in his computer-implanted brain and who is pursued by the all-powerful "Japanese Mafia," the Yakuza. The story is better accompanied in Gibson's superior anthology, Burning Chrome, but hardcore Gibson fans will want to read its screen realization. Carl Hays

Johnny Mnemonic (Paperback)

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