Product Details

• Actors: William Gibson, Kimberly Blair, Bono, Nick Conroy, Jenna Mattison
• Directors: Mark Neale
• Writers: Mark Neale
• Producers: Mark Neale, Chris Paine, Mark Pellington, Mary Buffet, Tom Gorai
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: New Video Group
• DVD Release Date: November 25, 2003
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000D0YT5
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,971 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "William Gibson - No Maps for These Territories" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Consider yourself lucky if you've ever had a traveling companion as fascinating as William Gibson is in No Maps for These Territories. British documentarian Mark Neale found a perfect conceptual approach to this wide-ranging visit with the founding father of "cyberpunk" science fiction: On a rainy day in 1999, and for several sessions afterwards, Neale drove Gibson around various North American locations in a limousine equipped with sound and video gear, pointing his mini-cams at nothing but Gibson and the passing world outside. Then Neale went a step further, incorporating a superb soundtrack by Tomandandy with readings of Gibson's trend-setting fiction (by U2's Bono, writer Jack Womack, and others), and combining this with digital composites of changing imagery through the limo's windows.

The result is a fitting context to reflect upon the technology, ideas, and concepts that dominate Gibson's fiction. Fellow cyberpunk pioneer Bruce Sterling is also interviewed, and Gibson's reflections on Neuromancer are essential, but Gibson also describes his need to distance himself from that breakthrough novel, and his other topics--post-humanity, the "mediated" world, drugs, the birth of cyberpunk, technology and pornography, his method of writing, and much, much more--combine to provide a definitive portrait of Gibson on the cusp of a new millennium, as the real world evolves to resemble the world of his fiction. Deleted scenes, additional readings, and behind-the-scenes featurettes add extra dimension to this thoughtful and stimulating DVD. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

On an overcast morning in 1999, William Gibson, father of cyberpunk and author of the cult-classic novel Neuromancer, stepped into a limousine and set off on a road trip around North America. The limo was rigged with digital cameras, a computer, a televis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Techno-losophy, March 3, 2004

By	J. Shearon (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you've read William Gibson, or are at all interested in the ethnographic aspects of technology, then this is a film you will probably want to see. At times the music video techniques of the too-hip-for-its-own-good cinematography is headache inducing. Likewise, some of Gibson's rambling rumination is a little self-indulgent - he doesn't always have much to say about technology or humanity that hasn't been uttered to the point of cliché. He's at his best when talking about his own work, although he is often maddeningly self-effacing. Like his novels, he always seems like he's about to say something huge and mind-blowing, but never quite gets there. Still, he is a fascinating and often eloquent interview subject and there is much more good here than bad. The readings from Gibson's novels by U2 singer Bono are especially fun, and the tomandandy soundtrack provides a lovely melancholic atmosphere for the proceedings.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riding in a Limo with the Inventor of Cyberspace, October 7, 2003

By	R. Diamond - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Forget book signings and the Playboy interview-this is your chance to get inside the head of the writer who almost single-handedly bridged the gap from Beats to geeks. Following a highly-stylized, self-consciously post-modern interview format, No Maps For These Territories dances around some of the hard questions-where did we come from, why are we here, where are we going-and, amazingly, delivers some answers, though it may take two or more viewings to even begin to understand them. Gibson's genius combined with tight filmmaking turn extemporaneous stream of consciousness into a fire hose of cultural information transfer. Appearances by Bono and The Edge-not to mention Bruce Sterling, Jack Womack, a creepy baby and a porn star-are almost gratuitous, but that's all part of the post-modern vibe. Be prepared to jack in at terabit speed.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gibson's ideas, with or without any special effects, would keep me watching---and thinking---the entire time , July 18, 2006

By	Jason Mierek "uniqueness is ubiquitous" (Urbana, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This documentary essentially consists of William Gibson, SF author and inventor of the term/concept "cyberspace," riding in a car, smoking cigarettes, and talking about scads of interesting topics. Gibson's monologue ranges from the interpenetration of humans and technology and the futility of seeking a return to "noble savagery," the writing of William Burroughs, the role of mediation in our postmodern lives and the practice of living in a present moment embedded in this hyper-mediation. Whether or not you agree with his ideas, they are definitely intriguing and well-worth contemplating.

Alas, the visuals used in the production of the film were less than stellar. Sometimes the producers relied on the lightning fast MTV-cuts and driving drum'n'bass that were typical of the mid- to late-90s, and at other times they used such tired tricks as overexposing the film again, and again, and again. I guess the producers figured that a video of one man talking and smoking would not be compelling enough without these visual gewgaws. I respectfully disagree. Gibson's ideas, with or without any special effects, would keep me watching---and thinking---the entire time.