In 1999, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl) is a wealthy and brilliant entrepreneur who has invented a virtual reality simulator. The simulator encapsulates a world based on 1937 Los Angeles. Everything in it is a simulation. The simulation computer is located on the thirteenth floor of a high-rise building. To access the alternate reality the traveler lies down in a pod. His consciousness is then transferred to the simulated world where it interacts with computer generated avatars. Hannon’s assistants are Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko) and Jason Whitney (Vincent D’Onofrio).
Hannon begins testing the simulator without notifying his assistants. When Hannon is murdered, Detective Larry McBain (Dennis Haysbert) investigates. Evidence points to Doug, but Doug doesn’t remember what happened during the time of the murder. Doug and Jason find out that Hannon had been using the simulator. Doug goes back to 1937 to find out why Hannon was there and if it had anything to do with his death but learns little. In the simulated world, Doug’s name is John Ferguson (Craig Bierko).
In real life, Doug meets Jane Fuller (Gretchen Mol) who says she is Hannon’s daughter. Doug also learns that Hannon sent him a message in the simulation. Doug returns to 1937 and tries to find out what the message was. Some of the people he meets in the simulation are replicas of people he knows in real life. He finds out that the bartender, Jerry Ashton (Vincent D’Onofrio) got the message and read it. Jerry follows the directions in the simulation and learns that he is really in a computer-generated world. Jerry goes off the deep end and tries to kill Doug.
Detective McBain tells Doug that Hannon doesn’t have a daughter. Doug confronts Jane and learns that there are more virtual worlds. As Detective McBain investigates Doug, Doug is forced to realize that he may actually be responsible for Fuller’s death. He also learns something that threatens his own reality.
“The Thirteenth Floor” was released in 1999 and was written and directed by Josef Rusnak. It is an American and German science fiction mystery thriller with cyberpunk and noir influences. The film is loosely based on Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 novel “Simulacron-3”. The movie is a remake of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s German 1973 miniseries “World on a Wire” AKA “Welt am Draht”. Unfortunately, the film did not do all that well as it was released a month after “The Matrix” 1999.
It’s a rather complicated but interesting plot. If you liked Dark City, this may be your cup of tea. It is a thought-provoking film and very underrated. The dark noirish atmosphere, along with the film’s twists and turns keeps you intrigued. It forces the question “What is reality”? The answer could be multilayered and not necessarily what you want. All in all, it is a science fiction ‘who-done-it’ with a twist.
The band that plays in the 1937 simulation is the JCO (Johnny Crawford Orchestra), led by Johnny Crawford, the kid who played Mark McCain in the “Rifleman” television series.