FREEJACK

   Film (1992). Morgan Creek/Ronald Shusett/Warner Bros. Dir Geoff Murphy, starring Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Banks. Screenplay Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett, Dan Gilroy,based on Immortality, Inc. (1958; exp 1959) by Robert SHECKLEY. 108 mins. Colour.

   From the producers of TOTAL RECALL (1990) and the New Zealanddirector of The QUIET EARTH (1985), this disappointing adaptation jettisons much that was interesting in the original book, including the metaphysical speculation about the relation of mind to body and the "scientific" explanations of ghosts, zombies and a technologicalIMMORTALITY. This is a thriller set 20 years in the future, when rich people with ailing bodies transfer their personalities into healthy bodies hijacked from the past (including our present). Jagger is rather good as the sinister and ubiquitous bodysnatcher who grabs a racing-car driver (Estevez) just as he is about to die violently. Joe Alves's mildlyCYBERPUNK production design owes a lot to BLADE RUNNER (1982).

   PN