Memory was better My memory of seeing this when I was 15 turned out to be better than the film.
"Look At The Stars!" ~ A Space Odyssey Of The Mind In the tradition of the '68 sci-fi classic '2001 - A Space Odyssey' the '83 film 'Brainstorm' explores the infinite parameters of the universe within and proves once and for all the old axiom, "the inside is greater than the outside".
Synopsis: Dr. Michael Brace (Christopher Walken) and Dr. Lillian Reynolds (Louise Fletcher) are two scientist on the cutting edge of modern technology who develop instrumentation that has the ability to record human thought, feelings and the all the internal images and experiences that go with them. Unfortunately just as their research is on the verge of revolutionizing all we know about the mind and the vast, infinite potential within the government steps in and takes over their project in hopes of utilizing their their new discovery for advanced military applications. Will this new technology be used as the ultimate weapon of war or will Michael and Lillian be able to continue their work for the altruistic reasons they originally envisioned?
Critique: 'Brainstorm' is a superior movie that could have been a classic. The story line is exceptional and the cast excellent; Christopher Walken, Louise Fletcher, Natalie Wood and Cliff Robertson. However there are also numerous moments where the pacing develops far too slowly and the relationships come across as rather bland and emotionaless. There are also some comedic moments of chaos in the lab late in the film that are simply out of place and contrary to the story line.
Fortunately the ending really hits home and gives the audience some real food for thought. If you enjoyed '2001 - A Space Odyssey' and the recent release 'The Fountain' you'll enjoy this film as well.
Wonderful Story Just a wonderful story of true love, discovery, faith. Story line was great. Acting superb with actors such as Chrisopher Walken, Natalie Wood, and Louise Fletcher. A high tech visual experience. I truely enjoyed the film and recommend it to anyone.
BRAINSTORM-Good sci-fi, but the key word is dissapointing BRAINSTORM was a good sci-fi film that I saw in the early 80's. Unfortunately, I never saw this movie on a full size theater screen. Overall, I score it at three stars. In my opinion the premise of the movie deserves four stars for originality and the major portion of the film three for competent execution. The conclusion only merits about two stars for not living up to the great premise.
I first saw BRAINSTORM on an old VHS tape on a large screen projection TV and really missed seeing it in the theater. The idea that all perceptions (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, reactions and reflexes of the body and emotions of the mind) can be recorded and experienced on multi-track tape is perhaps a bit too ambitious for us to totally suspend our disbelief, but sums up the very original premise of the film. This had me enthralled in the early 80's when I first saw the movie.
Some of the wonderful applications tangentially hinted at by BRAINSTORM for this sci-fi technology included: virtual reality, simulation, accelerated learning, verbal and non-verbal communications of feelings and emotions (i.e., seeing through another individuals senses as filtered through their personal feelings), psychological applications, marriage counseling, recording near death and death experiences, and some not so wonderful military applications including intelligence and information gathering, mind control, trauma and torture). The film managed to hint at these many applications by brief visual example while telling its story.
When I recently watched BRAINSTORM on a decent quality DVD my overall film experience was not that much better than provided by the original VHS tape. As some fans of the film have already commented, this DVD transfer was not too good and we can only hope that a future release of a better DVD transfer will be available. This DVD did not hold up on a LCD 52" large screen TV. The overall experience was better on a 23" to 36" screen.
In my opinion, the most original thoughts of the writer exhibited by visual example included: improving marital relations by conveying how the prior behavior of both individuals was perceived through the eyes and mind of their spouse and how the death experience of an individual (having a fatal heart attack) could be recorded for later playback and study.
The first wonderful application was illustrated by Natalie Wood and Christopher Walken who decided to cancel their impending divorce and reunite after experiencing less than five minutes of each others thoughts colored by their emotions and seeing how their own previous behavior appeared through their spouse's eyes. No lengthy marriage counseling, just experiencing a few critical minutes of each others perceptions and thoughts as viewed through their spouse's eyes. A wonderful sci-fi concept and to my knowledge the first time this has ever been suggested in film.
The second interesting and curious application explored the mystery of death and was a great sci-fi concept and appears a credible one as long as there is electrical activity within the brain. Complete death means brain death and electrical flat line, at which point there is nothing to record, let alone perceive during playback. Within the film story the unexpected death experience of a brilliant and dedicated lead scientist was recorded for her assistant to receive as her last selfless "gift" to science. In order to extend this thought the writer employed the overused story line of the project being taken over by an evil military project after the death of the scientist that prevents the original assistant from playing back the recording left for him.
The motives for the government project to deprive him of this experience are never explained. The military just plays the part of the heavy to allow the hero to work hard at eventually beating the system which allows the assistant to experience the recording with little more than the help of his wife and friends. I guess the ending was doomed to failure for being too ambitious, but I couldn't help but hope that I was in for a great film experience. Considering the originality of the premise, who knew the ending would be so weak?
The special effects by Douglas Trumbull were good enough for their time, but ultimately disappointing. The performances of Chris Walken, Natalie Wood and Louise Fletcher were also very good. The ending of the movie was a major disappointment, and the story became very silly when depicting the details of how the assistant thwarted the flimsy controls of the government authorities.
This film could have been a great movie if directed and thought out by the likes of a Stanley Kubric or Steven Spielberg. In fact, this film might be a good candidate for remake using an infusion of some great thought and state of the art special effects. The limited success of this movie is a consequence of going to press before the creative process of writing a good script was complete. I believe that Hollywood should turn this story over to a talented young writing team and allow them the time needed to dream up a more satisfying ending. The acting talent and technical tools in place for a well funded studio will result in a magnificent work of science fiction cinema and a great sci-fi film experience for future movie fans.
Ahead of the game... Along with movies like Silent Running and Blade Runner, Brainstorm is left in a malestrom of an unknown future which only the portal view of Douglas Trumball could only set in motion. Though Blade Runner was made by an even excptional director, Ridley Scott, these two movies have been 'quietly' reveered by directors and 'ohmaged' by the other sci-fi action adventure directors that we see today. I saw this movie when I was 17 and I am now 40 and I've come to notice the almost sterile brooding nature of the film even though a death of a famous actress is associated with it which took it away for the 'what if' aspect at the time of it's release in the early 80's. I'd have to say if you took away that aspect of the finished product of the film and take it for what it is, i'd say that there could be a very HEALTHY re-make in line here and it could further bring thought to this subject which was taken off the table back when it was made.
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