A team of brilliant scientists headed up by Lillian Reynolds (Louise Fletcher) and Michael Brace (Christopher Walken) have finally made an enormous breakthrough in their research. After years of frustrating tests and wrangles over budgetary concerns, an amazing new virtual reality system has been born. The machines these scientists created can record the sensory perceptions of one human being and replay them for another person. Reynolds and her team can capture everything--sight, taste, touch, hearing, smell, even emotion--and record it on tape. The implications of this discovery should become apparent almost immediately. Communications, entertainment, medicine: every aspect of human endeavor will irrevocably change once this device hits the marketplace. Of course, a few other shadier applications also apply with the device, particularly military systems and mind control. Reynolds, Brace, and Brace's estranged wife Karen soon find themselves at loggerheads with the boss of the company funding the research, the sympathetic yet uncompromising Alex Terson (Cliff Robertson). The United States military leans heavily on Terson concerning the project's development, threatening to remove funding if Reynolds denies the wonks at the Pentagon access to her research.
Running throughout these titanic battles about the ethics of a virtual reality system and the increasingly authoritarian tactics taken by the military is the relationship between Michael and Karen Brace. The couple split up over Michael's inability to balance his work with his personal life, a fact that Karen resents since her husband has neglected her and their son. Moreover, there is some sort of vaguely hinted at relationship between Reynolds and Michael Brace, a relationship that should hardly come as a surprise since the two have worked so closely together over the past decade or so. When Lillian Reynolds, a rabid chain smoker, records her death from a massive heart attack as it happens, Brace becomes fascinated with exploring this amazing death sequence caught on tape. The government decides Michael is too unstable to continue working on the project, thus banning him from the building and removing his security clearance from the company computers. When you muck around with a genius, however, you must make sure you have all the angles covered. Brace enlists the help of his tech savvy wife and a few other friends from the company and hacks into the company's mainframe in order to access the tape. What follows is an amazing special effects odyssey of sight and sound as Brace learns what happens when we die. In the process of playing the tape and risking his own life, Michael and Karen heal their problematic relationship.
The best elements in "Brainstorm" are the outstanding performances from the cast fused with amazing special effects. Natalie Wood, although somewhat wasted in a smaller role, stops the heart every time she appears on screen with her amazing beauty and solid acting. Christopher Walken does what Christopher Walken does best: act slightly weird by alternating between subdued silence and loud rage. Cliff Robertson and Louise Fletcher both excel in their respective roles, especially Fletcher, who as the temperamental Lillian Reynolds is both believable and amusing. Check out the scene when she dies from her heart attack yet takes the time to attach herself to her wondrous recording device. This is, I think, exactly what a true scientist dedicated to exploring every mystery would do in a similar circumstance. As good a job as the actors do, the special effects sometimes eclipse them. Apparently, the guy in charge of this film worked on Kubrick's "2001," and boy does it show. The final scenes in "Brainstorm" evoke memories of Keir Dullea's psychedelic trip at the end of "2001," except here they look better. It would be a great experience to see this film in a movie theater.
"Brainstorm" is a beautiful, thought provoking film I never tire of watching. The scenes between Walken and Wood are wonderful, especially when they use the reality device for their own personal explorations. In this way, the movie moves beyond a mere science fiction potboiler into realms of romance and psychological drama. Sadly, the DVD edition lacks the sort of extras a film of this caliber deserves. You would think a film this prescient would inspire the folks at Warner to pull out all the stops for the disc release. Well, anyone remotely familiar with Warner DVDs knows the company couldn't give a darn about what their discs contain. Too bad. I will still watch "Brainstorm" from time to time, but I secretly yearn for a special edition release in the near future--one with a commentary from Fletcher and Walken at the very least, along with some notes about the special effects in the film. If you like sci-fi, this is a must see experience.
Some friends and I drove 2 hours across Missouri to see Showscan and it was the most realistic picture we had ever seen.
Showscan was a 65mm film presented at 60 frames per second (fps). Studies had shown this to be the frame repetition rate at which the brain would integrate the frames seamlessly and accept it as true motion. Most movies are 24 fps, although each frame is shown multiple times to reduce flicker.
But you can tell that it's not real. US TV, which operates at 60 fields per second approximates the Showscan presentation. The difference between this and normal films is obvious - most people can tell a video source from a film source. They may not know why the video seems to have more presence, but the frame rate is the answer.
Brainstorm was originally produced to use Showscan projectors for the times when people were experiencing "reality" with their headsets. This would have clearly stood out from the rest of the film, and would have seemed much more real.
Perhaps only Doug T. saw the project in the 24/60 fps version. I know I didn't. However, from my experience with Showscan, I can state without reservation that this would have been one hell of a film as originally conceived. The "reality" changes would have more than made up for any other problems with acting or scripting. The "WOW" factor would have overridden all other criticism.
As for the dialog and acting being a little clunky - well, have you ever seen early stereo or 3D movies? They tended to concentrate on exploring the technology instead of the picture. Perhaps Showscan could have evolved to the state that 3D did with Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder." Or perhaps not.
In any event, this would be an excellent roadshow movie (like the restored version of "Lawrence of Arabia") to show what the movie should have been.
And perhaps on a future DVD we'll have the helmet versions of reality replaced with 60 fields per second video. The difference should be obvious.
Thanks, Doug, for trying to pull this off. If you ever want to invite me to see your master copy with Showscan, I'll be out in California in an instant!
Rick
The basic premise is a scientific discovery where a person's thoughts, emotions, and experiences can be captured on "tape", recorded, and then experienced by someone else by simply playing the tape. The concept is fascinating. While the special effects are excellent for a film this old, the most powerful scenes for me were the depictions of a couple on the verge of divorce getting to experience the other's perspective of shared events. The experience of seeing themselves and their behavior though the other's eyes changes their relationship forever. This aspect of the concept is not played out as fully as it could be.
This film is also the last movie of Natalie Wood, who died tragically during the production of the movie. Christopher Walken is excellent as the lead actor.
The ending of the film touches on something so fascinating that they simply couldn't pull it off. Overall, I recommend this movie, as a fascinating concept that will leave you thinking after the film is over. Always a sign that the movie is worth watching.
