Brainstorm (1983)
Grade: 74
"Brainstorm" has Louise Fletcher and Christopher Walken developing an amazing device that can record a person's sensual and emotional experiences. The resulting tapes, when played by a different person, take over that person's senses and feelings.
Unfortunately, the research has been funded by unsavory Defense Department staffers, fronted by Cliff Robertson. When they take over the project, Walken rebels, and develops an obsession with experiencing a tape made by a dying staffer.
"Brainstorm" is remembered mostly as Natalie Wood's final film. She died in a tragic boating accident (thus inspiring the joke, "What kind of wood doesn't float?") while the film was in production, resulting in heavy script rewrites that delayed release of the film for nearly two years.
This may have actually resulted in a better film, since the rest of the cast, especially Fletcher, give better performances. Walken is mesmerizing as usual. Robertson is fine as a man forced to betray his engineers in the face of pressure from his superiors.
"Brainstorm" has interesting special effects, but the story does have a few holes in it. Wood seems eager to help husband Walken play a tape that at worst could kill him, and at best land him in prison. Walken may be a genius with robots, but his dial-in factory sabatoge is perhaps too impressive. He makes a tape for Wood with his memories (in perfect clarity) but from her viewpoint, which doesn't seem possible. The "death tape" is full of flashbacks that only include recent scenes from work, which are followed by a light show that implies death is a good head rush.
Still, warts aside, "Brainstorm" is a fine effort, with a solid script and performances, and a decent sci-fi story.
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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