Customer Reviews

Dreamscape

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw this movie when it first came out in 1984, when I was 38, and it made a huge impression on me and I finally bought this copy. I was not disappointed. Despite having just seen Avatar, and replete with CGI overdosing from films like Star Trek, the effects in Dreamscape, though dated, are extremely powerful and well done. The story is still modern, and the technology to achieve it seems just around the corner. The cast is wonderful and the pace well done. Dreamscape should be a sci-fi classic.

I saw this movie when it first came out. I liked it and found it had great writing and acting, well casted, and looking back, it WAS a great movie for the times. Everything in the 80's was big; big guns, big muscles, big hair, big mouths and foul language. This was one of the few movies that had some intelligence put into it for the times and instead of having millions of sense-draining special effects, it relied on very few graphic special effects and just good ol' directing and decent writing. The only part I felt was 'weak' was some of the dream sequencing. Because our dreams can seem more real and vivid than real life, and because of the very serious nature of the dreams in the lives of these characters, I would have embellished the dream sequences a bit more. Seems like they were lacking a bit more detail. But coming from a background as a Hollywood production background development artist, I would notice things that maybe some people wouldn't give a patoot about. So ignore my comments about the lack of detail in the dream staging of this movie if backgrounds are of no interest.

The acting is great and the writing is great. Nice to see a movie come out of the 80's that wasn't all sex, violence, and foul language - and yet can keep audiences interested through the tension much like a Hitchcock movie. It is understated on the surface but hits you with powerful surprises to keep you intrigued every step of the way.

Yesturday's audiences were not as anesthetized of their senses like today's audiences. With all the Fx, graphics, and digital computerized effects that comes with movies like "Inception", I still didn't find "Inception" as interesting or written as well as this movie Dreamscape. Dreamscape was the FIRST to explore what it would be like to make rescue operations while in the dream state and it was accomplished in a very believable way. And the characters in Dreamscape didn't need drugs and medication to be induced to get their job done. Seems like today's audiences can't believe the supernatural without some kind of drugs or physical manipulation explanation for everything. With all of our technology and special effects and computerization sensationalizations up to our eyeballs, no wonder there is a lack of appreciation for good intelligent writing which relied on our imagination instead of having everything explained to us like children. Dreamscape is an excellent move and after 26 years of watching movies, it still stands out in my mind as worthy entertainment value. It keeps you on the edge all the way through!

Also, another excellently written and directed movie is "Frequency". It is another very well written movie and keeps you guessing and on edge till the very end!

I missed this movie in 1984 when it first came out; too busy raising the kids, I suspect. I've always admired Dennis Quaid's versatility and since I just saw him in the humorous role of Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire!, I didn't switch channels when this came on TV.

I'm also a big fan of the newer high-tech special effects, so wanted to compare "yesterday" with the great graphics of today. I wasn't disappointed because I think the effects were quite dynamic for that era. I enjoyed the way the characters traveled back and forth between dreams and reality; I was properly horrified. The scenes were eerie, frightening, and fast-paced, just the way I like my action.

Good acting from Quaid, a psychic who gets involved in a government dream study where scientists Kate Capshaw and Max Von Sydow are wiring telepathic people into dreams of troubled people. Quaid refuses to join them at first, but wants to help a young boy get over his nightmares, so agrees to go into his mind. The intent of the program is to help people, but a corrupt government man (Christopher Plummer) has more sinister intentions. That's the general gist of the story...

I thought the premise was fascinating, building in tension as the movie progressed. The action scenes were fast-paced, scary and realistic (that snake monster actually made me cringe). The weak points in the movie were that some of the dialogue seemed too "canned" and some scenes weren't shot at quality camera angles.

Overall, I really enjoyed Dreamscape; it was time well spent. If you like sci-fi action, you'll like it too.

Reviewed by Betty Dravis, July 5, 2010
Author of "Dream Reachers" (with Chase Von) and other books

An extremely talented, able cast transforms what, in lesser hands, might have been a schlock story into a memorable, tense experience. Creepy visuals capture the nightmare world fairly effectively. Christopher Plummer is especially memorable as the benign, evil manipulator. Forget about the technical stuff: you'll be surprised how quickly you get into the plot line. Just break out the buttered popcorn, turn down the lights and enjoy one of the better films of its kind.

this is a great movie It came in a quick manner and it was in good shape.

From the premise to the cover everything thing about this movie on the outside just speaks of an epic. The cover especially has an Indiana Jones quality that adds to these expectations. Unfortunately, the movie never reaches such epic levels and falls into a series of boring discussions and lack-luster action-sequences.

The general plot goes like this: Alex Gardner, a very very young Dennis Quad (gotta say that was a shining point of the film, even if his performance was so-so), is a psychic that gets wrapped up in this dream study funded by the government. The scientists, including Kate Capshaw (Willy from Indiana Jones...thankfully she's more low-key in this), have created a way for telepathic people to wire themselves into dreams. Of course the evil government guy has more nefarious plans for the project and that's where the general tension of the movie lies.

Ah yes the 'tension' of the movie. Well my biggest complaint of 'Dreamscape' is that all the acting and thus action seems really flat. This is most prominent in the dialog. Almost everything conversation is between only two people who are standing still with the camera at the same distance. Don't believe me...just try tracking this throughout the movie (if you do end up seeing this). The best example is during the final part, when the tension has supposedly mounted, an actor gets out of the car and just stops to talk to the bad guy. These talking scenes are about 90% of the movie and are delivered with only some gusto.

This movie is classified as a type of mind-bender but the realistic environments (even the dream worlds weren't that crazy) and normal camera angles didn't quite give me that test-of-the-human-psyche experience. Sure everything is discussed and delivered nicely, but the plot doesn't really deviate from what it originally set out to do. I think that's really what kinda bored me about the movie, it was a sci-fi action plot delivered like a mind-bender.

To be honest the movie wasn't god-awful and I can see why others would enjoy it, especially if they had seen it back when it originally came out in 1984. 'Dreamscape' probably won't entertain the eyes of the younger generation and only be appreciated by fans of 80's cult-style movies.

This movie came out in 1984. I have been wanting to see and own this movie again for years. Had a copy on Beta but no longer have a functioning Beta player. Ordering old movies (on DVD) online has not always been the greatest experience especially with respect to quality. Apparently, in many cases, either the DVD was made from a VHS copy of the movie or a VHS recording of the over the air presentation. Finally found it from a source I could trust ... Amazon.com! Apparently remastered for DVD, the quality is excellent and it is a joy to watch! - John Dodd

(warning: review contains 'spoilers')

Alex Gardner was born with certain "talents" - a telepathic genius - able to manipulate the conscious mind. But it is not until he is approached with an offer to further parapsychology that he learns just how profound his abilities can fathom.

Living a life of mundane concerns*, at the behest of Dr. Novotny {Max Von Sydow}, he returns to his former life engaging in psychical research to further the efforts of the mind to tap the abyssal subconscious, projecting into others' dreams, in what is essentially the practice of Lucid Dreaming, what some of us have already mastered. With the aid of a 'dream machine' situated in the 'dream chamber' {"Who's your decorator, Darth Vader?"; it is a nice chamber!}, which merely regulates bio-functions, it begins as a form of therapy, witnessing patients' fears, such as the man who suspected his wife of cheating {including with his brother, a priest, and... even you... Fakuda...?}; and the construction worker with bathophobia {fear of falling from high places}. The reality of the situations amaze Alex, who thereby dedicates his skills full into the project.

Upon reaching REM sleep state, each dream sequence is quite a remarkable spectacle {whose ingress, incidentally, very much resembles the I-Tunes visualizer}, with amorphous transmutations in light and sound surrounding until full presence is achieved.

Then he meets Bob Blaire, whose innocuous first introduction belies his true character as sinister mastermind, and later Tommy Glatman, a psychopathic dream killer obsessed with Martial Arts movies who actually murdered his own father. Blaire runs a top-secret organization within the CIA whose nefarious influence is all-pervasive. The two work in tandum and plan to assassinate the President {Eddie Albert**} in his dream by whatever imaginative scenario, utilizing dream weapons to achieve that end, which results in various stress and shock related maladies in "dayside" state. That is the ultimate idea herein - to cause reactive effects in which a kill in the dream results in the actual demise of the dreamer IN ACTUALITY.

Through entering the dream of an attractive female Doctor with what is essentially an incubus visualization, Alex eventually learns to project without the use of the machine, by merely stilling himself in a quiet, gloomy environment, initiating controlled breathing techniques {sounds familiar...}, he sharpens his senses enough to subsequently confront a serpentine creature known as 'The Snakeman' {a boogie-man archetype and Glatman's fearsome "totem"} who has invaded a boy's dreams. From within a haunted house on a stormy night, down a twisting staircase into an inferno of horrors, the two battle the snake beast in a fantastical scene reminiscient of white knight verses dragon. Although in the dream world, anything is possible.

After the sad execution of Novotny ordered by Blaire, Alex and Tommy square off in The President's nightmare wherein the one with the greater imagination, cleverness, and willpower prevails. The Snakeman manifests again, and through a very shrewd apparition, the President is saved.

Demon hounds, a snake monster, nuclear zombies, sudden scares, cloak and dagger scenarios, secret government conspiracies, a motorbike chase, and horrific environments fill this dreamscape of nucleic creation.

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* Seems he was betting on the horse races and runs afoul of some bookies who want in on his continual success, and otherwise was also concentrating his efforts on carnal pleasures. The question remains - there is no reason why he could not continue to pursue his fleshly interests while also contributing to the project.
** Whom you may remember as portraying Dr. Samuel Richards in the film 'The Devil's Rain', and probably more recognizably as Oliver Wendell Douglas from 'Green Acres'.

I had seen this movie about 10 years ago and I really enjoyed to see it again in a reasonable price