Film Review: Brainstorm (1983)

(source: tmdb.org)

Fate can play cruel tricks on films. Some are, due to some unfortunate events, remembered for the reasons completely different from those intended by their makers. One such example is Brainstorm, 1983 science fiction film directed by Douglas Trumbull. What was supposed to be a display of groundbreaking special effects technology and exploration of intriguing theme in the end became remembered merely as the last film in the career of Natalie Wood.

The plot deals with group of scientists that have developed device that could record someone’s sensations and memories and later reproduce it for another person. They are led by Michael Brace (played by Christopher Walken) and Lilian Reynolds (played by Louise Fletcher) and they work hard to improve it and make it as practical as possible. Michael uses the device himself in order to reproduce happy memories and thus rescue troubled marriage with his wife Karen (played by Natalie Wood). But he is also increasingly aware of the abuses the new technology might bring and gets upset when his corporate boss Alex Terson (played by Cliff Robertson) invites military and government officials to take part in the project involving psychological torture. Situation becomes even worse when Reynolds suffers heart attack and records her death, making Michael interested to play it. His bosses don’t allow it, but Michael is determined and hacks into company’s computer in order to access the recording remotely.

Douglas Trumbull is director in his own right, but he was best known for his innovative and very effective work on special effects on science fiction classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. For Brainstorm he developed Showscan, new cinematic process which used 70 mm film to record images at 60 fps and was intended for scenes revealing the brain recordings. In the end, Trumbull had to abandon that idea due to escalating conflict with MGM studio. It started following the tragic death of Natalie Wood at the very end of production; although she had finished almost all of her principal photography and her absence could have been easily camouflaged with doubles, different camera angles, studio insisted on pulling the plug on the project in hope of getting insurance. Trumbull spent almost two years in hard fight to finish the film and his persistence paid off. Brainstorm was released, but it turned into box office flop, which led to Trumbull’s self-exile from Hollywood which would last almost three decades until The Tree of Life.

After watching Brainstorm many would wonder whether such sacrifice was worth it. In a strictly technical sense, this is very accomplished film. Trumbull delivers some interesting images and cleverly uses 2:35 picture format instead of 1.77:1 to differentiate between virtual reality and regular scenes. Special effects that depict afterlife in the final scenes are also very impressive, even after four decades of technological development. Unfortunately, all that talent is wasted on very disappointing script which lacks focus and allows characters and plots to meander in various directions. For example, Brace wants to prevent the technology from being abused by government and in the same time he wants to use it and risk his life in order to satisfy his scientific curiosity about greatest philosophical mystery. The ending lack cathartic element and it could also be attributed to uninspired cast. Christopher Walken, otherwise fine actor, completely lacks chemistry with Wood and this is somewhat surprising considering persistent rumours about those two having torrid affair on the set. The only good performance is given by Louise Fletcher as chain-smoking scientist and she delivers one of the most impressive and poignant death scenes in history of cinema. This is, however, hardly enough for this film to be recommended to audience other than those interested in watching films with extremely bad luck.

RATING: 4/10 (++)