i got it queued up, i'll let you know. I did not watch the previous iteration, not my kinda stuff.
I am watching (but can review it, as i've seen it 4 times already)
Brainstorm -
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085271/
A film that i have a weird love-hate relationship with.
I watched this film first when it came out in the theaters, around 1983 (maybe 1-2 years later for the dub), i would have been 12. I both loved it and hated it, it amazed me, terrified me, confused me, and bored me, all at the same time.
Back in 1983 this film was a disaster; both because one of the main actors, Natalie Wood, died during (but not related to) production (and quite likely murdered). The film got put on hold for 2 years, sold to an insurance company, and when it hit the theaters (competing with Trading Places, Risky Business, Krull, Cujo, Wargames, Flashdance, Yentl, Superman 3, Rumble Fish, two James Bond films, the Twilight Zone movie, National Lampoon's vacation .. etc) it did really poorly, also due to a barebones promotional campaign.
The story is of two scientists, played by Woods and Christopher Walken, who build a Mind-Machine Interface. Obviously there are many buyers interested in the machine, some of which do not have the best intentions.
The film uses some interesting devices, such as the change of optics in the camera during real-life and machine- sequences. The sets are nice, the props are gorgeous, holding up even today. The script is ok, dialogue is average, the pacing is not great.
Christopher Walken is terrible. He had not adopted that weird, almost-stuttering persona that has used in the recent years, and is just really wooden in delivering his lines. All the supporting characters are fairly solid, but there are no standout performances.
The film was finished with a substantially reduced budget (due to what described above) and as such, some scenes are a bit confusing. They may be a bit more obvious today, but back in the 80s i didn't know wtf was going on.
For a film set in the current period, there was a stronk SciFi vibe here. Some sequences are visually memorable, but unfortunately some other are really not, and the result is not great.
Still, it's a film i would recommend. See it and i bet you will be as confused, amused, perplexed, excited as i was, all at the same time.
My vote:
7/10