Dreamscape
by Joseph Ruben
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christopher Plummer, Dennis Quaid, Eddie Albert, Kate Capshaw, Max von SydowDirector: Joseph Ruben
Brand: Image Entertainment
Writer: Joseph Ruben
Producer: Bruce Cohn Curtis
Producer: Chuck Russell
Writer: Chuck Russell
Producer: Jerry Tokofsky
Producer: Stanley R. Zupnik
Writer: David Loughery
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.78:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-06-06
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Dreamscape
Movie Review: Lucid Dream adventures...
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
__________________
* 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'.
Summary of Dreamscape
The President of the United States is about to be assassinated in a dream where there is no morning after. Only one man can save him--a man who must plunge himself into the President's horrendous nightmare. Dennis Quaid stars as Alex Gardner, a psychically gifted young man recruited to help Dr. Paul Novotny (Max Von Sydow) and the beautiful Dr. Jane DeVries (Kate Capshaw) in an experiment to help patients disturbed by menacing nocturnal illusions. But corrupt high-ranking government official Bob Blair (Christopher Plummer) has darker plans for Alex's unusual powers. Soon Alex is propelled inside the President's nightmare, a frightening wasteland of nuclear holocaust, and locked in a fantastic battle that could only happen in a dream. This action-packed science fiction adventure will excite and thrill you with its unusual journey through the mind's most terrifying recesses.Audio Commentary by the Producer, Writer and Special Effects Artist - Special Effects Make-Up Making Of - Production Stills 16X9 - 1.85:1 - Color - English - 5.1 Dolby Digital, 5.1 DTS
Alex Gardner (Dennis Quaid) is a talented young psychic who's frittering his gifts away betting on the ponies. That is, until he's coerced by his old pal and mentor Dr.?Paul Novotny (Max von Sydow) into taking part in a dream research project in which his psychic abilities make him indispensable. The project concerns "dreamlinking," whereby talented individuals like Alex hook up via electrodes and project themselves into some troubled subject's nightmares, in which they not only observe but participate in the dream, hopefully effecting some remedy. Alex is by nature a feckless guy, a charismatic scoundrel sporting a Cheshire cat's grin. But he warms easily to his new role as dream-dwelling psychotherapist, having a core of decency. Not so his nemesis, Tommy Ray Glatman (David Patrick Kelly), a dreamlink prodigy and pawn of Bob Blair (Christopher Plummer), who runs the research project for the government (he's described as the "head of covert intelligence"). Blair is worried about the President (Eddie Albert), whose nightmares of nuclear holocaust cause him to escalate disarmament talks with the Russians, much to Blair's dismay, being your basic evil, slick, smarmy covert kind of guy. Turns out Blair's real aim is to use the project to train dreamlink assassins, his star pupil being psycho Tommy Ray and his test case the President. Only Alex is there to stop them.
Dreamscape is all business, with a well-structured screenplay that lays the groundwork for the film's many admirable performances. Kate Capshaw in particular is very dreamy as a research scientist and Dennis Quaid's love interest. And David Patrick Kelly is likely to become your worst nightmare, especially when he's the Snakeman, giving an often fantastical performance. But what you're most likely to remember from this wonderful thriller is the many vivid dream sequences, aptly surreal images from the troubled psyche. --Jim Gay
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