Scanners
by David Cronenberg
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jennifer O'Neill, Lawrence Dane, Michael Ironside, Patrick McGoohan, Stephen LackDirector: David Cronenberg
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Cinematographer: Mark Irwin
Writer: David Cronenberg
Editor: Ronald Sanders
Producer: Claude H?roux
Producer: Pierre David
Producer: Victor Solnicki
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-08-28
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Scanners
Movie Review: Well worthwhile for the cool concepts and effects!
Summary: 4 Stars
A weapons company with a division focused on a new breed of telekinetic humans called "scanners" has run into trouble from the most powerful scanner yet, Darryl Revok, a psychopath with the power to literally blow your head off with his mind. The company swiftly recruits and trains a confused and naive scanner named Vale (Stephen Lack) to find Revok, but his deadly mission will lead him to new discoveries he never could have imagined.
From the renowned director of "The Fly", "Videodrome", and "The Dead Zone", David Cronenberg, comes one of his earlier Sci-Fi classics, "Scanners". This 1981 film has the dark, gritty look of movies like Highlander and Tron, setting a true '80's sci-fi mood. Ya gotta chuckle at the way they would cover the women in flicks from this period with so much bland clothing, right up to the chin, and still act like they were so very strikingly appealing, ha. Besides the excellent villain we get in Michael Ironside and Patrick McGoohan as the mysterious Dr. Ruth (not to be confused with that other Dr. Ruth), the characters in this sci-fi thriller could generally be more engaging and the second act can drag a bit if you are not so into the industrial espionage type stuff, but it is such an interesting concept they set up in the beginning and worth sticking around for the fun reveals and gross-out final battle! And, of course, the famous exploding head scene, earlier in the film than I expected, is really cool, and I'm not much of a gorehound, ha. The end did leave me a little uncertain, but not as much as all of "Videodrome". Though, I think that was the point of "Videodrome".
Scanners is presented on DVD in enhanced widescreen with one extra, the theatrical trailer. If you are a fan of Cronenberg's other works or sci-fi thrillers in general, this is required viewing. It's not fun not knowing what people are talking about when they talk about "Scanners", so give it one viewing at least!
Summary of Scanners
Welcome to the world of the Scannersa race of humans with telekinetic powers that can wreak havoc beyond your most dreaded nightmare. Writer/director David Cronenberg (The Fly, Naked Lunch) brings the terror closer than ever beforehe brings it right into your mind. Cronenberg is a modern-day horror master whose name fits in easily with the likes of King, Craven and Carpenter...and Scanners, with its spectacular and shockingly realistic special effects, is a startling masterpiece of the genre. When a rogue Scanner of unparalleled power (Michael Ironside) wages a bloody war against the normals, young empath Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is recruited to trackhim down. But Vale is inexperiencedand a battle with another Scanner could mean a grisly death...or worse. Can Vale vanquish his insanely violent, power-mad adversary? Only one thing is certain: Scanners delivers the chills-down-your-spine, heart-in-your-throat, you-can't-watch-but-you-daren't-leave goods (Time)!David Cronenberg's 1981 horror film is a darkly paranoid story of a homeless man (Stephen Lack) mistakenly believed to be insane, when in fact he can't turn off the sound of other people's thoughts in his telepathic mind. Helped by a doctor (Patrick McGoohan) and enlisted in a program of "scanners"--telepaths who also can will heads to explode--he becomes involved in a battle against nefarious forces. A number of critics consider this to be Cronenberg's first great film, and indeed it has a serious vision of destiny that rivals some of the important German expressionist works from the silent cinema. Lack is very good as the odd hero, and McGoohan is effectively eccentric and chilly as the scientist who saves him from the street, only to thrust him into a terrible struggle. --Tom Keogh
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