Scanners
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Movie Reviews of Scanners
Movie Review: "I'm gonna suck your brain dry!"
Summary: 4 Stars
From writer/director/auteur David Cronenberg comes another intelligent and visceral sci-fi/horror classic in the form of Scanners (1981), a film that takes a disturbing look at potential of the human mind within all of us, but only a few may actually possess. The questions posed are what if there were those out there who had the ability to read minds and control people actions just by thought? And what if those same individuals, scanners, as called within the film, also had not only the ability to read minds and control the actions of others with their mind, but also had the power to kill with the same means? The film stars Jennifer O'Neill (Summer of '42), the eccentric Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner, Silver Streak), Michael Ironside (Total Recall), and Stephen Lack, who, by the way, is not only an actor, but also a world-renowned artist, having garnered much acclaim for his paintings. As the film begins, we see a homeless man (Lack) wandering a mall, getting dirty looks from all the people he sees (hey hey we're the Monkees...whatever)...anywho, one woman in particular, in the food court, seems exceptionally offended by his presence, but she soon has other things to worry about as she suffers from some sort of brain freeze, like the kind you get when you drink something cold too fast, brought on by the homeless man...turns out our homeless man (in my day, they were called bums, but whatever), whose name is Cameron Vale, has psychic powers of some sort, and has garnered the attention of CONSEC (whose chairman looks a helleva lot like Ed Asner), a company that specializes in weapons, specifically Dr. Paul Ruth (McGoohan), who describes himself as a `psycho pharmacist', whatever that means (I bet he's a lot of fun to hang out with on the weekends). Dr. Ruth basically recruits Vale in a effort to track a particularly dangerous and powerful scanner by the name Darryl Revok, who's supposedly head of an underground movement of scanners and who has also basically decimated CONSEC's program of exploring the weapons potential of scanners, as he seems to subscribe to a policy of if you have special mind powers, then you either join up with him or you get your head exploded. Along the way Vale meets with Kim Obrist (O'Neill), a sort of leader of a fringe group of scanners outside of CONSEC and Revok's control (not for long), and they soon find themselves fighting for their lives as conspiracies unfold, traitorous scoundrels exposed, and secrets reveals. What's Revok's ultimate goal? It's not that far-fetched, considering his abilities...
I enjoyed this film...there really wasn't too many lengthy visceral scenes, but what there was contained very graphic gore (s'ploding heads) that imprinted on your mind, and tended to stay with you long after the scene was over. One scene, in particular, when Revok deals with the scanner at CONSEC, the tension was thick as the pressure, on and off the screen, built up quickly, and resulted in the film's most spectacular and memorable sequence. Jennifer O'Neill is good (and very easy on the eyes, shabba doo), but I didn't quite understand her character's connections to the other characters in the film, other than her being a scanner. It almost seemed like a plot contrivance if only to incorporate an attractive female, not that I mind attractive females, but her scenes could have pretty much been removed without much loss to the plot. Patrick McGoohan is one of my more favorite actors and he plays his part very well as the mentor/trainer to Lack's character, sort of a Professor X, if you are familiar with the X-Men comics or movies. Lack provides a sort of disjointed performance, but I felt as if it was intentional, as it seemed to work really well within the movie and fit his character, one who's spent most of his life trying to deal with the problems associated with his special abilities. I thought Michael Ironside's character was great, as he plays the role of the sadistic heavy with a God complex so very well (except, maybe for his role in Highlander II: The Quickening...ugh, what a complete dog that movie was...). He reminds me a lot of Lance Henriksen, both good actors but rarely ever emerging from B-movie limbo. Maybe they need better agents. There was a certain amount of symbolism throughout the movie, the most noticeable being when Lack's character is following up on lead by contacting a reclusive scanner who is an artist living in a barn. One of his pieces is a giant, hollow head, and there's a scene where the two men are actually sitting in the head, talking about Revok. There seems to be some confusion about the ending, after the final confrontation, but I thought it was pretty clear, and provided a nice eerie touch.
MGM presents a nice wide screen anamorphic transfer, but some have commented on the certain parts of the film being out of sync, but I didn't notice. I was a little surprised there was so little in the way of special features given the cult following of the film and that of Cronenberg in general, with only a theatrical trailer available, but I suppose someday they will produce a special edition of sorts. I would have liked to have seen a director's commentary, or some production notes, but I am pleased with what's here.
Cookieman108
Movie Review: Classic Cronenberg
Summary: 4 Stars
David Cronenberg's "Scanners" was the first film I saw by this imaginative director. Cronenberg's film may lack the big budget of a Hollywood production but what it lacks in money it makes up for in an imaginative well executed story. This tackles the same story (essentially although it should be noted that Cronenberg had the idea well before "The Fury" release)as Brian DePalma' "The Fury" and while it lacks true star presence in the lead role the supporting cast more than makes up for it. It's not a perfect film (some of the performances by the actors come across very flat)and it lacks the sure hand that guided "The Fly", "Dead Ringers" and "Videodrome" but the fire and intelligence is there.
Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack)believed to be schizoidphrenic because he constantly hears other voices in his head is recruited by Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan) to help track down a man named Darryl Revok(Michael Ironside. Revok like Vale is a scanner--someone who can read other people's other thoughts but it seems that a scanner like Revok can also be used as a weapon. Revok has other plans--he doesn't just want to be the weapon but use his skills to rule. Vale allies himself with Kim Obrist the only person he finds he can trust in this war between Ruth's company Consec and Revok.
Stephen Lack (as noted elsewhere)has a complete LACK of presence in the role. Luckily McGoohan and Ironside more than make up for his weak performance with strong, eccentric and memorable performances. O'Neill is only slightly better and appears to be in this film only so it could get U.S. distribution after the success of "The Summer of '42". Regardless of the film's deficits Cronenberg's thoughtful visual and gory film (hey a head explodes)demonstrates his flowering ability as a director.
The transfer looks pretty good in this transfer to DVD while there aren't any extras beyond the movie trailer, the film itself comes unedited. A commentary track from Cronenberg would have been nice but given that this was released in 2001 on DVD and this probably isn't a huge seller (more a cult film now)I'm not surprised that it comes so bare bones. Still the price is right.
Movie Review: Effemerol The Scanner Drug of Choice
Summary: 4 Stars
Movie Summary: Cameron Vale is jerked from his life as a mentally ill homeless man and whisked away to a corporate building. There he is given a drug that stops the voices in his head. He is told that he is not insane but he is one of only a few people with special mental powers. He is a Scanner. The corporation and its head scientist Doctor Paul Ruth clean up and attempt to train Cameron. They then send out an under prepared Cameron into the middle of a scanner war to track down a very powerful scanner who has plans to conquer the world.My Opinion: Almost all the reviews for Scanners call it a Horror movie. I don't agree. To me Horror suggests movies like "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Scanners has some gore which more than likely is what gets it the horror label. I found it to be an Action Thriller with major SciFi elements. It's also a detective/spy type mystery film. It's all these elements together that make Scanners interesting and entertaining. The plot gets a little confusing in the middle as Cameron searches for other scanners, but our confusion mirrors Cameron's and is intentional. As things progress everything becomes clear. Stephen Lack is excellent as the weird scanner hero. I liked him enough to go look up what other films he has been in. Patrick McGoohan and Michael Ironside also give great performances. Overall this is a very entertaining movie that I will watch more than once and recommend to others.
DVD Quality: Video: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Sound: DD 2.0 Mono. For at least the last quarter of the movie the sound does not sync up with the video. Extras: Trailer only. This is a bare bones DVD with Audio problems, but it is offered at a VHS price.
What You Should Do: Buy the DVD if you are a fan of this movie or of Horror/ScFi movies in general. It's not a high quality DVD release, but the price isn't going to make your head explode.
Related Movies To Check Out: Three Days of the Condor, Reanimator, Bride of Reanimator
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!
Movie Review: I don't understand! Who has won?
Summary: 4 Stars
By now you have all heard about the infamous exploding head scene. I actually never heard of this because all I was interested at the time was that it was a Cronenberg film and thought it would be worth a go. It was a great purchase!The whole idea of the film is that there are scanners in this world who can read people's minds and if they don't like what they hear they kill them! I have a feeling some people would love that power. The scanners can be either " self destructive or simply destructive." I'll admit the acting here at times can be wooden but I think there's a need for Cronenberg to have his characters perform wooden acting. It enhances the view that these socially inept scanners are all dehumanized humans who don't know how to survive in this world.
By the way I must mention the soundtrack here. This has got to be the most insane thing I've ever heard. It's as out there as you can possibly get. I don't know how they managed to get it the way it is but I really like it. I only wish they released it on CD because I'd love to listen to this more and more
The ending must be intentionally meant to confuse people. I've seen this about 10 times or so and I still don't know what they meant by " It's alright - we've won! " Who's won - I don't understand. Am I missing a scene from the film? That could be true since the censors where I lived in Ireland are notoriously picky about some scenes and would edit them out. Then again I don't know if there was an uncut edition in the first place! Even still I'd probably still be left confused by it all
Anyway as Cronenberg movies go this is an essential purchase! It's intelligently done and well worth seeing