Brainstorm

- Walken

Up late watching a movie, Brainstorm. I posted about it here the first time I saw it, so take a look there for a more in-depth review. Here I'll simply say it is a ....

1983 science fiction film directed by Douglas Trumbull and starring Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, Louise Fletcher and Cliff Robertson .... [filmed in] various locations in North Carolina, including Chapel Hill, Durham, Kitty Hawk, Raleigh, and Southern Pines.

It tells of scientists who invent a contraption that allows one person to record his experiences and feelings, and which allows another person to play back and experience the events/feelings of that recording as if they were their own. Experiences like flying over the Golden Gate bridge ...



Or catching a wave ....



Two of the scientists working on the project are married but separated. Christopher Walken's character makes a tape of his feelings about his wife (Natalie Wood) and gives it to her so she can feel what he feels ....



Things get complicated when the company for which the scientists work hands over the research to the military for creepy applications, and one of the scientists (Fletcher) dies from a stress-induced heart attack. When she realizes she's dying, she records her experience. Walken's character manages to get access to that recording and almost dies himself, upon experiencing - what? - the beatific vision? ;) ...



The movie is pretty good, especially considering that Natalie Wood died during the making of it, necessitating radical editing. Here's a trailer ....