Brainstorm (1983)

Brainstorm is a classic 1983 sci-fi film that blends a serious approach to science with a mainstream thriller and adds celestial as well as digital special effects that are mind-bending -- for the '80s (I can only remember Altered States as better). Think of Brainstorm as Innerspace meets WarGames or Tron (but instead of Jeff Bridges digitally battling the Master Computer Program, Christopher Walken sojourns between exploring the portal of death and saving his Promethean marriage). Our story begins as a chain-smoking project director (Louise Fletcher) is talking the taciturn Walken (wired into a lab chair rife with cabling) through a seminal experiment where his sophomoric stand-in (wearing a transceiver helmet linked to a computer on a cart) cobbles together a loopy list of sensory experiences -- which Walken experiences digitally and so directly that they are forced to unplug him. The potential of this experience-recording technology wedded with direct-to-brain virtual reality is both deadly and intoxicating and the corporate board begins to salivate. All four lab team members are ousted and the military steps in with nefarious purposes but Walken, as the sole remaining prima donna of science, is determined to play and experience the whole of the system's last recording. In cahoots with his technosavvy wife (Natalie Wood in her final role), Walken launches a fox-and-hounds assault on the corporate henhouse to explore how far the rabbit hole really goes. Through flashbacks of memory spurred or captured by the technology, we witness moments that convey the couple's love as well as their past loss and their present fears. Brainstorm takes a largely believable approach to science and scientists, down to the smallest details -- such as Walken's recumbent bicycle (it's a nerd thing) -- yet it adds the romance and devotion of a committed couple. Brainstorm failed in the theaters because its backers preferred to collect the insurance, however, since it was finished and released without promotion, it's also likely that mainstream moviegoers found Brainstorm too esoteric and inaccessible while sci-fi fans were flummoxed by the florid romance. Alas, Brainstorm has a few cheesy scenes, from the black security guard who is attacked by assembly-line robots then covered in excelsior and soap suds to Wood harping Walken back from the celestial lights. Either way, Walken is preternaturally watchable and Wood does a fine turn as a soulmate to the man and the ubergeek. I would almost prefer to call it The Psychonaut's Wife. 4 stars. (8-15-09)