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Brainstorm is a 1983 MGM horror/thriller/science fiction film directed by Douglas Trumbull and starring Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood (in her last film appearance).
Synopsis
The picture (filmed mostly in Super Panavision 70MM) centers around an estranged husband-and-wife team of scientists, Michael and Karen Brace (played by Walken and Wood) who co-invent a device which, when worn over the head, can make a person actually see, feel, and believe to be in any situation, in any place, and at any time, using a special gold-plated-tape machine hooked onto the device.
But when one of the scientist/inventors (played by Louise Fletcher) suffers a fatal heart attack, she is determined to record her own death experience before her passing so that others can solve the mystery of the "great beyond".
An evil conglomorate, Alex Terson (Cliff Robertson), decides to sell the device both for military purposes and to brainwash people, and orders the 'death tape' locked up so it cannot be accessed. When Michael attempts to access the tape, Terson murders one of the company employees. Michael then plays back an "extreme tape" created by Terson and discovers the real plan behind what is now called "Project Brainstorm".
While Michael tells his wife the truth, their son Chris puts on the head device and plays back the "extreme tape", causing severe mental trauma. But Michael is determined to play back the 'death tape' at any cost...even if it costs him his marriage.
The making of the film
Brainstorm was Trumbull's second film he directed (after his 1971 film Silent Running. It was actually filmed in two processes, flat 1.85:1 35MM (for the "real world" sequences) and 2.2:1 70MM Super Panavision (for the "Brainstorm" device scenes). Because two different (and incompatible) film processes were used, the 35MM footage had to be blown up to the 65MM/70MM negative in order to be visually consistent. As a result, the 35MM sequences (in its original theatrical release) were "pillarboxed", while the 70MM scenes were presented in full 'scope screen format (the video and DVD versions have the 35MM and 70MM sequences letterboxed in their respective aspect ratios).
James Horner composed and recorded the haunting musical score in Hollywood using a studio orchestra. The Varese Sarabande album/CD release is a re-recording with the London Symphony Orchestra, produced shortly before the original theatrical release.
Tragic circumstances
Brainstorm was also Natalie Wood's final film. Near the end of principal photography, Wood was about to film a crucial, climactic scene for the movie when she tragically drowned on November 29, 1981, leaving the production in limbo for almost two years.
At one point, MGM had considered offering the rights to the film to Paramount Pictures so that the movie could be finished, but ultimately the studio decided to create an ending using body doubles and Natalie Wood soundalikes, as well as using footage that had already been shot, in order to complete the film for Fall 1983 release.
Nonetheless, the film was a box-office disaster.
The end of the film carries the dedication credit "For Natalie" (in honor of Wood's memory).
See Also
Brainstorm is also the title of a 1965 motion picture by William Conrad with Dana Andrews; see [1] (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058990/).
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