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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17637 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 8:01 pm Post subject: Brainstorm (1983) |
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The concept this movie presents has fascinated me for decades. In fact, I've got an unpublished novel set in the near-future, when Walkman-sized devices are sold commercially and used to record all the sensory input experienced by the wearer so he can "play back the event" any time he wants.
I actually had the idea before this movie came out, because for several years I carried this gizmo with me to cookouts and restaurant get-togethers with sci-fi loving friends who didn't mind the recordings I made of our lively discussions about the subjects we loved.
I've got about 200 tapes of such events, and because of the built-in stereo mics, the recordings have good left/right separation, so when I listen to them it's like being there with my buddies.
It occurred to me while writing the book that if devices like the one in Brainstorm were made small enough to carry around like my recorder, people could save experiences they enjoyed and play them back.
Any experiences.
As often as they wanted.
Which means they could get addicted to these experiences -- just like the lab assistant in "Brainstorm" did when he made the tape loop of the young man having sex with the hot gal.
Did this occur to anyone else when they saw this movie? _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Jan 11, 2022 4:11 pm; edited 10 times in total |
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Rocky Jones Astral Engineer

Joined: 17 Dec 2014 Posts: 224 Location: North Texas
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 11:01 am Post subject: |
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I've never seen this film, but it sounds like you were a bit ahead of your time with the recorder. Today you'd carry around your cell phone doing video and "selfies", then upload it to YouTube as a "vlogger". A lot of people seem to be somewhat obsessed with producing just such works and millions of viewers follow them. I'll have admit I follow a few myself.
Maybe it's just a matter of time until YouTube adds "sensory" output to it's audio and video streams. |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17637 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 12:20 pm Post subject: |
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Rocky Jones wrote: | I've never seen this film, but it sounds like you were a bit ahead of your time with recorder. |
It's gratifying to talk about this to someone who understands and appreciates it! For years I've referred to myself as "the world's only practicing time traveler".
In 1986 I took the family to Disney World and wore the recorder on my hip the whole time. I had extra batteries and plenty of tapes. I recorded 15 hours of my wife and kids (ages 6 and 3) as we walked around laughing and talking and enjoying the rides.
The kids sat between me and my wife on the rides, and I'd put my arm across the back of the seat so I could hold the recorder between them and slightly behind.
On the tape you can hear my daughter's voice on one side and my son's on the other, close to the mic and clearly audible -- despite the rich sounds of the music and sound effects from the rides.
Listening to all this with headphones is like being at Disney World, riding on the Pirates of the Caribbean, with my kids on each side of me, giggling and talking about all the wild stuff we see as we float along in the boat.
You might think just listening to it wouldn't be all that impressive -- but when you've got the stereo recording to stimulate your memory, your brain creates the visuals in full HD.
And don't forget, as a proud father the real stars of the show are my adorable children and their enthusiastic reactions. Trust me, the surprising results are far better than something like this.
 _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Thu Oct 05, 2017 12:18 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Rocky Jones Astral Engineer

Joined: 17 Dec 2014 Posts: 224 Location: North Texas
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 11:05 pm Post subject: |
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In 1969 I bought my first battery powered cassette recorder. I took it with me on a family trip to see my elderly grandparents. While the family sat around the dinner table discussing the recent moon landing I secretly recorded all words spoken. Today long after my parents and grandparent's deaths, that recording is an absolute treasure to me. It really is like traveling back in time. |
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ralfy Mission Specialist

Joined: 23 Sep 2014 Posts: 473
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 6:06 am Post subject: |
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Fascinating story, especially the ending. |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17637 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 11:23 am Post subject: |
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Rocky' story is wonderful. We're true kindred spirits, Mr. Jones!
My grandchildren are now the age my kids were back then. Time marches on, and it runs right over anybody standing in the way — even "practicing time travelers" like us.  _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Dec 15, 2019 12:08 pm; edited 4 times in total |
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orzel-w Galactic Ambassador

Joined: 19 Sep 2014 Posts: 1865
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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One feature of the movie was that it combined conventional and Imax formats. The regular scenes used the conventional frame, while the "recorded experience" scenes were Imax. So when the "recordings" were being played back, the viewers in the theater had a "larger than life" experience. Unfortunately, the video release doesn't attempt to reproduce this effect in any fashion, although some technical tricks are certainly now available to differentiate between the environments. _________________ ...or not...
WayneO
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17637 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 10:06 pm Post subject: |
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In fact the DVD reduces the "normal" scenes to a smaller size with a black border around it — something I hate.
Scenes that were supposed to be enhanced when the audience experienced them in the theater are presented as distorted by a fish-eye lens on the TV. Are we supposed to be awed by the fact that our TV image is suddenly NOT reduced in size and surround by the black border?
It's a misguided bastardization of the original concept that mars the movie when you view it. When I watch my DVD, I zoom the picture in to remove the damn black border, and I reconcile myself to missing portions of the frame during the "recorded experience" scenes, because I had to zoom in and loose the edges of the image at those parts of the movie.
But I'm still stuck with the dumb fish-eye lens distortion in those scenes! _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Dec 15, 2019 12:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17637 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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The theatrical trailer below is very impressive. It really inspires a person to watch this unique movie.
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________________ Brainstorm (1983) Trailer
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Feb 28, 2022 11:16 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17637 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 11:11 am Post subject: |
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I posted a fan-made trailer for The Last Starfighter (1984) on the thread for that movie, and the trailer had this amusing message at the beginning.
I wondered just how true the claim at the bottom was, so I made a list of 1980s science fiction films that I thought were good, just to see if that decade really did produce a significant number of “the best” sci-fi movies.
This movie is on the list I made. I know what I like about the film (and a few things I don’t like), but I’d like to hear the pros and cons from the rest of you folks.
So, what do you think, guys?  _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17637 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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I watched Brainstorm on TCM today and gained a new appreciation for it.
I did a bit of online research to find out just how badly Natalie Wood's tragic death hurt the completion of this movie. I discovered something unexpected.
According to director Douglas Trumbull, it didn't affect it at all.
The trouble Mr. Trumbull had after Natalie's death was caused by the financial difficulties of MGM and the fact that they wanted to scrap the film and collect the insurance money on the production. The studio figured they could make more money that way than from the box office receipts it might make!
We all know, of course, that the later third of this movie is flawed by misguided attempts to offer slapstick comedy during the chaotic scenes in the automated factory. They're absolutely ridiculous, completely unrealistic, and obviously unnecessary to the plot.
Those scenes are a cinematic torpedo which sinks the film, and the more worthy scenes that follow don't quite make up for them. The remainder of the plot is flawed for a different reason.
The idea that Louis Fletcher "recorder" her death experience is extremely dramatic . . . but the movie takes the idea too far by having Christopher Walken run the "death tape" and go off into a spiritual experience that just isn't very believable.
It requires the audience to accept the idea that a machine which records brain activity can somehow record what a person's "soul" experiences after they die.
I freely admit that the concept is imaginative, ambitious, beautifully directed, well acted, and skillfully photographed.
It's also compelling to watch, and none of my complaints occur to the most viewers while watching this movie. But after it's over and we all begin to enjoy the post-movie contemplation phase, we start to realize that the dots just don't connect. The movie went from science fiction to religious speculation . . . and we didn't even notice when it crossed the line.
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One of these days I'll publish my novel called Time Saving Device (written about the same time this movie came out) that describes a near-future society in which people use small portable gizmos (referred to as TSDs) they use to record their sensory input during personal experiences.
This allows them to "rerun" these experiences whenever they want.
Imagine being able to relive any event you've recorded, over and over, anytime you want!
For example, you can watch a movie you love "the first time you saw it", over and over again! You can eat a steak dinner five times in a row, but ever get full or gain a pound. You can spend a pleasant day with your beloved wife . . . a year after she's passed away.
And people can even swap recordings of their experiences, making it possible for drug addicts to sell their highs, athletes to share their game-winning moments with disabled people, husbands to share romantic evenings between them and their wives . . . with other men who have erectile dysfunction!
It even makes it possible to combine exciting experiences — like "making love on a roller coaster".
There's two ways to do this: you can "rerun" a roller coaster ride while making love . . . or rerun a sexual experience while a riding a roller coaster!
By the way, Time Saving Device is a murder mystery, and the main character is private detective who wears a "Time Saving Device" constantly, which means he can rerun every experience he's had during his investigation into corporate sabotage and murder, giving him a perfect memory of all experiences that might contain clues.
His name is Calvin Denning, and he's a "TSD addict". He struggles with the temptation to avoid the dull moments in life by rerunning the exciting ones. It's a common addiction in this future world.
As I said earlier, I'll publish this one someday.  _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Dec 15, 2019 12:15 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Bogmeister Galactic Fleet Vice Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 575
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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____________
_________________ Brainstorm (1983) Trailer
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I give this one props for trying something unusual — when I saw this in the theater, the curtains would part wider to accommodate the 70mm film process for the virtual reality scenes, an idea of director Douglas Trumbull to lend something 'more' to an otherwise conventional film.
The story involves a new hi-tech invention, developed by a husband-wife team (Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood) working for a corporation headed by Cliff Robertson. It's a gizmo that, placed on a person's head, can record the experiences of the person. If the gizmo is then placed on another person's head, that person will experience the same, as if these are their own experiences.
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In essence, this is a direct transference of experience from one person to another. The commercial potential is obvious; people can experience things — thrilling, wild things — without having to leave the comfort of their home, or even their chair.
But the potential for abuse is revealed soon after. A co-worker records his sexual experience, and another older co-worker puts the experience on a continuous loop.
Later, the military makes it plain that this would be an effective tool for torture and interrogations. Walken's young son falls victim to this. Finally, another co-worker (Louise Fletcher) records her own death, leading to the most provocative possibilities of this new invention.
_____________ Louise Fletcher on "Brainstorm"
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The weakness of this film is apparent at the end — rather than suggesting that a Pandora's Box has been opened, it's rather hinted that the main characters have placed a lid on it — very unlikely.
The very last scene is ambiguous . . . and a cop-out. After Walken experiences the afterlife, his only response to his wife is a goofy expression, a giggle and a remark of "look at the stars" — did he mean other galaxies? What..?
Walken is the main weakness of this film. He shows that he's just not cut out for certain leading roles. His quirks and twitches distract from the story instead of enforcing it. Wood is fine as usual, as are Fletcher and Robertson.
BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10
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BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17637 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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IMDB has 24 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text.
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~ When Natalie Wood died near the end of principal photography, studio executives tried to kill the film and claim the insurance, saying that director Douglas Trumbull could not complete the film.
However, Trumbull's contract gave that decision to him, and he insisted on completing it, using a stand-in and changing camera angles for the few remaining shots of Wood's character. The resulting hostility between Trumbull and the studio executives meant that this would be Trumbull's last Hollywood film. He has since devoted his efforts to effects work for IMAX films, theme park rides and the like.
Note from me: This contradicts what I posted earlier about how Natalie Wood's death did not cause problems for the production, although it would seem there weren't a large number of unfinished shots that included Miss Wood.
~ The tape used in the tape machines is a variety of decorative tape made by 3M. 3M only sold it in four-inch widths, so it had to be slit by hand to two-inch widths to fit in the tape machines.
When filmed, they were astounded at how gaudy it looked, so to dampen its brightness, the prop crew wound the tape back and forth across a sander to dull its brilliance. "One of those things that actually looked a lot better on film when we finished with it," Douglas Trumbull commented.
Note from me: The tape with the shiny bands looks perfect for what it's supposed to be; a way to store massive amounts of data per inch. I'm impressed with that they chose to use in the movie. Clever.
~ Douglas Trumbull originally wanted to film this movie in "Showscan", a 60-frame-per-second widescreen process he'd developed, but the costs of retrofitting theaters to show it proved prohibitive.
If the "Showscan" version had been made, each non-"Brainstorm" frame would have been printed twice to create a 30-frame-per-second "normal" film rate to complement the cropped, non-widescreen shots. The intent was to create an experience similar to what the onscreen characters were "viewing."
Note from me: This would have made the segments of "recorded experiences" much sharper than the "normal" scenes. What the item doesn't mention is that the image on the screen would be large as well during the recorded experiences. This next item confirms this.
~ The film was conceived as an introduction to Douglas Trumbull's Showscan 60 frames-per-second 70mm film process. "In movies people often do flashbacks and point-of-view shots as a gauzy, mysterious, distant kind of image," Trumbull recalled, "And I wanted to do just the opposite, which was to make the material of the mind even more real and high-impact than 'reality'."
However, MGM backed out of plans to release the experimental picture in the new format. Trumbull instead shot the virtual reality sequences in 24-fps Super Panavision 70 with an aspect ratio of 2.2:1. The rest of the film was shot in conventional 35mm with an aspect ratio of approximately 1.7 to 1.
Note from me: This next item states this in a different way, although I'm not sure if the reference to the wider aspect ratio is correctly stated.
~ When the film was shown in the UK it was advertised as being in "Dynamic Expanding Frame", which meant that, although much of the film was in the conventional 35mm format, for the subjective camera scenes of people using the helmet, the image would suddenly expand into a huge 70mm wide-screen aspect ratio.
Note from me: 35mm film and 70mm film can both be the same aspect ratio. if just depends on the anamorphic lens used. But 70mm is much more fine-grained, so the image is sharper, making it possible to project a larger image on the screen without loosing the clarity it needs to look "real".
~ The corporate board demo is seen to be taking place over an acoustic coupled modem, using a then-standard telephone handset. Such connections were limited to about 300 bits per second, or less than 40 characters of text per second. Such a speed is barely adequate for a text-based 80x25 terminal screen without any graphics. A fax transmission at the lowest usable resolution over such a line would require many minutes for a single image.
Note from me: The movie makes this mistake in several scenes when Christopher Walken is running the Louise Fletcher death experience. It's always through a phone line. _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:02 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Pow Galactic Ambassador

Joined: 27 Sep 2014 Posts: 3739 Location: New York
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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Never saw "Brainstorm" despite being a fan of the cast and FX wizard DT, but it put me in mind of the Gerry & Sylvia Anderson (Century 21 Productions) puppet sci~fi TV show "Joe 90" which ran from September 29,1968 ~ April 20, 1969 on I.T.C. Entertainment.
Set around 2012 - 2013, the premise is about nine year old Joe McClaine who is the adopted son of scientist Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine.
The prof has invented the Brain Impulse Galvanoscope Record and Transfer machine aka Big Rat. This astonishing device can record an individual's knowledge and skills & transfer them to another person sitting in the Rat Trap, which is a spherical rotating cage.
The World Intelligence Network (W.I.N.) employs Ian & Joe, along with their friend and agent Sam Loover, to embark on secret missions around the world.
Aside from the child endangerment issues & labor laws, it is a clever concept. After all, what enemy country or organization is on the lookout for a special agent who is all of nine years old?
And obviously Joe would appeal to the youngsters watching the show.
I was fascinated by the idea of having the capability of being able to take the education, training, and skills of one person and impart it to someone who doesn't have a similar background.
Kinda like "Brainstorm" in that regard. |
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Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)

Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17637 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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Pow, your intuition is in overdrive!
Despite having not seen this movie (which you really should), you nailed it when you surmised that passing on skill sets to other people would be possible if they "reran" the experiences of people who knew how to do things which the recipient could not do!
Pow, I was tickled to death to find the clip below from Brainstorm which shows Christopher Walken playing the piano for the first time ever after he plays a tape of his wife, Natalie Wood, doing it.
It demonstrates the fact that the tapes of other people's experiences does much more than just let the recipient enjoy someone else's sensory input — it also gives the recipient some of the skills needed to perform the complex task which the machine recorded!
Bear in mind that this scene shows us how both Christopher Walken's and Natalie Wood's characters discover important things about each other which caused them to realize how perfect they were for each other — long after they'd grown apart and were on the verge of a divorce!
It's perhaps the best aspect of this movie.
Watch this clip and you'll see what I mean. Take note of the way the aspect ratio changes between the "real" events (with black bars all around the picture) and the recorded events (in widescreen).
Most importantly, there's this.
After we see Natalie being recorded while playing the piano, we see Christopher actually playing it — not just reliving Natalie's recorded experience. He actually learned to play the piano just by reliving her recorded experience!
__________ Brainstorm - Michael's Gift to Karen
__________  _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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