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Altered States (1980)
Front Cover Actor Back Cover
William Hurt Professor Eddie Jessup
Blair Brown Emily Jessup
Bob Balaban Arthur Rosenberg
Charles Haid Mason Parrish
Thaao Penghlis Eduardo Eccheverria
Miguel Godreau Primal Man
Dori Brenner Sylvia Rosenberg
Peter Brandon Alan Hobart
Charles White-Eagle The Brujo, Hindris Indian
Drew Barrymore Margaret Jessup
Movie Details
Genre Romance; Sci-Fi
Director Ken Russell; George A. Romero
Producer Howard Gottfried; Stuart Baird
Writer Paddy Chayefsky
Studio Warner Bros.
Language English
Audience Rating R (Restricted)
Running Time 102 mins
Country USA
Color Color
IMDb Rating 6.5
Plot
It's easy to understand why the late, great screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky removed his name from the credits of Altered States and substituted the pseudonym Sidney Aaron. After all, Chayefsky was a revered dramatist whose original source novel was intended as a serious exploration of altered consciousness, inspired by the immersion-tank experiments of Dr. John Lilly in the 1970s. In the hands of maverick director Ken Russell, however, Altered States became a full-on sensory assault, using symbolic imagery and mind- blowing special effects to depict one man's physical and hallucinatory journey through the entire history of human evolution. It's a brazenly silly film redeemed by its intellectual ambition--a dazzling extravaganza that's in love with science and scientists, and eagerly willing to dive off the precipice of rationality to explore uncharted regions of mind, body, and spirit. William Hurt made his bold film debut as the psycho-physiologist who plays guinea pig to his own experiments; Blair Brown plays his equally brilliant wife, whose devotion is just strong enough to bring him back from the most altered state imaginable. From the eternal channels of sense memory to the restorative power of a loving embrace, this movie rocks you to the birth of the universe and back again. And while it's clearly not the story that Chayefsky wanted on the screen, the directorial audacity of Ken Russell makes it one heck of a memorable trip. --Jeff Shannon
Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Index 317
Collection Status In Collection
Links Amazon US
Altered States at Movie Collector Connect
IMDB
Amazon US
Product Details
Format DVD
Region Region 1
Screen Ratio Fullscreen (4:3)
Fullscreen (4:3, Letterboxed)
Widescreen (16:9)
Widescreen (16:9, Anamorphic)
Layers Dual Side, Dual Layer
UPC (Barcode) 085391107620
Release Date 6/1/2004
Subtitles English; English (Closed Captioned); French
Packaging Snap Case
Audio Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 [English]
Nr of Disks/Tapes 1
Extra Features
Color Closed-captioned Widescreen Dolby