Director Douglas Trumball’s background in the special effects industry has given him a unique perspective on film making. It is said that he made “Silent Running” with its humane and environmental message as a direct response to Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, which he saw as stark, cold and clinical. “Brainstorm” again takes a technological story and adds a very human angle. The production was delayed by the death of lead actress Natalie Wood and the studio was somewhat at a loss as how to sell this product. Everyone else at the time was still making space operas and this cerebral piece of cinema may well have been a little ahead of it’s time.

The plot is somewhat straight forward. Brilliant researchers Lillian Reynolds (Louise Fletcher) and Michael Brace (Christopher Walken) have developed a system of recording people’s experiences, feelings and emotions. Such a break through in the communications industry soon attracts the attention of the military and Michael soon finds himself at odds with his employer. Against this, there is the back story of how his devotion to his research has cost him his marriage. When his colleague suffers a fatal heart attack she manages to record her final experiences. Michael must consider the risks to himself if he is to play back the recording. The Military have other ideas.

“Brainstorm” is a thoughtful and touching film. Despite the technological environment, it deals with the timeless themes of love, death and taking responsibility for our own actions. Walken is ideal as the obsessive and driven scientist who neglects his family’s emotional welfare. Natalie Wood gives a good performance as his estranged wife. The production design also reflects what was considered to be “cutting edge” in the early 80’s. It’s interesting to see the reliance on telephone connections and mainframes in the days before the internet.

Trumball introduces a couple of sub plots that do not seem to be developed. This may be due to the re-editing that had to be done to accommodate Natalie Wood’s death. There is also a rather incongruous sequence where a production line is sabotaged. This descends into slapstick, with security personnel desperately trying to cope with the mayhem while wading around in a sea of fire retardant foam. Yet despite these minor criticisms, “Brainstorm” still manages to engage the mind in a thought provoking manner. The optical effects are outstanding for the pre-digital age. The ending with its glimpses of heaven and hell are intriguing. Apparently a lot more footage was shot and was dropped form the film for possible rating reasons. There is footage in the theatrical trailer that is not in the final cut.

I saw "Brainstorm" on video on it's initial release. It was at that time only available in a 4:3 pan and scan format. The current DVD release shows the film in two aspect ratios. 1.85:1 for the real world scenes and 2.20:1 for the "recording" of others peoples experiences. Trumball wanted to film the entire movie in a new format that ran a 60FPS but for financial reasons the studio vetoed this idea. Despite a difficult production, "Brainstorm" still merits viewing and would appeal to the more thoughtful and discerning viewer.

XoD.