Altered States (1980) - July 10,2012 Review

[Akijama]

Altered States Blu-ray

Altered States Blu-ray Review

"Altered States" is a movie that, once you've seen it, you're unlikely to forget it.

Produced in 1980 and starring a young William Hurt in his film debut as a psycho-physiologist who explores altered consciousness, the plot takes you through a physical and hallucinatory journey through the history of human evolution.
It's based on the immersion-tank experiments of Dr. John Lilly in the 1970s.
The director, Ken Russell, used symbolic imagery and mind-blowing special effects to create a dazzling extravaganza that explores the uncharted regions of mind, body and spirit.
William Hurt's character is himself a guinea pig in his own altered-state experiments. Blair Brown plays his brilliant wife, devoted to bringing him back from the most altered state one can imagine.
The movie rocks you to the core, taking you through various hallucinagenic states, through the birth of the universe and back again.

[csdot]

excellent movie, ive had it preordered since it was announced.

[MikeyHitchFan]

I've liked this trippy film since I saw it in 1980 when it came out. I was 19 then.

[Oblivion138]

Ah, it'll be nice to be able to get rid of my old DVD copy of this.

[PowellPressburger]

For those who like this films concept you should track down a copy of THE MIND BENDERS w/ Dirk Bogarde it is interesting also. Although a much different film... The Mind Benders is a good companion piece. (Just don't let the colorful cover art of the DVD mis lead you the film is a drama)

[csdot]

DVD Beaver review up
sounds very promising!

[Doomnaut]

The trip scenes in this movie are hilarious.

[BluPat]

My bf and I just watched my Blu of 'Altered States' for the first time. I have wanted to see this for years ever since Warner released this on DVD in that cardboard snap case that I would always see at Best Buy back in the day.

The picture looked fantastic considering it's from 1980. The only thing I didn't know which was more horrific:

1) the dress Blair Brown had on at the beginning, or:
2) the hair she had in her armpit.

[dullboy]

Originally Posted by BluPat

2) the hair she had in her armpit.

Ahaha...I noticed that, too. But, I was more put off by the lack of grain.

[Monroville]

Originally Posted by BluPat

My bf and I just watched my Blu of 'Altered States' for the first time. I have wanted to see this for years ever since Warner released this on DVD in that cardboard snap case that I would always see at Best Buy back in the day.

The picture looked fantastic considering it's from 1980. The only thing I didn't know which was more horrific:

1) the dress Blair Brown had on at the beginning, or:
2) the hair she had in her armpit.

I would like to know how your GF reacted to this. This is one of those "test the girlfriend for marriage material" movies. If you can find one that likes this and/or THE ROAD WARRIOR, then you have a keeper.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by Monroville

I would like to know how your GF reacted to this. This is one of those "test the girlfriend for marriage material" movies. If you can find one that likes this and/or THE ROAD WARRIOR, then you have a keeper.

When my then-girlfriend watched 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and didn't go into epileptic fits during "the part with the monkeys" (and ended up loving the film), then went on to enjoy the original '60s-'70s PLANET OF THE APES films, too, I knew I had to marry her and marry her hard. I'd NEVER seen a female tolerate the fusion of primates and science fiction before; women seem to have a genetic aversion to those two things being united.

[Monroville]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

When my then-girlfriend watched 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and didn't go into epileptic fits during "the part with the monkeys" (and ended up loving the film), then went on to enjoy the original '60s-'70s PLANET OF THE APES films, too, I knew I had to marry her and marry her hard. I'd NEVER seen a female tolerate the fusion of primates and science fiction before; women seem to have a genetic aversion to those two things being united.

That is awesome. You know, someone could make an entire thread on this subject alone.

How did she react when Cheston saw the statue at the end?

[BluPat]

Originally Posted by Monroville

I would like to know how your GF reacted to this. This is one of those "test the girlfriend for marriage material" movies. If you can find one that likes this and/or THE ROAD WARRIOR, then you have a keeper.

Actually my boyfriend....I'm gay. And we both laughed at her hairy armpits. We've been together almost 12 years now.

[YouGotMeFeelingBlu]

I'm thinking about making this a blind buy. The premise sounds interesting, and considering it's only 5 bucks after coupon...

[Abaddon22]

Might blind buy this one as well after reading the review.

[Two Mules]

...and it's not the usual issues you might expect.

It is a bit grain-free, and the clarity isn't what it could be with a bit more work: that's fine, I'd expect that from a budget WB catalog title...

What bothers me is that the color scheme has been revised, and the saturation has been pushed back. This is one lurid, colorful film. But now, right from the start, the chroma has been dialled back, and we have a more 'modern' look.
Much like 'Aliens', the saturated blues are cooler and look more like [eek] teal.

Along with the horrible 'this-took-me-five-minutes' new cover art, I suspect it's an attempt to jazz up a catalog title for a new audience. Sigh.

Anyone else bothered by this here?

[thrillmygorilla]

Originally Posted by Two Mules

...and it's not the usual issues you might expect.

It is a bit grain-free, and the clarity isn't what it could be with a bit more work: that's fine, I'd expect that from a budget WB catalog title...

What bothers me is that the color scheme has been revised, and the saturation has been pushed back. This is one lurid, colorful film. But now, right from the start, the chroma has been dialled back, and we have a more 'modern' look.
Much like 'Aliens', the saturated blues are cooler and look more like [eek] teal.

Along with the horrible 'this-took-me-five-minutes' new cover art, I suspect it's an attempt to jazz up a catalog title for a new audience. Sigh.

Anyone else bothered by this here?

I thought it looked pretty damn good for a movie made in 1980.

[Two Mules]

It looked OK, but just OK.

I may be wrong, but I think there's a lot of room for improvement: bear in mind it was shot by Jordan 'Blade Runner' Cronenweth.

And I stand by my comments on the revised colour palette.

BTW, if anyone really likes this movie, there's an amazing 25+ page Making-Of article in a very early issue of Cinefex [issue 4: it has Outland on the cover, coincidentally]. It's ostensibly about the FX, but goes into a lot of horrifying detail about the behind-the-scenes wrangles and power plays. Great stuff, worth looking out for on eBay.

[HeavyHitter]

Having been meaning to watch this movie for years, I finally did last night. All things considered, I thought it was 'okay' but it certainly had more potential. I think the basic premise and some of the ideas of the movie were interesting.

On any rate, Warner attempted to make this disc look pretty. Pure and simple. It looks nothing like film. The grain has been wiped away leaving some light DNR artifacts in the process and there was an obvious revisionist attempt to give a stark 'contrasted' look to the movie manipulating shadow detail and contrast with deep blacks. It kind of reminded me of what Universal did with The Sting. It's definitely unnatural, but adds to the 'pretty' artificial look they were evidently aiming for. Being this disc is five years old, perhaps today they would take a different approach to it. Now I realize trailers are not by any means the way movies were exactly intended to look, but if you watch the trailer you can see without a doubt how a movie from this era more closely typically looked.

[dullboy]

Yeah, I'm surprised the review on this site gave it a 4 on video quality.