MovieChat Forums > Brainstorm (1983) Discussion > Some puzzling things about Brainstorm

Some puzzling things about Brainstorm

posted 8 years ago by cinefyl
1 reply | jump to latest

just a short list of some head-scratchers. Let me know what you all think...

1) Recordings vs. memories
Found it a bit confusing that some of the "bubble memories" were shot in the "hat" mode even though they were memories and not recordings. Also, some people have mentioned that Lillian's memories are in both 1st and 3rd person...this actually makes sense because if one remembers something in their own life, it is easy to think about it from your own POV or 3rd person.

2) The toxic psychotic break tape
So, also found it confusing that the psychotic break tape was specific to the viewer (Michael and Chris both had different visions and Chris's seemed to involve his Dad becoming his torturer?) I could see bad guys making a tape that would induce such a mental state but how can it be customized?

3) From artist to hacker?
I assume that Karen was a sculptor (and maybe an electrical engineer), but by the end of the movie she is hacking into the mainframe of the research center to make the plant go crazy. It was never even hinted that she had a programming background (unless I missed it).

3) The factory destruction sequence
Why were slapstick elements introduced into this segment (the guard slipping on ball bearings, the guard slipping in foam, the guard riding the crazy pallet fork lift, the guard shooting at the robot arm? It just seemed so out of place in the film.

[–] philoj 8 years ago

Regarding the factory destruction sequence - I think it's meant to be a "breather." We've got Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood putting their lives back together, Louise Fletcher's death, then the chase and their ploy to distract the execs. Without the assembly line sequence we'd go into Christopher Walken's experience of the death tape, which is *very* heavy.

So without the little bit of whimsy, basically the last half of the movie would be deep, somber, introspection. And think back to '83 - the general dramatic template for a movie was like a Lifetime movie today, not the 95% dark gritty maudlin thrillers in the theaters.

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Philo's Law: To learn from your mistakes, you have to realize you're making mistakes.