MovieChat Forums > Lifeforce (1985) Discussion > WTF... I don't mean an unnecessary post,...

WTF... I don't mean an unnecessary post, but you gotta admit...

posted 10 years ago by US_Parriah4All
3 replies | jump to latest

That Tobe Hooper took great pains to make a Sci-Fi horror movie, or any movie for that matter but GEEZ...

Did he have to summon close to 300-plus creative departments (with Art/Construction taking a whopping 232, with Visuals close to a 100, Make-Up Dept coming in on third, and Stunts, fourth; the rest is, well... Thank IMDB)all for one film??? The studio, particularly with Golan/Globus must have had some pretty hefty $$$.

I mean, c'mon. I know, I'm nit-picking, but if anyone have noticed the film credits of all the people who worked on this film, and it turned out to be a flop! So much for being a big-shot, no offense to TH. "Heaven's Gate in Space", anyone?

Anyway, I love the film, whether it was a "flop" or not

--This is a strange world: anything's possible.--

[–] indisposedinmymind 10 years ago

Cannon really went out on a limb with this one ; they really thought it would be the film that got them out of the B movie ghetto! In retrospect, I'm not surprised they spent the money that they did on sets ; they look like practical locations like the London scenes towards the end, but they were all done very convincingly on the back lot of Elstree Studios. They spent more than what is average shooting the film (apparently 6-7 months) and they would often film, edit and sometimes reshoot scenes as they were going along. Cannon was very hands off when it came to Tobe's vision, but it was all for nothing in the end, because Tristar later bought the film and demanded the cuts that they thought were necessary after a bad test screening in New Jersey ; they ended up butchering the flow of the film.

IS THIS SOMETHING YOU CAN SHARE WITH THE REST OF US, AMAZING LARRY?!?!

[–] huzdaman 9 years ago

Is this the film that basically bankrupted Cannon?

[–] alfonsoalvaradov 8 years ago

Not quite. It was an example of things to come for Cannon. The combined box office failures of Superman IV, The Barbarians and Masters of the Universe was what finally did the studio in.

The film did kill Tobe Hooper's Hollywood career, though. He never directed another big budget movie again.