I've had a long history with David Cronenberg's Scanners, but this was my first time watching it. By long history, I mean I first saw shots of Michael Ironside popping veins at 10 or 11 years old in a magazine about the Unexplained. Obviously, I wanted to see this, but where and how? There may have been a Mad Magazine parody too, but still no way to see it. And whenever I thought about Scanners over the years (usually after watching another Cronenberg), I couldn't make it happen. Well, we live in a different world now. My first surprise is that I thought there'd be a lot more head-exploding action, and how early that iconic shot comes. Unless we count the computer as a brain, I guess. One of the weirdest hacking scenes in movie history, and I'm counting all of Hackers! So not the incredible classic I had imagined it to be, but I like this world of secret telepaths and how the story never goes where you think it will.
Given my predilection for David Cronenberg's starkly beautiful imagery and focus on internal horrors, "Scanners" was always going to be an easy sell for me. But there's no doubt that this film is probably one of his most easily accessible genre films. Not that this makes it any less bizarre. Of course, Cronenberg without weird is like PB&J without the Peanut Butter.
"Scanners" was a rushed production, where the script was being hammered out on the fly. This led to some of the film's rougher textures. And there were quite a few production headaches along the way. Of course none of that ended up really harming the end results. (This was Cronberg's first real box office success.) If anything it adds to the oddly discomfiting vibe delivered to the audience. Even the weirdly robotic performance of "Stephen Lack" in the lead role, seems to fit the overall tenor of freakish humanity.
Spectacular effects work, including some of the late, great Dick Smith's handiwork. A fantastically off center score from Howard Shore. Vivid performances from Michael Ironsides and Patrick McGoohan. All of this and more add to "Scanners" definitive statis as a classic.
The main character has the same accent as Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall.
Edit: for some reason, when I watched this seven years ago, his accent distracted me a lot, but it didn’t bother me this time around. I liked the movie a lot. Any film that partly takes place in an 80s mall like in the opening scene gets a thumbs up from me.
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Comments 1 - 9 of 9
KloVero
The last battle scene made my dayMahler1860
Some cheese and campy acting keep this from being truly brilliant, but only just...a solid 8/10 for me.Siskoid
I've had a long history with David Cronenberg's Scanners, but this was my first time watching it. By long history, I mean I first saw shots of Michael Ironside popping veins at 10 or 11 years old in a magazine about the Unexplained. Obviously, I wanted to see this, but where and how? There may have been a Mad Magazine parody too, but still no way to see it. And whenever I thought about Scanners over the years (usually after watching another Cronenberg), I couldn't make it happen. Well, we live in a different world now. My first surprise is that I thought there'd be a lot more head-exploding action, and how early that iconic shot comes. Unless we count the computer as a brain, I guess. One of the weirdest hacking scenes in movie history, and I'm counting all of Hackers! So not the incredible classic I had imagined it to be, but I like this world of secret telepaths and how the story never goes where you think it will.Mrtrick
Given my predilection for David Cronenberg's starkly beautiful imagery and focus on internal horrors, "Scanners" was always going to be an easy sell for me. But there's no doubt that this film is probably one of his most easily accessible genre films. Not that this makes it any less bizarre. Of course, Cronenberg without weird is like PB&J without the Peanut Butter."Scanners" was a rushed production, where the script was being hammered out on the fly. This led to some of the film's rougher textures. And there were quite a few production headaches along the way. Of course none of that ended up really harming the end results. (This was Cronberg's first real box office success.) If anything it adds to the oddly discomfiting vibe delivered to the audience. Even the weirdly robotic performance of "Stephen Lack" in the lead role, seems to fit the overall tenor of freakish humanity.
Spectacular effects work, including some of the late, great Dick Smith's handiwork. A fantastically off center score from Howard Shore. Vivid performances from Michael Ironsides and Patrick McGoohan. All of this and more add to "Scanners" definitive statis as a classic.
sammysin
Chuck!Really enjoyed this, cheesy and fun.
jerichoholic
was pretty mediocre until the last 15 minutes , then it become awesome.essaywhu
The main character has the same accent as Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall.Edit: for some reason, when I watched this seven years ago, his accent distracted me a lot, but it didn’t bother me this time around. I liked the movie a lot. Any film that partly takes place in an 80s mall like in the opening scene gets a thumbs up from me.
Dieguito
Crazy stuff!Henry K Hurtin
Didn't convince me, story was allright but the ending was a bit of a letdown. I don't really know...