Dreamscape

1984
R
1h 39m

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

19K

YOUR RATING

Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Christopher Plummer, Cory 'Bumper' Yothers, Larry Cedar, Redmond Gleeson, Peter Jason, David Patrick Kelly, and Chris Mulkey in Dreamscape (1984)

Play trailer1:57

5 Videos

99+ Photos

B-Action B-Horror Political Thriller Psychological Thriller Action Adventure Horror Sci-Fi Thriller

A man who can enter and manipulate people's dreams is recruited by a government agency to help cure the President of the United States of his nightmares about nuclear war but stumbles upon a... Read allA man who can enter and manipulate people's dreams is recruited by a government agency to help cure the President of the United States of his nightmares about nuclear war but stumbles upon an assassination plot.A man who can enter and manipulate people's dreams is recruited by a government agency to help cure the President of the United States of his nightmares about nuclear war but stumbles upon an assassination plot.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

19K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations total

Videos5

Trailer 1:57

Dreamscape

Clip 2:35

Dreamscape: Don't Fall

Clip 2:35

Dreamscape: Don't Fall

Clip 2:22

Dreamscape: Don't Open The Door

Featurette 1:47

Dreamscape: James Aupperle, Brian Tufano & Craig Reardon On Making The Film

Featurette 0:57

Dreamscape: Dennis Quaid On Working With Director Joseph Ruben

Photos158

+ 150

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Was the second film to be Rated PG-13 under then new MPAA ratings guidelines following Red Dawn (1984), which had come out weeks prior to this film's release.

Goofs
Blair may be the head of the CIA but he is not in charge of security for the President. That falls solely on the Secret Service for which Blair and Novotny , would have no say in the matter of where the President would be staying.

Quotes
Alex Gardner: You had Tommy Ray kill that woman in the dream link, didn't you?
Bob Blair: Yes.
Alex Gardner: Why?
Bob Blair: I wanted to see if it could be done.
Alex Gardner: You're a real humanitarian, Blair.
Bob Blair: I'm a realist. We live in a dangerous, hostile world. I will do whatever I have to to keep this country safe.
Alex Gardner: Yeah, that's what scares me.
Bob Blair: You're a very intelligent young man, Alex. You've mastered an amazing technique. Surely you can see the possibilities. During his dream link with Matusik, Tommy Ray stabbed her with a knife. A dream knife. The shock to Matusik's system caused a coronary and she died. So, the old wives tale comes true after all. When you dream that you die, you die in life at the very same instant. Now we can go into an enemy's dream, kill him, make it look as if he died in his sleep. Do you realize what that means?
Alex Gardner: It means no one's safe from you.
Bob Blair: The question is whether you're gonna cooperate. I never had any doubts about Tommy Ray.
Alex Gardner: Well, why should you? He killed his own father. He's a fucking psychopath.
Bob Blair: Alex, it's very simple. Either you work for me or you die.

Alternate versions
When reclassified by the BBFC in 2000 the nunchaku weapon was no longer deemed a problem to pass on film following a weapons rethink in 1999. The BBFC waived the 28 seconds of cuts made to previous versions. Dreamscape was cut for the UK cinema upon original release in 1984 and video issues also suffered the same edits. The scene on the train where Alex meets Tommy is shorter as it features the infamous nunchaku, which rarely made it onto the British Screen at this time, and shots of a man's severed heart were also removed by the UK censor. This scene can be seen in the TV version which was shown on BBC1 albeit minus a few "strong" words. When the BBFC reclassified the film in 2000 under newer guidelines the nunchaku was no longer a problem and they waived the aforementioned cuts.

Connections
Featured in At the Movies: Sheena, Queen of the Jungle/Dreamscape/The Adventures of the Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension/The Bostonians/Metropolis (1984)

Soundtracks
Baby, Can't We Take It Home
Composed and Produced by Craig Huxley (as Craig Hundley)

User reviews93

Review

Featured review

7/10

Great idea, not quite there.

It will earn your respect as a film and you will be intrigued, but not a film you'll write home about.

Alex Gardner (Dennis Quaid) is a psychic, he is in tune with his subconscious, once involved with the studies of Dr Paul Novotny (Max von Sydow) he is now an outcast, trying to live off the grid. He survives by gambling, his ability to predict horse race winners, makes this line of work easy pickings, accept there is a gang of thugs on to his abilities and want a cut of the pie.

Whether Alex is rescued or not is up for discussion, but he is whisked off to a campus and persuaded to work once again under his protege Dr Novotny in a project funded by the government. This project is to enter people's dreams, they then have the ability to alter the dream, curing night terrors etc. Something sinister is lurking though, otherwise we wouldn't have a movie.

Despite its obvious flaws, it is quite a solid flick and would be enjoyed by any sci-fi enthusiast. The cast are brilliant including Kate Capshaw as the beautiful Jane DeVries, David Patrick Kelly as the creepy Tommy Ray Glatman and a host of other names you'll recognise, Christopher Plummer, Peter Jason, George Wendt and Eddie Albert.

I might be a bit harsh to say the writing is bad, but there are enough kinks in its armour to say so, the flow is definitely off, whether this is due to writing or editing I don't know. It is a very good story, and it is as if there was a much bigger plan, but maybe money or something else got in the way of executing exactly what was wanted, it felt like it had lost 30 mins in the middle somewhere. All in all, a good watch.

Cheese moment: Not the cheesiest of films, but it has its moments. The scene when he is being chased by the govt agents, they are on foot while he is on a motorbike.