User reviews

I'd never watched this film when it was released. It's taken me 20 years to finally watch it, and though film-making has advanced technologically in terms of CGI in that time - it still looks stunning ! It's a slow burning story and there's not much joy and laughs - but the sense of love and family and resoluteness still lingered way after the film ended. It's concept of Heaven and Hell is way beyond conventional film directors. It's a labour of love which at the end is faith affirming and yet shows up all our human flaws and vulnerability in all their glory. Great direction - good acting and an incredible journey that will stay in your mind .

Firstly this is an adult movie. I remember when it was marketed on its release. It seemed to be targeted to all ages - Robin Williams off the back of- at that time- children's movies. It promoted the technology of the making. Overall they marketed it completely wrong, which I daresay has led it to being placed in the mediocrity bin.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. What Dreams May Come would have to be one of the most intelligent, emotional, visually beautiful, and well acted projects ever to grace the screen.

Robin Williams is masterful and Sciorra perfectly mirrors her soul mate (Williams). Their performances encapsulate all the joy and abject sorrow human life entails. It's a movie that wants you to find real love, see beyond cynicism and grasp the idea of soul mate. And it's all presented in a stunningly gorgeous montage of exquisite colour and symmetry.

From the opening shot to the closing frame, its magnificent. The story is enveloping encompassing nearly every asset of human emotion. It's a roller-coaster ride but rewarding. Comedy, hope, sadness, joy, elation, despair... all displayed perfectly.

ALL actors shine, Cuba Gooding Jr is his usual excellent self and Max von Sydow is impeccable.

The greatest movie ever? close... most under-rated movie ever? - most probably. Watch it, very few movies will touch you as What Dreams May Come will.

I love this movie because it is truly romantic- it shows that love does not just happen in an instant, or at first glance, but is something that you have to commit to and work at. It's not just 'boys meets girl, stuff happens, they get married and live happily ever after' - Annie and Chris have to deal with real adversity and issues, which are shown through numerous flashbacks throughout the film. (ie- Chris being embarrassed to dance, teaching his daughter about death)

You're not supposed to watch this film for the visual effects. They're great, but they're not the point. If you have a short attention span, and are expecting action thrown at you every five seconds, then go watch something else, and don't complain that this film is boring.

This film was very simple and very human. If you want inspiration that REAL love exists (and not that stupid teen movie crap), then I highly recommend it.

It's been a while since I last saw this one, but I will always remember this as one of the saddest movies I ever saw, in a good way of course!

There are hardly any cheerful tones throughout the movie, so it is not for people who like soppy stories. But the effects are amazing and the vision of heaven is very original. Robin Williams is, as always, very good at performing. This was the first serious movie I saw featuring Williams, and I was amazed. I had thought Williams would be the type who could only act decently in comedies, but this one proved me wrong. He can put down a serious character with all ease not only that, he can truly touch you with his oh so tear-jerking lines.

My conclusion: if you are planning on watching this movie, keep your tissues at hand, and some food and drinks as well since the movie isn't exactly what you call short.

To hell with the critics and the cynics. I absolutely love this movie - it's in my top ten (or maybe even top five) list of favorite movies (I saw it at least 3 times in the theater and own it on DVD). I have to admit, I'm one of those non- (almost anti-) elitist, "I don't know art, but I know what I like" type people. I also truly love positive, upbeat movies with happy endings. Not to say that "realistic" movies aren't also great, but there is room for everything in the moviemaking genre. Isn't there enough depressing "realism" on the evening news to satisfy even the most jaded cynic?

I can't say exactly what it is that strikes me about this movie. The incredible color-saturated visuals and special effects certainly help. The acting talents of Robin Williams and Max Von Sydow help. And I loved the story. Emotionally manipulative it may be, but this is one of those films where I WANTED to be manipulated, where I willingly participated. Apparently some people resented it, but I was sobbing through much the movie, and glad to be doing so. Laugh if you please, say whatever you want... this movie touches my heart.

"Deep" it isn't, not terribly. On a metaphysical level, it goes only slightly beyond new-age kitsch. Very few of the afterlife scenes and concepts agree with the spiritual outlook of any known religion. But I don't care. Again, if a movie touches my heart in just the right place, I can forgive it almost anything. This one did. 9/10.

Ok, This movie was overlooked. Period. Before I saw it, I was one of the many movie going clones who decided not to see it in the theater because it hadn't been getting the rave reviews that the trailer suggested it should.

So, my roommate works at a video store. One night, he brings home "What Dreams May Come." For lack of NOTHING better to do, I pop it in one night when I'm home alone. 113 minutes later I was floored. This was a fantastic movie. At first, I was a bit skeptical. Very little character development creation, and death comes just as the introduction to life begins. Then......it all hits. The absolute best computer animation I've ever seen. A plot line that has no obvious holes. A story that has never been addressed on the big screen. A subject that is explored in a way that is both believable and desirable. An incredible movie that leaves you happy, sad, curious, and most of all, drained of energy and exhilarated at the same time. I can't explain the feeling that this movie gave me, and I bet you can't explain the after-life any better than "What Dreams May Come," unless your 3 letter name begins with "G" and ends with "D." If you have a mind that will allow you to be entertained by something other than a beefy guy blowing things up with an Uzi, see this movie. 10 out of 10 JimmyT-2

Sad story, but it didn't end completely tragically. I don't really like dramas because it makes me depressed, but I liked this movie. It was visually appealing, a good but sad fantasy film.

It's a rare thing to feel embarrassed leaving a cinema - but that was my reaction after sitting right through one of the most nauseating, boring, unfulfilling films I've ever seen.

The writing was on the wall with the saccharine opening of bumping boats on a Swiss lake (why Switzerland? beats me!) and a "mountain meeting" scene that could have been conjured from an erotic fantasy version of Wuthering Heights. Then there was a mercifully high-speed review of a "perfect" family forming, only to be interrupted by the central tragedies of the children's deaths soon followed by that of the husband (Robin Williams). All of which, in the absence of any substantial character development, would have left us cold - if it weren't for the sentimental speeches and over-blown musical score which heralded and underlined every essential moment of the film.

In heaven the rot really set in, with overblown special effects and surging symphonic passages trying hard to overcome the "zero" story-line. After much traipsing through the flowers of paradise's imaginary pallet we reached the nub of the story with the earthly suicide of the wife.

At last, a good 45 minutes into the film, the plot emerged: an old fashioned "search and rescue" mission set in cyber-heaven. But what a miserable mission: a search emasculated of any dramatic tension by the fact that the protagonist is already dead (but living well in paradise) - so what has he to lose? what threat has to be survived? It's a case of "have Robin Williams, will travel" on a tour through a bizarre series of sets and special effects, including Hell dressed up as a burning boat (was this something picked up from Titanic's cutting room floor?) And a rescue so bland and predictable that it wilted on the flacid vine; and the resultant reunification of family was as cloying and sick-making as the cheapest brand of ersatz champagne.

OK so there were a few stunning images that brought to mind Terry Gilliam's work (although without the wit or bite), but these didn't compensate for the crass dialogue and laboured direction. In any event, they were undermined by some sinister undertones in the film. Such as the large proportion of black people inside the burning gates of Hell contrasting with the white faces in Heaven; and the idea that suicide is in all cases irredeemable, but for the rest of us there is a better life to be had after we are dead.

So sorry to all of you who thought this was such a great film - for me it was drivel of the worst kind: a simple story dumbed down and painted up - a thin (very thin) veneer of "eye candy" and nothing more.

Given the recent loss of the incredible talent of Robin Williams I found this film incredibly moving. Ir made me think about what his heaven would be like, if he was watching his family grieve and I hope he's found peace. This film hits home for a lot of us, obviously because Robin killed himself. I don't believe people who commit suicide out of sadness or loss of hope go to hell, I believe they go to heaven like everyone else - Maybe that's just me being idealistic. As a film though, this moved me a lot. It was quite a sad film but at the same time there were moments of joy and sweetness. The acting was superb. I've never seen Robin act in this kind of role and I think it brought out his gentle, loving side people who knew him often spoke about. He spoke with this fascinating softness that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.I feel he should be more well know for this role because its a great film. Annabella was also brilliant , she really brought out the raw emotion and pain a widow goes through after not only losing her children but then her husband. Although Cuba played a small part in this, his was also a great piece of acting (I wouldn't expect anything less from him). I cried a lot through this film, all for various reasons including the death of Robin and that pain of seeing him being wonderful and I am really going to miss him, also the film was very moving and does make you think, it also made me think of my life and what I'd do if certain people tragically left my life. So it hit home on quite a few levels. For its time the CG is actually pretty good, I've seen worse CG in films nowadays. Anyway, a fantastic film and anyone wishing to see a moving performance by Robin should watch this, he's incredible and always will be. I hope he's in his own private heaven at peace right now.

Although this movie is heart-wrenching, it is just too beautiful to pass up.

The creators explore possibilities of the spiritual life, and in doing so, have created some of the most beautiful scenes that I have ever seen. Their imaginations seem to be beyond any limitations. I congratulate them on their genius.

Those who have experience deeply meaningful experiences beyond the world of physical senses see these images and concepts as actual possibilities, and rightly so. In a world where time and space lose all definition in physical terms, incomprehensible and mystifying beauty become the reality. But then, who is qualified to define "reality"?

I have seen this awe filled movie several times and would love to see it again.

I am not that crazy about Robin Williams, though I don't dislike him. But he was adequate in this movie, because it called for a real sensitive and really nice guy. I feel that, from almost every one of the actors, there was a luminous glow emanating from their faces, like there was some sort of special lighting used. (There probably was!) As a result, the audience has empathy toward the characters and actually cares about what is happening to them. I've heard so many complaints about how it tries to pull at your heartstrings. Excuse me, but if there WAS a movie out there that made people cry without trying to, I would stay as far away from it as possible...

.....YES, I believe there IS merit to be deserved by a movie if it creates any kind of obvious emotion. I think that crying at a movie either scares or annoys some people.

I like how the movie made me feel awed during the first half, and even more awed during the second half; all the while making me feel sad throughout the movie at the same time. However, there is a difference between 'sad' and 'depressing'. I think the sadness helps any audience realize some parts of their inner-selves.

While very memorable, curiously, the movie never intends for its audience to be close-minded enough to think that this is, with certainty, what happens after you die. It is more of a suggestion, an analogy, of how precious life is, and how deep the bond of love is between some people, no matter what happens.

Rent this one today.

I thought this movie was EXCELLENT the first time I saw it about 3 years ago and I saw it twice since. I bought the DVD just a few days ago and watched it again tonight and I cried so much. It is an amazing movie that really has you on your seat wondering what will happen next. It is neat to see the possible reality of one's "after-life" in heaven or hell. It makes you want to love those whom you love more and more every day and make sure that they know it. I was watching it tonight with my fiancé and could not keep the tears from coming....even after the movie I was crying because I was thinking about how I would feel if I lost him. I am not one to cry much, especially when I'm watching a movie. But this movie was a definite tear-jerker and an excellent must-see film! :o)

All right, the critics who have panned this film do have a point. This movie is muddled and not a heck of a lot happens in it. It's oversweet, and somewhat unsatisfying -- sort of like eating cotton candy for two hours.

But even with these serious flaws (and they are serious flaws), this is a beautiful film. It's a stunning work of art. The visuals are absolutely amazing, the use of colors is genius, and the Kamen score brilliant. This is a clearly a case where style triumphs over substance.

A number of critics have complained that the dialogue was wooden. I think this is due in part to our desensitivation to underplayed dialogue by DiCaprio-esque actors who insist on screaming all their lines. "I love you," isn't good enough. These days, it has to be "I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!" screamed with heart-wrenching anguish while ripping open their T-Shirts in the rain. Here Williams, Sciorra (sp?), Gooding, and Von Sydow actually *deliver* their lines with a restraint that is refreshing to see. There certainly is emotion in them, and seemingly genuine at that, but it's a subtle delivery and one that can easily be missed by today's audiences if expectations aren't carefully set.

I guess their are two types of filmgoers: those who love schmaltz and those who don't. If you don't love schmaltz, you'll be intensely bored with this film. If you *do* love schmaltz, you'll be blown away and bored in about equal measure.

If there's one thing that What Dreams May Come has is a vivid imagination. Maybe some readings into Dante's Inferno might have given the writers some ideas as a start. But this goes way beyond.

I remember years ago at a Science Fiction convention Peter Davison said that one nice thing about being the Doctor in Doctor Who was that you could create your character from scratch. Since we've got no reports on the afterlife one can the imagination soar in creating it. Soar it does and at times the creation threatens to overwhelm the cast, but it never does.

Robin Williams doctor and Annabella Sciorra artist seen fated to be mated and are. They raise two children, but both are killed in a car crash devastating the parents both try to move on. Then Williams is killed in a car crash.

At that point the film shifts to the afterlife as Williams starts to get used to the territory. Cuba Gooding appears as a kind of mentor/guide for him. The place looks like paradise, but paradise will not be complete without the family reunited.

The afterlife does have its rules and Williams has to make quite the journey to accomplish his goal. Williams, Sciorra, and Gooding give impeccable performances and the sets are just breathtaking.

If it isn't this is what heaven should be.

A vast tale of life, death and the nature of the afterlife, the films tells the story of a couple, the Nielsens, who first meet boating in Switzerland. Subsequently, we see their lives together and then the tragedies that befall them. First, their children die in a crash and then the husband, Chris (Williams), during an accident in a tunnel. He gets transported to the afterlife, which turns out less to be a strict affair, and more personally controlled, his vision adopting the form of his wife's (Sciorra) paintings. However, the pain is too much, and she commits suicide, which traps her in a more personal 'Hell' that Chris must, against all odds, save her from.

Often seen as part of the 'Sap Years' for Williams (along with the likes of Bicentennial Man, Jakob the Liar and Patch Adams), What Dreams May come is both the most ambitious, yet also maybe the most frustrating, of the lot. There is genius locked within, but there are major snags; it has a really weak opening in Switzerland, with some of the worst 'romantic' dialogue I have ever heard outside of Twilight (and for a film that billed itself so much on groundbreaking visuals, they sure must've hired a cheap editor for that part as it often felt like Williams and Sciorra weren't even in the same scene together as they met on the boats). Furthermore, really middling chemistry between our two otherwise excellent leads bog this one down further. Because the film is so very much based on the power of their relationship, it really dilutes things as these two just don't have the chemistry to come off as a real couple.

A shame as, on top of the lush visuals, and rather sizeable too for a non-action fantasy, there is some legitimate power in the film's take on mortality and what's after. The whole concept of the afterlife being more modelled after you and the way you died rather than some strict tier/sections is really intriguing, and we get plenty of contrasts, often in an almost pseudo Biblical-Buddhist manner, such as Hell being caused by denial and guilt rather than 'evil'. Also, aside from two strong albeit un-connecting performances, the rest of the cast is pretty solid, with Max Von Sydow and Cuba Gooding Jr really adding quite a bit to the emotional heart of the film, and Sydow's voice just makes the rules of the afterlife seem so much more grand and weighty. Oh, and Michael Kamen's score is just beautiful. Utterly.

In the end, I applaud Vincent Ward for trying, I really do. He threw out his hand at such an expansive piece as this and injected flair. However, a few fundamental errors ended up costing the film a lot more than I would've liked, and though it's still leaps and bounds better than Williams' other meta-life epic 'Being Human', it still doesn't quite soar. Pity.

READ THE BOOK -- forget the movie! There is *no* similarity between the two. This is Hollywood at its worst: sugar-coated, silly, without depth, but lots of special effects. Even the sets that are being lauded reminded me of Mary Poppins! That's about the level of the whole film - childish. If I were Robert Matheson, I would be walking around stopping people on the street saying, "That's not what I wrote!" When the characters went to Hell (literally), I hoped they would stay there because that's where I had been since the opening credits.

Pleeeeeeeeeeeease read the book; it is marvelous. Don't be fooled by this trivialized rendition with the same title.

I don't know how some of the comments can state that it is New Age Kitch. The concepts in this movie is 100% spot on with the new way of thinking in just about all progressive belief systems.

A heaven which we create based on our own dreams and reality. A hell where we place ourselves in contrast to being sent here by a despotic God. The concept of coming back to live another life. These are not concepts that are way out. They make the basis for the majority of the religions in the east and therefore the majority of the world population.

Chistianity has also moved very close to this.

This movie MOVES me every time I see it. If you are in any way concerned about the greater plans in the universe, watch this.

Skydancer.

Some people have treated "What Dreams May Come" with scorn due to Chris Nielsen's (Robin Williams) affirmations that he can do anything, even if it violates the laws of nature. I beg to differ. The movie shows how he blames himself for his wife Annie's (Annabella Sciorra) suicide, and feels compelled to rectify this.

Maybe some people thought that the movie was trying too hard to be like a painting but ended up a series of shots of Robin Williams trying to be emotional. Neither description would do the movie justice. This movie is not all about special effects. I think that it forces us to reconsider our own destinies, and what may become of everything after we die.

All in all, a really impressive movie. Also starring Cuba Gooding Jr and Max Von Sydow.

For a film that ran just over an hour and a half---it seemed like an eternity. Even Titanic with its epic length at least kept me awake, although I felt it to be just as sappy. The director created a visually impressive movie that fell short on acting and storyline. Much of the dialogue seems redundant and is delivered in an unconvincing manner that fails to match the intensity of the visuals. I just got back from seeing it and I can't remember one good line from the film. The film is also disappointing in that it misses the opportunity to explore controversial issues surrounding the afterlife. They conveniently side-step the question of whether or not this is the Christian version of heaven after they explicitly outline reasons for being sent to hell. Cerberus from Greek lore is also mentioned as guarding the entrance to hell (not Hades) which further smears the continuity of the film. Perhaps they didn't want to offend any particular belief by neglecting to give an honorable mention---even a dog gets into heaven (I thought they weren't allowed in). Many reviews I've read claim that it is a deep and thought provoking movie with much merit. Perhaps I slept through those parts. Despite its intentions, the scope of the film is quite narrow and can't be redeemed by all the FX in the world.

The first time I saw this movie, I was 12 years old, and on my very first "date". It was Valentine's day, 1999. I couldn't really tell you about the boy, because I don't remember much about him at all. I only remember walking out of that movie theater with such an incredible sense of awe. I felt as though I understood so much more about Life, Death, Love, Loss and Courage.

No movie had ever touched me like "What Dreams May Come" and to this day, that is still the case. I am now 19 years old, and I watch it at least once a month. Sometimes more. I still laugh and cry as if I have never seen it before. The cast could not be better, and the story is one you will never forget.

The more love you discover throughout your life... The more this movie will mean to you. It changed me. Made me stronger. I never thought that I would ever say that about a movie, but all the same, it's true.

The score, composed by Michael Kamen is just as amazing. Subtle and powerful at the same time. I would recommend both the movie and the soundtrack to everyone I know... Oh wait... I have!