After WIlliam Hurt died last year, I bought this DVD; haven't seen the film since it first came out on Showtime or HBO back in the day. The originality of the story makes it worthwhile. All the actors are very good at "talking the talk" of high-brow scientists. Charles Haid's character Mason is especially funny when he gets angry and shifts from doctor-speak to gutter talk.
Altered States deals with "Big Ideas": Can one regress to more primitive states of mind? Can one regress to more primitive states of physical being??
What I noticed this time thru is the overwhelming SFX. The first few trippy sequences were cool, but by the 7th or 8th time down the rabbit hole, it was bit much. What started as a quest possibly for God became an ape-man quest ending in nothingness. That's where the movie breaks down a little bit, IMO.
But hey, at least this movie aims toward Big Questions.
Altered States deals with "Big Ideas": Can one regress to more primitive states of mind? Can one regress to more primitive states of physical being??
What I noticed this time thru is the overwhelming SFX. The first few trippy sequences were cool, but by the 7th or 8th time down the rabbit hole, it was bit much. What started as a quest possibly for God became an ape-man quest ending in nothingness. That's where the movie breaks down a little bit, IMO.
But hey, at least this movie aims toward Big Questions.