Reviews

To the reviewer who said: "This is a film about MY generation." This is a film about every generation. It is about a need to see where our paths lie in this world. Where are our lives going? What is the purpose? Do we follow a set pattern? Do we control it? Can we defy it?

It is also a film about embracing one's emotions and to change their world. Drew Barrymore teaches us this with the reference to Greene's short story in her classroom.

But what does the asian fat girl mean? What is the significance of her dance. She loves Donnie but runs away from him screaming: "SHUT UP!" She is asked to read from a problem card and Donnie is soon asked to read one after her. Donnie finally touches her and promises her that one day everything will be better for her. He sees his name written on her schoolbook--she loves him. What is their connection? The closer I get to it, it seems to allude me. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I know she is VERY important to the meaning.

Anyway, I rank this up there with some of the best cult mind-blowing films of all time. A must see for David Lynch fans and fans of the Swedish epic "The Kingdom." I will view this film many times, this I know.

I have always love the film Scanners and have always loved David Cronenberg, but after Deadringers, I always felt he started to go downhill from a wonderful ride in the horror genre. Scanners was one of his best in his early period, when he was working from original screenplays and wasn't in an adaptation funk at all (ie., Naked Lunch, M. Butterfly and Crash). It was a promising plotline and was very entertaining. It has also become a cult classic. So when I saw this sequel when it first came out, I didn't think it would be as good as it is.

I'll spare you the plotline since you've undoubtably have read the other reviews, but I will comment on the films structure. It works surprisingly well considering the original didn't leave much for a sequel like this one. If one were to truly look at the first film for a sequel, the likely route would have been to have the main characters be on the run from the secret corporate organizations (a plotline used in Firestarter) which could lead to a very boring and predictable outcome. But this film was made ten years later and the plotline ideas can have new twists and it is this factor that makes this film a success.

The opening ropes you in by the way it mimics the opening to the original--homeless, drifting Scanner losses mind in public and gets corralled by the guys in shades and trenchcoats. But its different from the original opening in that Scanners 2 opens with the vagabond Scanner screaming at the city in agony as the mental voices of the population invade his extrasensory mind and drive him crazy. It would be like an itch you can't scratch. I liked this aspect of the opening and it made me realize the filmmaker was a huge fan of the first film. It proved he wanted to be true to the first film and not just make another sequel in name only. The plot device of making the Scanners junkies to mind suppressing drugs was another excellent addition. It further proves the filmmaker's desire to make a good sequel.

If you loved the first film, you have to give this one a try. It is very entertaining, great character development and delivers in the gore factor department.

David Cronenberg's work of the 70s and early 80s can be described as being his "Hypochondriac Period" in that all his films deal, at that point, were about disease and the body rebelling against itself--Shivers, Rabid and The Brood all prove this. It is with Scanners that Cronenberg goes further by showing humanity creating the bodys rebellion through artifical means: drugs. This time the "disease" is a mutation caused by introducing inorganic substances to rid the body of the discomfort of pregnancy. The result is the spawning of telepathic/telekinetic beings known to Cronenberg's world as "Scanners."

It is a beautiful film. Why? Because it shows how sterile our world has become in trying to make our world a better one to live in, but only destroying our flesh and humanity in the process. Consider Cronenberg's films as warnings to society.

It is also one of the best films about telepathic/telekinesis abilities without going the superhero direction. It does what Brian De Palma wanted to do in The Fury and couldn't come an inch close to what Scanners succeeds in doing--provide the audience with a lot of examples of what people with these abilities can do. He makes the talent important to the plot and doesn't overdo it (the sequel, Scanners 3: The Takeover does this--but it has its merits too). He also takes stabs at secret organizations who attempt to exploit these scientific "advancements" and does it with tight-lipped bitterness. I sometimes feel the reason Cronenberg never reveals where his films take place, the country or city, is because he's making a comment on the United States' pursuits in science--they have a dark, cynical tone that is undeniable.

Michael Ironside is another reason to watch this film. He steals every scene he is in and he has all the good ones, including the famous "Head Exploding" scene. He is a gifted actor and is overlooked by practically everyone. His evil character, Revok, is complex in that he wants to rule the world but seems to "get off" on hurting the ones he wants to join him and the ones he wants to rule (non-Scanners). He hides behind his "Crusade" to justify his sadism and uses it as an excuse to find family in the main character, his brother, Cameron. He wants to be loved by his brother because he never got it from his father and because of his father's rejection, he wants to punish the world. Ironside's performance reveals all of this in his mannerisms, vocal projection and "Scanning" sequences.

Great film with Freudian undertones revealed through extrasensory plotline. I mean, it's about the human mind isn't it? I recommend it and it's sequels highly.

I first read about this film in a great book about Spaghetti Westerns wherein every Italian western was presented in complete detail. It was a scholarly approach to the genre and has made me a fan for years. Known in the U.S. as A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL, it has a darker mood than Sergio Leone's DOLLAR trilogy and his masterpiece, DUCK, YOU SUCKER! (a.k.a. FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE), more angst ridden than Sergio Corbucci's A PROFESSIONAL GUN (a.k.a. THE MERCENARY) and more bleak than Corbucci's masterpiece, DJANGO (which spawned countless sequels that had nothing to do with the original and the only one worth mentioning is: DJANGO KILL!) which is difficult since the western was awash in a sea of mud that was the stage where the characters ruthlessly slaughtered each other.

I love the Italian approach to westerns because they create an atmosphere where John Wayne is not welcome. If the Duke were to enter their world, he would be shot in the back by some crazed revolutionary/bandit who wouldn't wait for a showdown in the street. Plus the Duke probably wouldn't be fast enough on the draw. A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL has plenty of mood, crazed revolutionaries/bandits, double-crossings, contempt for "gringos" (which makes me wonder about how the Italians think of us--are these films suppose to be "political statements" too?), gun fights and endless desolate landscapes that would make Sam Peckinpah drool with delight. There is no happiness to be found in this film and every fan of Spaghetti westerns would revel in it's excess.

A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL is great on this level and should have multiple viewings (check out Klaus Kinski as the bible thumping revolutionary who spouts credo with gunfire and Lou Castel as the cold-hearted gringo who doesn't drink, smoke, look at women but LOVES money). The only Spaghetti Western regulars missing from this one are: Franco Nero and Lee Van Cleef. Director Damiano Daminani has made a Spaghetti western cult classic in his own right. I want to see his other westerns. See it and you won't be sorry.

Lexx is one of the greatest sci-fi shows to come along in years. The plots are fantastic while the visuals are breathtaking. It is anti-Star Trek and very anti-Star Wars and that's the way it should be. Life is short in the world of LEXX and it is almost as if it was lifted from the pages of HEAVY METAL. I love this show and it's weirdness captures my interest everytime I see it.