Altered States

Buy This Item Altered States by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $8.49  on 11-16-2008     It's easy to understand why the late, great screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky removed his name from the credits of <I>Altered States</I> and substituted the pseudonym Sidney Aaron. After all, Chayefsky was a revered dramatist whose original source novel was intended as a serious exploration of altered consciousness, inspired by the immersion-tank experiments of Dr. John Lilly in the 1970s. In the hands of maverick director Ken Russell, however, <I>Altered States</I> became a full-on sensory assault, using symbolic imagery and mind- blowing special effects to depict one man's physical and hallucinatory journey through the entire history of human evolution. It's a brazenly silly film redeemed by its intellectual ambition--a dazzling extravaganza that's in love with science and scientists, and eagerly willing to dive off the precipice of rationality to explore uncharted regions of mind, body, and spirit. William Hurt made his bold film debut as the psycho-physiologist who plays guinea pig to his own experiments; Blair Brown plays his equally brilliant wife, whose devotion is just strong enough to bring him back from the most altered state imaginable. From the eternal channels of sense memory to the restorative power of a loving embrace, this movie rocks you to the birth of the universe and back again. And while it's clearly not the story that Chayefsky wanted on the screen, the directorial audacity of Ken Russell makes it one heck of a memorable trip. <I>--Jeff Shannon</I> Reader Reviews I remember seeing ALTERED STATES when it first opened in Connecticut in 1980 and as I recall enjoyed it to the tune of about four or even five stars. My three star rating above is based on my recent screenings of the DVD and reflects how my film tastes have changed with the onset of "senior citizenship." My memory of the script excludes the harsh language of the theater release and must have been altered by the TV edited version, which I perceived to be genuinely classier if not just cleaner than the DVD and theater release. The plot involved a Harvard scientist, Professor Eddie Jessup, conducting experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug while isolated in a sensory deprivation chamber to enhance any drug induced effects. To his great satisfaction he believes that these experiments may be causing him to change genetically (i.e., externalize his drug induced delusions which Dr. Jessup believes, reflects something profound about our origins). On seeing ALTERED STATES in the theater I couldn't help but be struck by the intelligent script, fine acting and very excellent screen graphics. Although I couldn't understand why Paddy Chayefsky walked out during the production of ALTERED STATES, It was still a very good and enjoyable film, all things considered. This film is really a 70's movie because of the drug related topics it deals with and the colorful screen graphics which reflect much of the pop artwork associated with the drug culture of 60's and 70's. I thought William Hurt and Blair Brown made a wonderful pair of university "wiz-kids" and enjoyed their performances. I also believed the plot to be at least partially inspired by Carlos Castaneda's books. This was another in a series of sci-fi films that I talked my wife into seeing with no regrets. It was unusual that we had to see this film in two showings because the local police and theater management dramatically appeared in front of the audience to clear the theater due to a bomb threat just as the plot was getting really engaging. Theater management permitted the audience to either return to their seats or see it during another engagement. These circumstances permitted us to see the film twice in two weeks for the price of a single admission.

Altered States Available from Amazon Price: $8.49 Updated on 11-16-2008.

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