''Dreamscape'' is a 1984 American dark

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by

Joseph Ruben Joseph Porter Ruben (born May 10, 1950) is an American filmmaker. Movie career His earlier films, such as '' The Stepfather'', have become cult classics. In the 1990s, he went to direct high-grossing mainstream films such as ''Sleeping with the ...

and written by

David Loughery David Loughery is an American screenwriter and producer. Filmography Writer: * '' Dreamscape'' (1984) * '' The Stepfather'' (1987) (uncredited) * '' Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'' (1989) * '' Flashback'' (1990) * ''Passenger 57'' (1992) ...

, with

Chuck Russell Charles Russell (born May 9, 1958) is an American filmmaker and actor known for his work on several genre films. Some of Russell's best known films include the slasher fantasy film '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'', the 1988 re ...

and Ruben co-writing. It stars

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...

Kate Capshaw Kathleen Sue Spielberg (''née'' Nail; born November 3, 1953), known professionally as Kate Capshaw, is an American retired actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Willie Scott, an American nightclub singer and performer in ''Indiana Jon ...

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

, and

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...

Plot

Alex Gardner (

) is a

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...

who has been using his talents solely for personal gain, which mainly consists of gambling and womanizing. When he was 19 years old, Alex had been the prime subject of a scientific research project documenting his psychic ability but, in the midst of the study, he disappeared. After running afoul of a local

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

ist named Snead (

Redmond Gleeson Redmond Gleeson (born Martin Gleeson; January 26, 1935 – May 6, 2020) was an Irish-born American stage, film, and television actor. Life and career Martin Gleeson was born in Dublin on January 26, 1935.

), Alex evades two of Snead's thugs by allowing himself to be taken by two men: Finch (

Chris Mulkey Chris Mulkey (born May 3, 1948) is an American film and television actor. Career Mulkey played the supporting role of husband to Annie Potts's character in '' Any Day Now'' from 1998 to 2002. He has also appeared in '' Captain Phillips'', '' ...

) and Babcock (

Peter Jason Peter Edward Ostling (born July 22, 1944), also known as Peter Jason, is an American character actor. He has appeared in over eighty films and a hundred television series. He played Con Stapleton in the series '' Deadwood''. He was a frequent col ...

), who identify themselves as being from an academic institution. At the institution, Alex is reunited with his former mentor Dr. Paul Novotny (

) who is now involved in government-funded psychic research. Novotny, aided by fellow scientist Dr. Jane DeVries (

), has developed a technique that allows psychics to voluntarily link with the minds of others by projecting themselves into the subconscious during

REM sleep Rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep or REMS) is a unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds, characterized by random rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied by low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream ...

. Novotny equates the original idea for the dreamscape project to the practice of the

Senoi The Senoi (also spelled Sengoi and Sng'oi) are a group of Malaysian peoples classified among the Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia. They are the most numerous of the Orang Asli and widely distributed across the peninsul ...

natives of Malaysia, who believe the dream world is just as real as reality. The project was intended for clinical use to diagnose and treat

sleep disorders A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of an individual's sleep patterns. Some sleep disorders are severe enough to interfere with normal physical, mental, social and emotional functioning. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests ...

, particularly

nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of ...

s, but it has been hijacked by Bob Blair (

), a powerful government agent. Novotny convinces Alex to join the program in order to investigate Blair's intentions. Alex gains experience with the technique by helping a man who is worried about his wife's infidelity and by treating a young boy named Buddy (Cory Yothers), who is plagued with nightmares so terrible that a previous psychic lost his sanity trying to help him. Buddy's nightmare involves a large sinister "snake-man.” A subplot involving Alex and Jane's growing infatuation culminates with him sneaking into Jane's dream to have sex with her. He does this without technological aid—something no one else has been able to achieve. With the help of novelist Charlie Prince (

George Wendt George Robert Wendt Jr. (born October 17, 1948) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing Norm Peterson on the television sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emm ...

), who has been covertly investigating the project for a new book, Alex learns that Blair intends to use the dream-linking technique for

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

. Blair murders Prince and Novotny to silence them. The

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

(

Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...

) is admitted as a patient due to recurring nightmares. Blair assigns Tommy Ray Glatman (

David Patrick Kelly David Patrick Kelly (born January 23, 1951) is an American actor, musician and lyricist who has appeared in numerous films and television series. He is best known for his role as the main antagonist, Luther, in the cult film '' The Warriors'' (19 ...

), a mentally unstable psychic who murdered his own father, to enter the president's nightmare and assassinate him—people who die in their dreams also die in the real world. Blair considers the president's nightmares about

nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...

as a sign of political weakness, which he deems a liability in the upcoming negotiations for

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space * Nuclea ...

. Alex projects himself into the president's dream—a nightmare of a post nuclear war wasteland—to try and protect him. After a fight in which Tommy rips out a police officer's heart, Tommy attempts to incite a mutant-mob against the president, and he battles Alex in the form of the snake-man from Buddy's dream. Alex assumes the appearance of Tommy's murdered father ( Eric Gold) in order to distract him, allowing the president to impale him with a spear. The president is grateful to Alex but reluctant to confront Blair, who wields considerable political power. To protect himself and Jane, Alex enters Blair's dream and kills him before Blair can retaliate. The film ends with Jane and Alex boarding a train to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, intent on making their previous dream encounter a reality. They are surprised to meet the ticket collector from Jane's dream, but they decide to ignore it and keep on.

Cast

as Alex Gardner *

as Dr. Paul Novotny *

as Bob Blair *

as Jane DeVries *

as Tommy Ray Glatman *

as Charlie Prince *

as The President *

as Gary Finch * Larry Gelman as Mr. Webber * Cory Yothers as Buddy *

as Snead * Eric Gold as Tommy Ray's father *

as Roy Babcock * Jana Taylor as Mrs. Webber

Production

According to author

Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...

, the film developed from an initial outline that he wrote in 1981, based in part upon his

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...

"He Who Shapes" and 1966 novel ''

The Dream Master ''The Dream Master'' (1966), originally published as a novella titled ''He Who Shapes'', is a science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny. Zelazny's originally intended title for it was ''The Ides of Octember''. It won the 1965 Nebu ...

''. He was not involved in the project after

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

bought his outline. Because he did not write the film treatment or the script, his name does not appear in the credits; assertions that he removed his name from the credits are unfounded. The music score is by French composer

Maurice Jarre Maurice-Alexis Jarre (; 13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009) allmusic Biography/ref> was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, Jarre is best known for his film scores, particularly for his collaborations wit ...

. Principal photography began 3rd February 1983 in Los Angeles, CA. Locations included Union Station, Los Angeles, Los Alamitos Race Course, Los Alamitos, CA, and the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.

Release and reception

''Dreamscape'' was released on August 15, 1984. The film was a box office success grossing 12.1 million dollars on a 6 million dollar budget. This was the second film released to movie theaters that was rated

PG-13 The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...

under then-new

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...

ratings guidelines, following ''

Red Dawn ''Red Dawn'' is a 1984 American action drama film directed by John Milius with a screenplay by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. The film depicts a fictional World War III centering on a land invasion of the continental United States by an alliance ...

'', which had come out five days prior. The film was released on DVD on June 6, 2000, January 4, 2005, and April 7, 2015. ''Dreamscape'' has a 79% 'Fresh' rating on review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, based on 33 critics, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The critics consensus reads, "''Dreamscape'' mixes several genres—horror, sci-fi, action—and always maintains a sense of adventure and humor." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

— which assigns a weighted mean score — the film has a score of 63 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links