MovieChat Forums > Altered States (1980) Discussion > Why did I just lose 107 minutes of my li...

Why did I just lose 107 minutes of my life?!

posted 15 years ago by Silvrhelm
43 replies | jump to latest

Seriously though. I watch a lot of films, specifically a lot of sci-fi films.
At the time of watching Altered States I was pretty damn stoned.
Seems like it would be a pretty good state of mind to be in to enjoy this film.

However After the first half of the film Id seen about 30 minutes of 'story' I use that term loosely, and about 25 minutes of completely random BS dream sequences.

Each dream sequence (I could be very wrong) seemed about like 4-6 minutes. This is just far too long to watch a bunch of random religeous/sexual imagery. It didnt freak me out, it didnt inspire thought. It was just random and weird.

I dont get the point, I stuck with the movie because Id heard good things about it and when it finally got to the point. It wants me to believe that this guy regressed into 'the missing link' because of a halluconegenic (sp?, whatever) drug and an isolation tank.

Where the hell is the sense in that it makes no sense, and its not like some films that make no sense but you can forgive it because it was cool. It was just lame.

Seemed like the whole story only existed so the director could make a film full of random BS and claim it was art, or maybe even science? What the hell do I know. I have no idea what the director was thinking.

Im presuming someone is going to say that I just didnt 'get it'. Well Id appreciate it if someone could explain it to me because what I just saw was pretty awful.

[–] maxtshea 10 years ago

He's regressed to a very primitive state...he's a bacterium. Get him on the slides for the microscope. (Don't squish me, don't squish meeeee!)

[–] dwbatterson 10 years ago

I'd (not "Id"). I'm (not "Im"). Also didn't (not "didnt"). And hallucinogenic (not "halluconegenic). Spellcheck, please!

[–] glennrhoads 9 years ago

I can't resist; you didn't get it. You have to understand evolution in order to understand the movie. Given the sorry state of education in this country in regards to evolution, it is no surprise that many people did not understand the movie.

In a nutshell, a scientist finds a drug, whose effect is amplified by an isolation tank, that accesses the junk DNA in the cells of his brain and causes him to undergo reverse evolution. He goes further and further back into humanity's evolutionary chain, eventually all the way back to Darwin's primordial life form and finds out that life has no meaning or purpose. He also finds out the tremendous power of love; it pulls him back from the primordial edge and changes the profound emptiness he feels to a feeling of meaning and purpose.

I don't know if that description helps you; you really do need to understand evolution in order to appreciate the story.

An often overlooked aspect of this film is that William Hurt's performance was brilliant; really the best of his entire career. But you need to understand the story and the scientific mindset to appreciate just how amazing Hurt is in this movie.

[–] Pzachlen 9 years ago

No one here mentioned that the reason they went to Mexico was because of this tribe and it's rituals.It was also explained to them that EVERYONE has the same hallucination. "Their original truth".

[–] pery-1 9 years ago

Yes, half way through I realized it's just a psychedlelic version of old time sci-fi horror like Neanderthal Man and Monster on the Campus, with little attempt at plauibility plausibility. "Good special effects" is all it has going for it.

[–] OldSamVimes 9 years ago

Wow, it must really choke your chicken that you have to waste 7-10 hours of your life sleeping every night.

[–] karchad 9 years ago

This is the 2nd time in 30 years I am trying to watch this movie. I turned it off 30 years ago, and I'm about to do so again. It is uninteresting. It is bad sci-fi, lousy horror. Even William Hurt can't help this turkey. It's my last time trying this film, too many good ones to waste my time on it. At least this time I lasted, let's see, 47 minutes this time. I think I lasted 25 the previous time.

[–] goddabkiddin 9 years ago

Every time I watch a movie, I come to the messages boards and inevitably, someone says something to the effect of "I've just wasted (insert minutes here) of my life."

What are you looking for, sympathy? Should we feel sorry for you and those precious minutes you lost?

Nobody made you watch minute after torturous minute.