Dreamscape (DVD)

Product Description

This powerful 80s science fiction thriller in the tradition of Scanners and Carrie will excite and intrigue viewers with its unusual journey through the mind’s terrifying recesses.

The president of the United States is about to have a dream from which there is no waking up. Only one man can save him…. A man who must plunge himself into the presidents horrendous nightmare.

Dennis Quaid stars as Alex Gardner, a psychically gifted young man recruited by Dr Paul Novotny (Max Von Sydow) and the beautiful Dr. Jane DeVries (Kate Capshaw) in an experiment to aid patients disturbed by menacing nocturnal illusions.

Also stars Christopher Plummer.

From Amazon.co.uk

Alex Gardner (Dennis Quaid) is a talented young psychic who is frittering his gifts away betting on the ponies. That is, until he's coerced by his old pal and mentor Dr Paul Novotny (Max von Sydow) into taking part in a dream research project in which his psychic abilities make him indispensable. The project concerns "dreamlinking", whereby talented individuals like Alex hook up via electrodes and project themselves into some troubled subject's nightmares, in which they not only observe but participate in the dream, hopefully effecting some remedy. Alex is by nature a feckless guy, a charismatic scoundrel sporting a Cheshire cat's grin. But he warms easily to his new role as dream-dwelling psychotherapist, having a core of decency. Not so his nemesis, Tommy Ray Glatman (David Patrick Kelly), a dreamlink prodigy and pawn of Bob Blair (Christopher Plummer), who runs the research project for the government (he's described as the "head of covert intelligence"). Blair is worried about the President (Eddie Albert), whose nightmares of nuclear holocaust cause him to escalate disarmament talks with the Russians, much to Blair's dismay, being your basic evil, slick, smarmy covert kind of guy. Turns out Blair's real aim is to use the project to train dreamlink assassins, his star pupil being psycho Tommy Ray and his test case the President. Only Alex is there to stop them.

Dreamscape is all business, with a well-structured screenplay that lays the groundwork for the film's many admirable performances. Kate Capshaw in particular is very dreamy as a research scientist and Dennis Quaid's love interest. And David Patrick Kelly is likely to become your worst nightmare, especially when he's the Snakeman, giving an often fantastical performance. But what you are most likely to remember from this wonderful thriller is the many vivid dream sequences, aptly surreal images from the troubled psyche. --Jim Gay --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.