Altered States (1980)

I love this movie so much

Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely the worst movie.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Talk about a trippy movie. Don't see a lot of movies like this. It's enjoyable, thought provoking, and most definitely an excellent film for it's time. The makeup and effects were well done. Tasteful nudity is also appreciated.

I liked the movie at the start of the film. The more I watched, the deeper I became engrossed in the story and found it somewhat believable. Then ending came -- I rolled my eyes and laughed -- I could not believe how it ended so dumb! I guess I was expecting a realistic approach to the ending and not a monstrous flop because the rest of the move was almost believable.I know that the movie is loosely based on Dr. John Lilly's real life experiments from the 1960's - and that is why a plausible ending to the movie should have been scripted. Altered States needs an altered ending.If there is a ever a remake of this film or a completely different version of Dr. John Lilly's experiments made - then I will implore the scriptwriters to create a realistic approach to the ending - Altered States had a terrible ending.A humorous ending: Watch the ending of the 1980 Altered States then watch about the last 30 seconds of the old MTV video of A-ha's "Take On Me" --- was A-ha thinking of the movie Altered States when making this video?! Apparently so! LOL 6/10

The few films of Ken Russell I've seen are all grounded in reality as we know it (Billion Dollar Brain, Women in Love, The Music Lovers), more or less. Recently, I finally saw this film from 1980.Altered States is significant for a number of reasons: it was William Hurt's first movie; it was writer Paddy Chayefksy's last movie; and it was, arguably, Ken Russell's first attempt at fantasy. Of the three aspects, I was happy to see Hurt in his first role. Beyond that, the story and film are less than I expected from such a director.With more than a nod to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, the story concerns a behavioral scientist and academic, Eddie (Hurt), who, while testing mind altering drugs, appears to regress for a while to an ancient, primitive, human-like state – not just mentally, but also physically. What's Eddie really looking for? True love.Along the way to that goal, he marries an associate, Emily (Blair Brown) who is unable to actually live with Eddie, being occupied with her own scientific endeavors in the animal world. What's Emily really looking for? Security with a husband.Mix that together with a lot of psychological mumbo-jumbo, deep water-immersion sequences, whiz-bang special visual effects bound to please some viewers, and much screaming between scientists at times, this viewer was left, at the end, with a singular response: so what? Others, no doubt, will find deeper interpretations.In sum, this film is one for die-hard Russell fans. It's well produced and acted, for sure, but it's just plain silly, like many fantasies. I'm now trying to decide which is worse: Billion Dollar Brain or this. Let me put it this way, I guess: I don't recommend BDB at all.But I give this one only five out of ten. Recommended for fans of Russell only.June 1, 2013.

This film basically plays out like one extended science experiment. As such, it looks pretty dry and "boring" at first glance, but the actual subject of the experiment is something of fascination that prompts further study. Altered States presents the idea that powerful drugs can create a conduit for a person to touch the inner self (and possibly touching God at the same time), allowing one access to six billion years of genetic memories stored in the human body. As the main character continuously dabbles with the forbidden fruit of mind-altering substances, he comes closer and closer to inhabiting the body of the world's first primordial human being, complete with raw primal instincts and unbridled physical power.The concept is really high-level stuff, provoking lots of introspect into the human spirit, human evolution, and humanity's relationship with spirituality and religion. Above all, the film is most memorable for being visually insane. There are several sequences where the film bombards you with rapid-fire freak-out imagery. I've yet to see any other film where the screen flashes weird goat heads, bloody knives, hellish scenes of crucifixions and boiling hot magma, giant snakes, sex, the universe, and lord knows what else all at once. Scenes like this make the film very pungent, and it stands out as one of the trippiest experiences on film.In between the occasional freak-outs, the film slows down quite a bit. The film goes on to follow these scientist characters, who form some profound relationships and rivalries, but most of these scenes come off as rather plain and dry, especially when compared to the film's most vivid imagery. I couldn't tell you if such contrast is intentional or not. Regardless, it is an intriguing story with a cast of halfway decent characters.The film has its share of extremely hard-hitting imagery and extremely plain photography. Editing can be pretty erratic during the freak-out scenes, but for intentional effect; the film is very successful at beating its trippiness over your head. Acting is decent: William Hurt is especially noteworthy. Writing is quite sophisticated, but could potentially go over some viewers' heads. This production has okay-looking sets, props, and costumes, and the special effects are impressive for its time. Music is alright.Overall, this is a movie for the left side of the brain. If that interests you, then the film is certainly recommended. Otherwise, you might still want to see it for some of the trippiest (and possibly scariest) images ever committed to celluloid.4/5 (Entertainment: Average | Story: Very Good | Film: Good)