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Altered States (1980)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 12/04, 12/14

Astat
12/14: Ken Russell was known for going off the deep end in the most extreme way when it came to directing movies.

I've given Altered States another chance after viewing it ten years ago to see if my opinion can be changed. Sadly, that's not the case. In fact, it's much worse now.

Honestly, why did Ken Russell let it go after half-hour of stimulating conversations among the academicians? Basically, the film is a 2001: A Space Odyssey wannabe for those who want a drug-fueled experience, and the results are disastrous. Save for maybe three minutes' worth of awesome imagery, the last seventy minutes is trash and uninteresting.

I guess the message is to get high as much as possible in order to see lots of fantasy stuff to determine the meaning of life and the universe. It might sound cool, but many have suffered psychosis from it and have never been the same again. Hence, it's not worth the chance because life only happens once.

To be fair, William Hurt's debut performance shows a great deal of acting potential, enabling him to do future roles that are far better while nabbing an Oscar along the way. However, he's limited here in terms of what he can do with his character, so it's a disappointment.

All in all, If Ken Russell could stick with what's working in the first half hour for the rest of the way, Altered States would've been successful.