grantss Central plot was intriguing. Man discovers he has telekinetic powers, gets recruited by company to harness his powers in a fight against a rival organisation (run by an uber-telekineticist). Investigations, mind-games, confrontations and action ensue.Despite the decent plot, it feels rushed towards the end. Final scene comes out of the blue.Two things stopped this from being a much better movie, and potential sci fi classic. Firstly, the performances are horrendously bad. There is hardly a credible performance to be seen. Patrick McGoohan and Jennifer O'Neill are probably the best of the lot and they're just so-so. Stephen Lack is pretty dull in the lead role, and Michael Ironside goes in the opposite direction, overacting as the bad guy.Furthermore, this movie contains some of the worst bit-part acting you'll see in a mainstream movie. eg The guy who falls backward before being shot!Second negative aspect: the production. Everything seems cheap and B-grade. Worst of all is the sound. It feels as if the dialogue was dubbed into the movie, and not synced very well with the actors' lips - it's that bad.Overall: reasonably entertaining and not a total waste of time. Plus you get to see the famous exploding head scene...

trishaade I watched this movie for the first time recently - I missed it when it was first released. I really liked some of David Cronenberg's other movies (THE BROOD) and have found some of them quite disturbing (VIDEODROME). I'd also seen, on numerous occasions, the quite iconic scene towards the beginning of the movie.The film is about corporation where one of their divisions has been doing specialized research on people with psychic powers, called scanners. One scanner has gone rogue and has recruited other scanners to join him so that they can win world denomination. The corporation pits one of their scanners against the rogue with the hopes he will be destroyed. I had very high expectations for the film, and was somewhat disappointed. It's not that the movie is bad, per se, its more that it is miscast in parts, doesn't make much sense and has a tendency to move on the slower side. There are parts of the film that just drag on and on, especially through the middle. I feel that the lead didn't have enough of a dynamic personality to own the role and I had some difficulty finding him believable. Whether this is the fault of the actor or his voice, the director or the casting people (or a mixture of all of them) is anyone's guess. I believe that if the lead had been given to someone who was less subdued, the movie would have been much better. There is also a right place, right time kind of thing going on throughout that didn't make much sense. Additionally, some of the situations the scanner "employed" by the corporation, who was once homeless, finds himself in and is able to master without previous knowledge left me shaking my head. It was all a bit much.On the plus side, there were some nice special effects and almost every one other than the lead did a fairly good job with their roles. There are some nice twists and turns towards the end that I didn't see coming. The soundtrack is effective.This film generally has pretty good reviews overall, so if you are a fan of sci-fi or Mr. Cronenberg, give it a watch if you want. Horror fans may like it too, but again, it didn't float my boat as much as some other viewers.

sol- Fresh as ever after five viewings, 'Scanners' is more than just a film about telepathy, telekinesis and exploding heads. The film takes a philosophical look at what telepathy could by definition mean; in the words of Patrick McGoohan's character, "the direct linking of two nervous systems", which is not just limited to human beings but also connecting to computers (machines). Indeed, as hard as it for a so-called scanner to "develop a self-personality" amid hearing so many voices from others, the movie begs the question of whether or not these mutant human beings are a superior evolutionary form. Add in brooding Howard Shore music, awesome sound effects (for all the overlapping voices), chilling dissolve edits and a curious colour red motif, and 'Scanners' is a typically atmospheric David Cronenberg ride. At times, the film has the feeling of a generic 'trust no one' thriller, but for the most part, it is a gripping ride with an excellent art therapy subplot - which could be interpreted as Cronenberg offering a commentary on himself and why he makes films (much could also be said of one character designing a giant human head to sit inside. On top of all this, the iconic special effects and action scenes still stack up well more than thirty years later thanks to detailed makeup work, particularly as the veins of those being scanned slowly rise to the surface.

gwnightscream David Cronenberg's 1981 sci-fi/horror film stars Stephen Lack, Michael Ironside, Jennifer O'Neill, Lawrence Dane and Patrick McGoohan. Lack plays Cameron, a man who has a special gift of mind control called "scanning." He's a test subject of scientist, Paul Ruth (McGoohan) and soon he's sent to find and kill dangerous man, Revok (Ironside) who is also a scanner and his followers. Dane plays Keller, Revok's associate who is a traitor of Ruth and O'Neill plays Kim, a scanner who becomes Cameron's love interest. This is a pretty good film with bloody, suspenseful and disturbing moments. Ironside plays a good villain as usual, Dick Smith's make-up effects are impressive and Howard Shore's score is great as usual. I recommend this.