Let The Nightmares Begin!

I've just watched DREAMSCAPE for the first time in what must be 15 years. I bought the DVD ages ago, having really enjoyed the movie on its release, but it has just taken me a long time to actually get round to watching it.
Was it worth it?
Yes and no.

The premise of Dreamscape is an intriguing one - allowing another person access to our dreams - but this was also covered during 1984 in A Nightmare on Elm Street (and then of course, ad nauseam in the series!!!) and in 2000s disturbing The Cell with Jennifer Lopez. Dreamscape takes a lighter tone than either of these titles and goes for more of a thriller route than psychological horror. There's murder, monsters, nuclear holocaust, government conspiracies and it even manages to slip in a little soft-focus dream-sex! The visual effects are original, but be warned they have, like the film, not aged well and the stop-motion does have a Postman Pat quality to it. That being said, the opening sequence is a corker! Overall the movie, is a fun ride. Enjoy.


Dennis Quaid, as Alex, is a solid, cocky young hero to counterpoint David Patrick Kelly's psycho-for-hire. Max Von Sydow, Eddie Albert and Christopher Plummer are as dependable as ever in their parts, whilst Kate Capshaw is not really given much to work with in a part that does little else than act as a very pretty catalyst for Alex's burgeoning powers.


As noted earlier, my experience with this recent viewing of the movie was both good and bad. I've discussed the good - so here's the bad...


The DVD, released by M.I.A is truly budget. A reasonably clean non-anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen picture is showing its age. I would say, at least that it was sourced from a decent original print. The stereo soundtrack, has no steering, little ambience and might as well be in mono. I have no problem with mono soundtracks, and to be honest, wish that in some cases movies would be released without their original sound having been tinkered with, but if a company are to release a title stating that '2.0 Dolby Digital is one of its special features then at least they should have the decency to make an effort!. There is a definite bias towards Maurice Jarre's very 80's score and the sound drops out completely for a couple of seconds at two points in the movie. Somehow, I don't think that this will ever have been put forward for THX approval!!
A neatly designed and animated menu screen leads to the following special features, but it's design is not mirrored in the quality of what is on offer here.
There are biographies, a 'Things That Make You Go Jump' showreel (don't bother, they don't!) and a brief 'Snakeman Mutation SFX' gallery, that looks like its been put together on a laptop five minutes before the film was pressed. Still we do get the original trailer (I think a must for any movie release. Extras or not!!!)


To add insult to injury, the R1 version is 1.78:1 Anamorphic, has a remixed DD5.1 and DTS soundtrack (this noted, I stand by comments above about tinkering with soundtracks) and the special features consist of a Commentary with Producer Bruce Cohn Curtis, Writer David Loughery and Special Effects Aritst Craig Reardon, a Behind-the-Scenes Special Effects Makeup Test Reel and a Stills Gallery.
It strikes me that in the UK, whilst we still get the raw end of the stick with some DVD releases (this is a good example), a company may as well release a vanilla disc than one that has 'extras' such as these. Ultimately, however it is still the original film that we buy these DVDs for, the extras are exactly that - 'extras', so maybe I should stop being so ungrateful!!

 
Gripe over. This is a fun movie, that if you can put yourself in an 80s kind of vibe works well. The presentation is below par and does not do the original source material justice. 
One interesting plus note, and a big thumbs up to MIA for this; the DVD cover is dual sided and includes a nice copy of the original film poster as painted by Drew Struzan. This is a nice touch, and more companies should do this type of thing.
Enjoy the movie but I would recommend enjoying it on R1 if you can.