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Post by Toasted Cheese on Apr 23, 2020 9:52:28 GMT
Top notch late 70's Michael Crichton thriller based on Robin Cook's novel, which could rightly be considered a classic of the genre now.
A tad implausible and really a polished up 'B' grader, but it just does everything so right, that it is hard to fault it for anything it does wrong. I still feel the suspense every time I view it, it has a nice creepy atmosphere, a sprinkling of squeam factor, which works in well with the less is more approach, an effective and sparsely used Jerry Goldsmith score and a top notch performance by Geneviève Bujold as our heroine Dr. Susan Wheeler, who just can't stop herself from snooping around to get her answers. Bujold pretty much drives the film to its suspenseful climax and she is terrific. She's intelligent, feisty, head strong, courageous yet still vulnerable at the appropriate times. She also won't allow herself to be pushed around by chauvinistic male attitudes.
They don't make em' like this anymore and I don't think they would know how too. Highly recommended.
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Post by fangirl1975 on Apr 23, 2020 19:58:13 GMT
I would like too catch this. Where can I see it online?
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Post by simest on Apr 23, 2020 20:22:13 GMT
It's a terrific film.
Anyone with a fear of hospitals, clinics or medical procedures will get the shudders from this.
It really preys on the fear and vulnerability most of us feel when we submit our lives into the hands of those who perform miracles while we lie unconscious on the operating table.
It's worth remembering also that Bujold's character was up there on the screen, braving peril, fighting a solo crusade against all the odds and male scepticism a full year before Ellen Ripley ushered in an era of strong independent women in film.
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Apr 23, 2020 20:25:24 GMT
I would like too catch this. Where can I see it online? I have it on DVD. Not sure where you could stream it from. Sometimes older films can be found on you tube.
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Post by novastar6 on Apr 23, 2020 23:18:57 GMT
I love that movie. And also on the note of Susan going against male skepticism and doing everything on her own, I also loved that the way she handled herself in various perilous situations were taken from the book, I saw the movie first and I was worried in the original novel she might be, for lack of a better example, like Barbra from Night of the Living Dead, that she's next to useless, like the way she hid from Lance LeGault's character and got away from him, I really didn't think that in the 70s a woman would be written as being capable of thinking of stuff like that.
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Apr 24, 2020 4:20:51 GMT
It's a terrific film. Anyone with a fear of hospitals, clinics or medical procedures will get the shudders from this. It really preys on the fear and vulnerability most of us feel when we submit our lives into the hands of those who perform miracles while we lie unconscious on the operating table. It's worth remembering also that Bujold's character was up there on the screen, braving peril, fighting a solo crusade against all the odds and male scepticism a full year before Ellen Ripley ushered in an era of strong independent women in film. Bujold was a sexy and vivacious actress. A fresh and vibrant face of 70's cinema and cute as a button. Her character in this film knew her score as a woman as well, what would work for her and what wouldn't. This was emphasized with a conversation she had with the Chief Physician about her behavior. Ripley was in a futuristic setting and not so much male dominated as today I would say, Wheeler was dealing with contemporaries, but yes, her strong independence was also inspiring. She was very much her own person and emphatic too.
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Post by wmcclain on Apr 24, 2020 21:00:52 GMT
Coma (1978), written and directed by Michael Crichton. Why are so many patients suffering from unexplained comas? And why is it dangerous to ask? A methodically developed medical thriller, realistic in the hospital details, as you would expect from Michael Crichton, MD. The direction and camera work seem a bit better than what I recall of his other films, but it could have been tightened up quite a bit. Too much goopy soap opera: doctors Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas must be in love -- they walk on the beach together. Hospitals are natural thriller settings. The procedures and prospects are scary, and the doctors are intimidating even when not villainous. It's really disturbing when even they don't know what's going wrong. Paranoia always arrives eventually. In the end it's a message film: the dangers of trusting the authorities, the evil of a system that sees people as spare parts. With Richard Widmark and Rip Torn. Young fresh faces: Tom Selleck and Ed Harris. Jerry Goldsmith's score really helps amp up the action and tension in the second half. Available on Blu-ray. 
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Apr 24, 2020 23:50:55 GMT
Coma (1978), written and directed by Michael Crichton. Why are so many patients suffering from unexplained comas? And why is it dangerous to ask? A methodically developed medical thriller, realistic in the hospital details, as you would expect from Michael Crichton, MD. The direction and camera work seem a bit better than what I recall of his other films, but it could have been tightened up quite a bit. Too much goopy soap opera: doctors Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas must be in love -- they walk on the beach together. Hospitals are natural thriller settings. The procedures and prospects are scary, and the doctors are intimidating even when not villainous. It's really disturbing when even they don't know what's going wrong. Paranoia always arrives eventually. In the end it's a message film: the dangers of trusting the authorities, the evil of a system that sees people as spare parts. With Richard Widmark and Rip Torn. Young fresh faces: Tom Selleck and Ed Harris. Jerry Goldsmith's score really helps amp up the action and tension in the second half. Available on Blu-ray. The love montage sequence was more like a travelog sequence for Massachusetts, yet they worked it in well as a plot device and it didn't go on for too long. Wheeler to get away from the stress of her findings, which then segued into coming across the location of the Jefferson Institute.
That large, creepy block of concrete is now apparently the headquarters for a software company. It has had some facade renovations done on it by the look of it, so not as sinister looking now. More glass and less concrete.
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Post by simest on Apr 25, 2020 0:15:19 GMT
If a building could of itself be terrifying then this is how it might look. The Jefferson building is cold, unwelcoming, somehow featureless and ominous. It really does look like the kind of place you might walk into and never come out. Almost like it would swallow you somehow.
The way they shot the first few moments that introduced us to the building, along with Goldsmith's alarming cues really set the tone. The Jefferson Intitute is pretty much a character itself here. Perhaps even the main villain.
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Post by Vits on Apr 26, 2020 20:40:01 GMT
1/10
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Post by forca84 on Apr 27, 2020 0:55:52 GMT
Anyone ever watch the 2012 made for TV miniseries version? It starred Lauren Ambrose.
I enjoyed the original film alot.
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Apr 27, 2020 1:41:21 GMT
If a building could of itself be terrifying then this is how it might look. The Jefferson building is cold, unwelcoming, somehow featureless and ominous. It really does look like the kind of place you might walk into and never come out. Almost like it would swallow you somehow. The way they shot the first few moments that introduced us to the building, along with Goldsmith's alarming cues really set the tone. The Jefferson Intitute is pretty much a character itself here. Perhaps even the main villain. It has a soulless, oppressive and heavy quality to it. I'd say the architectural company that was commissioned to design it, would have been asked to make something contemporary, solid and sturdy, eschewing any sense of style, aesthetic quality and even notion of beauty in the process. While it looks improved today, I'd say it would have to fight pretty damn hard to win any heritage preservation seal of approval.
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Apr 27, 2020 1:42:30 GMT
Anyone ever watch the 2012 made for TV miniseries version? It starred Lauren Ambrose. I enjoyed the original film a lot. It would appear Vits didn't.
I have just looked up the 2012 minseries. It has a great cast, but not many favorable reviews. I love Ellen Burstyn.
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Post by selfworth10 on Apr 28, 2020 17:32:00 GMT
It was a top notch movie. Crichton and his novels really feel prescient most of the times.
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Post by teleadm on Apr 28, 2020 17:57:48 GMT
I just watched it again, for the first time since the early 1980s, and it's still a very good thriller.
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Post by dirtypillows on Apr 30, 2020 4:12:19 GMT
Top notch late 70's Michael Crichton thriller based on Robin Cook's novel, which could rightly be considered a classic of the genre now.
A tad implausible and really a polished up 'B' grader, but it just does everything so right, that it is hard to fault it for anything it does wrong. I still feel the suspense every time I view it, it has a nice creepy atmosphere, a sprinkling of squeam factor, which works in well with the less is more approach, an effective and sparsely used Jerry Goldsmith score and a top notch performance by Geneviève Bujold as our heroine Dr. Susan Wheeler, who just can't stop herself from snooping around to get her answers. Bujold pretty much drives the film to its suspenseful climax and she is terrific. She's intelligent, feisty, head strong, courageous yet still vulnerable at the appropriate times. She also won't allow herself to be pushed around by chauvinistic male attitudes.
They don't make em' like this anymore and I don't think they would know how too. Highly recommended.
I've always loved this movie. I first saw it on HBO in the early 80s when school was cancelled due to snow. I bet I watched it twice a day that whole week. It's suitably creepy and the plot unfolds with such compulsion. You totally get caught up in the exciting mystery. The music compliments the sinister undertones and when Genevieve and Michael come up on the Jefferson Institute, I get the chills. Rip Torn and Elizabeth Ashley are both intense. And at the heart of it is Genevieve Bujold. She's just so likable and it's extremely easy to be on her side 100%. I'd give it ***1/4. Totally going off on a tangent, I think they should have 1/4 * increments. |
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Apr 30, 2020 5:19:08 GMT
Top notch late 70's Michael Crichton thriller based on Robin Cook's novel, which could rightly be considered a classic of the genre now.
A tad implausible and really a polished up 'B' grader, but it just does everything so right, that it is hard to fault it for anything it does wrong. I still feel the suspense every time I view it, it has a nice creepy atmosphere, a sprinkling of squeam factor, which works in well with the less is more approach, an effective and sparsely used Jerry Goldsmith score and a top notch performance by Geneviève Bujold as our heroine Dr. Susan Wheeler, who just can't stop herself from snooping around to get her answers. Bujold pretty much drives the film to its suspenseful climax and she is terrific. She's intelligent, feisty, head strong, courageous yet still vulnerable at the appropriate times. She also won't allow herself to be pushed around by chauvinistic male attitudes.
They don't make em' like this anymore and I don't think they would know how too. Highly recommended.
I've always loved this movie. I first saw it on HBO in the early 80s when school was cancelled due to snow. I bet I watched it twice a day that whole week. It's suitably creepy and the plot unfolds with such compulsion. You totally get caught up in the exciting mystery. The music compliments the sinister undertones and when Genevieve and Michael come up on the Jefferson Institute, I get the chills. Rip Torn and Elizabeth Ashley are both intense. And at the heart of it is Genevieve Bujold. She's just so likable and it's extremely easy to be on her side 100%. I'd give it ***1/4. Totally going off on a tangent, I think they should have 1/4 * increments. I love creepy horror films set in hospitals, ergo Visiting Hours and Halloween 2. Its that sterile, septic environment that gets to me and hospitals, while existing to care and help sick and injured people, they can remind us of how vulnerable we really are. Bujold has you on her side every step of the way and it is thriller that actually delivers what it promises, thrills and suspense. I would rate it 8\10 or 4 of 5 stars within its genre. Bravo to Coma, Bujold, the creepy Jefferson Institute and the cold and clinical Ashley who would scare any patient away from wanting to be under her care. Poor Tom Selleck and Lois Chiles. 2 of the worlds most beautiful people at that time, having to succumb to life hanging by a thread.... 
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Post by dirtypillows on Jul 18, 2020 19:36:33 GMT
Top notch late 70's Michael Crichton thriller based on Robin Cook's novel, which could rightly be considered a classic of the genre now.
A tad implausible and really a polished up 'B' grader, but it just does everything so right, that it is hard to fault it for anything it does wrong. I still feel the suspense every time I view it, it has a nice creepy atmosphere, a sprinkling of squeam factor, which works in well with the less is more approach, an effective and sparsely used Jerry Goldsmith score and a top notch performance by Geneviève Bujold as our heroine Dr. Susan Wheeler, who just can't stop herself from snooping around to get her answers. Bujold pretty much drives the film to its suspenseful climax and she is terrific. She's intelligent, feisty, head strong, courageous yet still vulnerable at the appropriate times. She also won't allow herself to be pushed around by chauvinistic male attitudes.
They don't make em' like this anymore and I don't think they would know how too. Highly recommended.
For what it is, "Coma" is close to a perfect movie. It never gets boring. GB is extremely sympathetic and likable. On an extreme side note, I am currently reading Elizabeth Ashley's autobiography. She seems like a very honest person, almost to a fault. She dated James Farantino. What a little hottie he was! |
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Post by Toasted Cheese on Jul 19, 2020 23:57:57 GMT
Top notch late 70's Michael Crichton thriller based on Robin Cook's novel, which could rightly be considered a classic of the genre now.
A tad implausible and really a polished up 'B' grader, but it just does everything so right, that it is hard to fault it for anything it does wrong. I still feel the suspense every time I view it, it has a nice creepy atmosphere, a sprinkling of squeam factor, which works in well with the less is more approach, an effective and sparsely used Jerry Goldsmith score and a top notch performance by Geneviève Bujold as our heroine Dr. Susan Wheeler, who just can't stop herself from snooping around to get her answers. Bujold pretty much drives the film to its suspenseful climax and she is terrific. She's intelligent, feisty, head strong, courageous yet still vulnerable at the appropriate times. She also won't allow herself to be pushed around by chauvinistic male attitudes.
They don't make em' like this anymore and I don't think they would know how too. Highly recommended. For what it is, "Coma" is close to a perfect movie. It never gets boring. GB is extremely sympathetic and likable. On an extreme side note, I am currently reading Elizabeth Ashley's autobiography. She seems like a very honest person, almost to a fault. She dated James Farantino. What a little hottie he was! Exacatamundo! It is one nifty little thriller. Promises suspense and that is what it gives us.
Farentino was a honey. As good as it is in its own right, his presence makes Dead & Buried even better. Full of creepiness, atmosphere and a nice touch of early 80's slasher violence\sadism that is quite disturbing.
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Post by fangirl1975 on Jul 20, 2020 18:24:04 GMT
I would like too catch this. Where can I see it online? I have it on DVD. Not sure where you could stream it from. Sometimes older films can be found on you tube. I got to catch it on TV since I originally posted. |
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