Review of Altered States (1980) by Joey S — 15 Dec 2013

If there's one thing that Ken Russel's trippy sci-fi/horror masterpiece Altered States has going for it, it's that it definitely holds up to close scrutiny because the images and the way they are presented are way out there and still hold up today.

I can't imagine what people must have thought in 1980 when this was released. Hardly anyone was making movies like this, except for maybe Stanley Kubrick and Alejandro Jodorowsky. It's been referred to by a lot of people as the 2001: A Space Odyssey of its kind, and while watching it, you can certainly understand that.

While it does have a plot, a lot of it seems to be thrown out the window because a lot of the things that happen have no real consequences for the characters, especially William Hurt. The movie is basically stuffed with scientific, theological, and philosophical dialogue, and the rest of the time, it's a bunch of trippy images.

That's it in a nutshell, and while the film tries to say something, it doesn't quite fully succeed. But you can't deny its uniqueness and how it affects you while you're watching. You will remember images from it long after you shut it off, and that's definitely saying something.

It may not be perfectly rounded on all edges, but I don't believe it was really meant to be. You either get with it or you don't, and in my case, I do, mostly. It's a well-made film, but for the mind.