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About
A research scientist explores the boundaries and frontiers of human consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from Native American shamans, he explores these altered states of cognizance and finds that memory, time, and reality itself are states of mind.
Theatrical
Dec 25, 1980
Box Office
$19.9M
Budget
$15.0M
Return
1.3x
DVD / Blu-ray
Aug 17, 1999
Theaters
5
Director
Ken Russell
Writer
Paddy Chayefsky
Producers
Howard Gottfried, Daniel Melnick, Stuart Baird
Music
John Corigliano
Studio
Warner Bros. Pictures
Latest
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Movie News
Quotes
See all →The Perils of Self-Experimentation in Science
Taglines
In the basement of a university medical school Dr. Jessup floats naked in total darkness. The most terrifying experiment in the history of science is out of control... and the subject is himself.
Inhuman Cries for Help
Taglines
When he heard his cry for help it wasn't human.
Bizarre Vision and the Limits of Meaning
Quotes about Altered States
If it is not wholly visionary at every juncture, it is at least dependably — even exhilaratingly — bizarre. Its strangeness, which borders cheerfully on the ridiculous, is its most enjoyable feature. The movie itself has many of the qualities of its chief character, who is obsessive, exciting, scary, wildly energetic, and a very odd bird indeed. Actually his leanings are more to the ape-like than the birdlike, and to call them leanings is to put it very mildly. … The movie, part joke and part nightmare, is the story of a man who experiments with hallucinogenic substances, searching for what he calls his unborn soul and longing to re-experience the birth of man. In the course of this adventure, he turns into an ape and scares the daylights out of everyone around him. Really, that's all you need to know. … The film is in fine shape as long as it revels in its own craziness, making no claims on the viewer's reason. But when it asks you to believe that what you're watching may really be happening, and to wonder what it means, it is asking far too much. By the time it begins straining for an ending both happy and hysterical, it has lost all of its mystery, and most of its magic.
Exploring the Depths of Altered States
Quotes about Altered States
* ], in ] magazine (January 1983)
[[John C. Lilly; [w:Omni (magazine)|Omni]
Cast
Full credits →W
William Hurt
Professor Eddie Jessup
B
Blair Brown
Emily Jessup
B
Bob Balaban
Arthur Rosenberg
C
Charles Haid
Mason Parrish
T
Thaao Penghlis
Echeverria
D
Dori Brenner
Sylvia Rosenberg
P
Peter Brandon
Hobart
C
Charles White-Eagle
The Brujo
D
Drew Barrymore
Margaret Jessup
J
Jack Murdock
Hector Orteco
F
Francis X. McCarthy
Obispo
D
Deborah Baltzell
Schizophrenic Patient
E
Evan Richards
Young Rosenberg
P
Paul Larsson
Charlie Thomas
J
John Larroquette
X-Ray Technician
G
George Gaynes
Dr. Wissenschaft
H
Hap Lawrence
Endocrinology Fellow
J
John Walter Davis
Medical Technician
C
Cynthia Burr
Parrish's Girl
S
Susan Bredhoff
Eccheverria's Girl
