Rating: 
Summary: A Great Film
Review: I see the reviews for this film are not glowing but I decided to sound off and say this film is tremendious. True at times it is a bit camp, and the dubbing of voices at times is bad, but the acting is timeless, the scenes are memoriable, and among Sci Fi horror films it rightfully established Cronenberg as the master of the genre. I can recommend this film as the perfect introduction to Cronenberg with his great films Videodrome(even stranger)and Dead Ringers.
Rating: 
Summary: Mind blowingly good!
Review: Scanners is a fantastic film, not surprisingly considering it was directed by David Cronenberg.What an excellent idea. Drugs tested on pregnant women whose side effects give their children extreme mental powers. The plot is a little like "Highlander" but with brains replacing swords! Definitely one to own....and the many sequels too.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting thought boring movie
Review: I bought this movie because it was only ... and it was not worth the price. The first twenty minutes were decent and then the movie got very boring very quick although they had an interesting idea going. I would not suggest this movie and don't let the cheap price fool you like it did me.
Rating: 
Summary: Technical goof up
Review: I'm not going to comment on the story line. Others have done that well. This review concerns the DVD release. Despite that the film has mono sound, it still appears fine...until chapter 12. About 2/3 of the way into the film, you can tell they did voice overs for the rest of the movie, and poorly. The voices are so out of sync with the lip movements, that I was unable to enjoy the rest of the film. I have the video tape as well (purchased when it first came out many years ago) and although being pan and scan, it is clearly superior. Not only are the voices original and therefore in sync, but the background sounds are noticeable too. For example when the characters are talking and a door is closed, you can't hear the door shut on the DVD because the voice overs muffle all other noises. On the video tape, it is as clear as day. I recommend watching the video tape until they come out with a better DVD.
Rating:
Summary: My review
Review: The first time I saw Scanners,I was 4 or 5 years old.And,the first scene that I saw was that dude's head exploding clear off his shoulders.And,since then I've been hearing so much about that scene,to where I watched it on TV and the first thing I see is that exact scene,and I think, "So,that's the part everyone's been talking about!"Other than that scene,the film is kinda pointless.
Rating:
Summary: This one stuck with me
Review: Just wanted to add that, some 20 years after sneaking in to see this film at a beachfront dive, I still remember bits & pieces of its score and bleak imagery as vividly as if I had seen it only yesterday. There's some wonderfull stuff here.
Rating: 
Summary: David Cronenberg's Scanners
Review: "The exploding head scene! You gotta see the exploding head scene!" I have been hearing that for years, and finally took this little piece of gore out to see the exploding head scene so I could get on with my life. Except for the exploding head scene, this film is pretty mediocre. An evil corporation (are all corporations in sci-fi films evil?) sends a good scanner to kill a bad scanner. Scanners are people who have a vague telekinetic power they achieved after their pregnant mothers took a drug released by the evil corporation. There are good scanners, who gather in little apartments in a circle. They seem to be waiting for the marijuana brownies and the poetry reading. The bad scanners pack heat, and the ability to make people's heads explode. The main good scanner and bad scanner Ironside meet in the end in a silly finale. Aside from the exploding head scene, this was rather a disappointment. The leading man good scanner (Stephen Lack?) is awful. His entire emotional gamut seems to be blank stares and whiny line deliveries. His lines with the over the top Ironside are so flat I thought Ironside might be falling asleep. Patrick McGoohan, as the evil corporation's pawn, slumps in his seat in all his scenes and delivers his lines like he has a mouthful of marbles. Jennifer O'Neill, at the beginning of the end of her career, is simply window dressing to the leading man, running around and ducking for cover. The best actor here is the always underrated Michael Ironside. He relishes his role as the evil scanner, and the movie only lights up when he is onscreen. Whenever someone "scans," the actor looks intently at the subject and moves his head a little from side to side, bugging his eyes out slightly and sweating a lot. I did the same thing watching this film. Cronenberg has a good reputation, but I found "Scanners" a letdown. He let all his earlier success go to his exploding head. I do not recommend it. This is rated (R) for strong physical violence, strong gun violence, strong gore, and some profanity.
Rating:
Summary: Mind Reading Can Be Murder
Review: Michael Ironside is head of an underground group of Scanners - mutants whose thoughts can literally kill. He's got a major grudge match going on with the government goons who made him, and the two groups have been engaged in a private little war that slipperily elusive Patrick McGoohan wants to end. McGoohan brings in unaware Scanner Stephen Lack and clues him in as to what he is, and why he keeps hearing other people's voices in his head. Lack becomes McGoohan's secret agent, sent out to be recruited by Ironside's group and get the goods on them from the inside. The film is uneven and a bit slow, but heavy on suspense and pretty good special effects - which are extraordinarily shocking and violent. Lack is a little wooden as the hero of the piece, but is credible and sympathetic. McGoohan plays the role he always plays - the less-than-forthcoming, smoothly sly double-dealer - and he does it well. The ever-lovely Jennifer O'Neill is Lack's fearful and reluctant helper and love interest. Ironside, who frequently plays underspoken heavies, is at his quietly unsettling best as Lack and McGoohan's psychotic quarry. This is a very well done Canadian low-budgeter, as effective today as when it was made almost a quarter of a century ago. It was the first of the government-created-human-psychic-weapons pieces to follow The Fury, the one that started it all, and is generally better than that film though not as slick.
Rating:
Summary: They need to do a remake of this movie.
Review: Scanners is a great movie, you have Michael Ironside, as the suitably creepy villain and the lovely Jennifer O'Neill, oh yeah and there's that other guy. Anyhoo the actors place these mutated Canadians who can make people's noses bleed, or, if they're really torqued off, their heads explode. The movie is pretty cool but needs to be remade as the exploding heads, which were on the cutting edge of exploding-head FX technology back in the early '80s are passe and rather fake looking now. Perhaps Cronenberg could do what George Lucas did with the original Star Wars movie where he digitally cleaned up the old footage, added in some scenes and put morphing in. Still, the movie's premise is pretty good and it is vintage Cronenberg. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Clever sci-fi
Review: This breakthrough from cult director David Cronenberg sees a tramp suddenly discover that he is a 'scanner', a person that can read and control minds. This eventually transcends into a struggle between the good scanners and the bad. Underneath this there's a neat little romantic interest which is underplayed effectively and an early version of the evils of genetic manipulation. There are some highly impressive special effects, good acting and some fantastic set pieces - especially a modern artist's studio. Although often advertised as a gore fest, it's not really too bad until the end. However, when you do reach the end, it is incredibly gory, so be warned. The ending itself is generally impressive though. Still, at the end of the day, this is impressive for its genre but it's not really my thing. If you like movies of this sort then you'll probably love this, which is remarkably fresh to say it was released during the 1970's.
| 
