Videodrome

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Summary: The best movie of the early 80's
Review: The best movie of the early 80's, for it's vision, for it's philosophy, for it's images and ideas, Videodrome is my favourite David Cronenberg movie, along with Crash and Naked Lunch.

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Summary: Moviedom getting even with TV--again
Review: Doesn't take a genius to understand that funding for movies always stands a better chance if it slams the latest challenge to the popcorn magnates of the big screen, and Videodrome was the first on that block -- for the 1980's me decade. James Woods excellent portrayal of a "Gecko" character eight years before "Wall Street" defined the materialistic "me" decade makes the story precognicient and provocative. Yes there are icky special effects. Yes it would have been better shot in black and white, but you can fix that with a TV adjustment. I have had the full screen laser disc for some time and everytime I feel too happy I pull it (or Eraserhead) out to get psychologically pummeled. For what little time you see her, it is also nice to see a 35 year old Blondie in her prime. This is one of those movies that fills a niche-buy it to know you have it, but that's about it for the plusses.

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Summary: What the Hell Was Videodrome?????
Review: This movie is really stupid. I bought it because I'm a huge fan of Debbie Harry's. This movie is like, wicked slow. I got soooooo bored, Debbie's not even on the screen 99% of the time. If you like Cronenburg, I suggest that you DO ADD THIS FLIM TO YOUR COLLECTION, for I think if you're into blood, gore, and tons of nudidy, this is O.K. If you're like me, and a Debbie Harry, Sonja Smiths, or James Woods fan, I think you should just rent it, and see how you like it. But if you want it NOW, this movie is alright to buy, I guess.

RATED R, LOTS OF NUDIDY, and the movie revoles around a new "underground" TV show, in which these men in black leather, wipe and kill naked women, chained to a clay wall, so don't watch this if you can't handle that WEIRD stuff.

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Summary: Cronenberg's VIDEODROME: one of his 3 best movies
Review: David Cronenberg's VIDEODROME, his 6th movie, was the first of his "great" films. (The other two being THE DEAD ZONE and DEAD RINGERS). This is the first movie where he gave up on b-grade horror gore and started to get under our skin by being a very smart and mature film maker. (Not to say that his previous work wasn't smart, this was his first "thinking" movie). Fans of cronenberg a must! Fans of sci-fi, action, and drama will not be disappointed

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Summary: Thank you Criterion.
Review: This film is finally getting the treatment it deserves, a double-disc Criterion edition. It will be re-discovered and newly discovered by Cronenberg & Criterion fans alike.

The soundtrack and the dialogue were always more disturbing to me than the imagery, which still shocks and creeps under your skin more than any CGI effect ever could. It's the organic nature of Cronenberg's style that sets him apart from everyone, period.

It's also his most prophetic work, a warning for how television can and has warped our sense of reality.

"The battle for the mind of North America will be fought in the video arena, the Videodrome."

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Summary: Cronenberg addresses some hot-button issues...
Review: ...which are ultimately more interesting in theory than execution with "Videodrome," a grisly, imaginative comment on television's influence over the public.

Max Renn (James Woods, who blends discomfort, confusion, and sleaze very well) is the president of Civic TV, an independent Canadian outfit that specializes in "everything from soft-core pornography to hard-core violence," and when he comes across a pirated satellite feed of a new program called "Videodrome" (just people being tortured and murdered), he can't take his eyes off it. Renn is matched in madness by Nicki Brand (Deborah Harry, of Blondie), a spacey, new-age radio personality with an appetite for physical pain. After a series of hallucinations and strange bodily transformations (stomachs develop vaginal openings to accept videotapes, of course), Renn is introduced to Barry Convex (Les Carlson, whose excellent, villainous performance is one of the movie's highlights), an eyeglass manufacturer who happens to be the mastermind--or at least ONE of the masterminds--behind the sinister "Videodrome" program.

There are a lot of positive aspects to be extracted from this movie, and being a huge fan of Cronenberg I was expecting to be as enthusiastic as everyone else about this one. But even after watching it countless times, "Videodrome"--while ingeniously crafted--still tends to leave me feeling shut out after it's all over. The movie simply isn't as involving as "The Dead Zone," "Shivers," or "eXistenZ," and I have no idea why. Cronenberg's specialty may be icy characters in strange predicaments, but this is the first instance where I was left cold by the proceedings.

On the positive side, "Videodrome" IS a bit of a sly satire on television that's still relevant today. How much viewing does it take before someone's reality becomes television (as one character asks)? It also shows--maybe subconsciously--the link between watching violence and having it carry over into reality (i.e.--Renn becomes a mind-controlled assassin for Videodrome). Cronenberg's script is stuffed with issues of social and political importance, so much that it takes a few viewings to completely observe his intentions (the mark of a good film).

But maybe the true stars of "Videodrome" are Rick Baker's rushed but efficient special effects, which present some of the most nauseatingly gory images ever committed to celluloid. The aforementioned vaginal openings, videotapes made from flesh, guns grafting themselves onto hands, and bodies turning themselves inside out are just a few things to look out for.

David Cronenberg is one of the most talented directors working today, and "Videodrome" IS a good movie, but--in my humble opinion--it's not the best he's put out.

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Summary: videodrome
Review: Sardonic, visionary tale of a over stimulated society being transformed by its appetite. The visions are erotic, hallucinagenic and nightmarishly violent while the dialogue is slick and full of caustic innuendo. Father Brian O'Blivion is the funniest CEO since Bainbridge Waters in Champange for Caesar.
My favorite line is when Barry Convex asks Max "Why would anyone ever watch a show like Videodrome?' and Max wincingly replies "Business reasons." and Barry says "Sure, sure." I love that "Sure, sure." Icky special effects, S&M sequences and a need to read between the lines makes this a hard ride to take but if you have the stomach and curiousity to make this ride you will be rewarded with one of the hundred greatest movies ever made and one that gets better and better with repeated viewings.
Hail to the New Flesh.

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Summary: David Cronenberg Scores Again With Videodrome!
Review: David Cronenberg is one of the greatest horror film directors to come on the scene. His stylish mix of science fiction and horror gives us surreal films easily compared to directors like David Lynch amoung others. Videodrome is probably my favorite Cronenberg film.

The film is about a television station that specializes in showing softcore pornography and other disturbing types of film. Max Renn, played wonderfully by James Woods, has people go out and find new footage for the network to play. In his search, Renn comes across a video entitled Videodrome, which contains footage of a brutal torture of a few woman. The video becomes an obsession of Renn's and begins to control his life.

An incredible film, with amazing performances from Debrah Harry, singer for the band Blondie, and Woods. The film gives a surreal look at how what we see on television can control our lives. I recommend it to anyone who loves Sci-Fi or horror movies. Definately a classic.

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Summary: Wait for the Criterion DVD this August!
Review: From Fangoria:
• Audio commentary by Cronenberg and cinematographer Mark Irwin
• Audio commentary by stars James Woods and Deborah Harry
• Cronenberg's short film Camera, created for the Toronto Film Festival in 2000 and starring VIDEODROME's Les Carlson
• A new 30-minute documentary by VIDEODROME video FX artist Michael Lennick about the movie's landmark makeup and special FX
• Fear on Film, a half-hour roundtable discussion from 1982 between Cronenberg, John Carpenter and John Landis (all of whom were working on Universal horror films at the time), hosted by director-to-be Mick Garris
• Short promotional featurette from 1982, also created by Garris
• Trailers
• Extensive galleries with makeup test shots, behind-the-scenes photos, publicity stills, marketing materials, etc.
• Samurai Dreams-the fake Japanese soft-porn film seen in the movie, presented in its entirety
• And more!

Rating:
Summary: Should be considered a classic
Review: If any film deserves to be called a modern classic, it is definitely Videodrome. This is an incredibly disturbing and dark tale about sex & violence on television. James Woods stars as Max Renn, head of the upstart cable station Civic TV, whose main draw is outrageous softcore pornography and extremely graffic violence. Renn intercepts a show called Videodrome which is nothing but hardcore violence for a half hour and becomes instantly mesmerized by its content. He soon discovers things about the show that should not be told or discussed to anyone until they see the film for themselves. The cast is brilliant, and Cronerberg seems to get his normal sleepy performances from everyone involved, including Woods and Deborah Harry, lead singer of 80's band Blondie. The only thing that will deter people from seeing this film is the amount of highly disturbing imagery and disgusting gore effects by makeup whiz Rick Baker. This is an abosolutely outstanding film that touches on a subject that is still hush hush in today's soceity. This is not a movie only for film buffs. It is a movie for everyone.