The Terminal Man is set in Los Angeles where a man named Harry Benson (George Segal) is set to undergo a revolutionary operation, after being involved in a car accident & suffering a brain injury he has had black-outs during which he becomes incredibly violent. Several brilliant surgeon's & doctors feel that by implanting electrodes into Harry's brain a computer will send signals which will neutralize the black-outs & the violence, the operation goes ahead & initially is deemed a success but as Harry's brain waves are monitored it becomes clear that his black-outs are increasing & that his brain has become addicted to the electrical impulses. Harry escapes from hospital & goes on a violent rampage through Los Angeles as he eventually targets the (young, good looking female) doctor he believes is responsible for his condition...
Written, produced & directed by Mike Hodges not long after his success with the classic Michael Caine thriller Get Carter (1971) this futuristic sci-fi thriller was based on a novel by Michael Crichton (who was apparently fired from writing the screenplay for this film adaptation because it did not follow his original novel closely enough & he was originally set to direct as well) & is an obvious & sometimes striking warning about science. The whole film desensitizes humanity, human spirit & the world as we know it, everything is very sterile, faceless & conformist from the white on white hospital to the drone like doctors & police who have no real personality. I suppose the films big scene takes place just after the operation & Harry is questioned as various technicians in another room electrically induce all sorts of feelings & sensations which I guess is supposed to imply that science & scientists regard humanity & our thoughts & feelings & who we are as nothing more than electrical impulses. The film is very cold with little emotion shown by anyone which is a bit of a flaw since there's never that balance between the emotive-less science & our own feelings, individuality & thoughts where one can clearly been seen lessening the other. Also at almost 110 minutes not that much happens, the pace is slow to say the least but the story is good & fairly engaging if you can get into it although it definitely does require patience.
The film has a very stark sterile clean look with very little personality, the hospital itself is whiter than white & Hodges films in a very matter of fact way as the camera barely moves & a lot of shots are nicely composed & almost seem symmetrical. I can't remember any background music at all, there's some incidental music going on as doctors visit a club with a singer on stage but no actual score & again I presume it's meant to be very emotionless, detached & matter of fact. This was not a big success & it never had a cinema release here in the UK & isn't easy to find on DVD either.
The production values are good & it's well made. The acting like the story & setting is quite emotionless & George Segal is the only one who shows a little humanity & personality as the big bad scientists even take that way from him in the end.
The Terminal Man is a film that makes a point & it takes quite a while to do so, the story & film-making is good here but the pace will put many off & while some may say the slow pace doesn't matter I think it does. Not a bad film at all but I doubt I would want to see it again.
Written, produced & directed by Mike Hodges not long after his success with the classic Michael Caine thriller Get Carter (1971) this futuristic sci-fi thriller was based on a novel by Michael Crichton (who was apparently fired from writing the screenplay for this film adaptation because it did not follow his original novel closely enough & he was originally set to direct as well) & is an obvious & sometimes striking warning about science. The whole film desensitizes humanity, human spirit & the world as we know it, everything is very sterile, faceless & conformist from the white on white hospital to the drone like doctors & police who have no real personality. I suppose the films big scene takes place just after the operation & Harry is questioned as various technicians in another room electrically induce all sorts of feelings & sensations which I guess is supposed to imply that science & scientists regard humanity & our thoughts & feelings & who we are as nothing more than electrical impulses. The film is very cold with little emotion shown by anyone which is a bit of a flaw since there's never that balance between the emotive-less science & our own feelings, individuality & thoughts where one can clearly been seen lessening the other. Also at almost 110 minutes not that much happens, the pace is slow to say the least but the story is good & fairly engaging if you can get into it although it definitely does require patience.
The film has a very stark sterile clean look with very little personality, the hospital itself is whiter than white & Hodges films in a very matter of fact way as the camera barely moves & a lot of shots are nicely composed & almost seem symmetrical. I can't remember any background music at all, there's some incidental music going on as doctors visit a club with a singer on stage but no actual score & again I presume it's meant to be very emotionless, detached & matter of fact. This was not a big success & it never had a cinema release here in the UK & isn't easy to find on DVD either.
The production values are good & it's well made. The acting like the story & setting is quite emotionless & George Segal is the only one who shows a little humanity & personality as the big bad scientists even take that way from him in the end.
The Terminal Man is a film that makes a point & it takes quite a while to do so, the story & film-making is good here but the pace will put many off & while some may say the slow pace doesn't matter I think it does. Not a bad film at all but I doubt I would want to see it again.