WARNING!!! This thread contains spoilers, so if you’re one of those pansy-assed people who hates 'em, leave now!!!
In 1979 my parents had been divorced for about two years. Mom and I didn’t have much money, so we rarely went out and did things. Mostly we stayed at home. One night, flipping through the channels, my ten year old self stumbles onto The Lathe of Heaven. Star Wars has made me a science fiction geek, so I watch anything that has to do with science fiction in it. The Lathe of Heaven is the most amazing mindfuck I’ve seen since I caught the broadcast showing of 2001: A Space Odyessy as a very young kid (maybe four or so). I have no idea what the hell this movie’s about, all I know is that’s its the coolest, most fucked up thing I’ve ever encountered. It’s reran a couple of times over the next few years and I always make sure to catch it. When Dr. Faber has psyche destroying experience with the Augmentor, my ass is plastered right up against the television screen, basking in its eerie glow.
As I’m growing up, I have flashbacks to that movie, and it’s weird dream-like quality. Ten years ago, a buddy of mine, who is working at the local PBS station calls me up and tells me that he’s found videotapes of the show and would I be interested in watching it? Hell fucking yeah! I show up at his place and there, on the floor are the one inch master video tapes that he’s pulled a VHS copy from. We pop the tape into the VCR and watch the film. I then understood why I liked LSD and pot, both drugs gave me the same weird waking dream feeling that the movie does. There were all kinds of things in the film that I’d forgotten. It was like viewing the film for the first time all over again, and the rush was just as good this time as the last. And when the film came out on DVD, I just had to have a copy!
So when I heard that A&E was remaking the film, I was a little nervous. I’ve never read the book, for fear that it would spoil the film for me. Still, a remake could be a good thing. After all, they had a paltry quarter of a million or so to make the film with the first time, and a new production would have a vastly larger budget. Plus, this film had James Caan, an outstanding actor IMHO.
The A&E version of the film begins to deviate from the original almost immediately. Not in an annoying way, I’ll admit. It does introduce an interesting character at the beginning who certainly shows a lot of promise. Sadly, however, the film begins to rapidly fall apart once George Orr enters therapy. Caan isn’t the meglomaniac therapist that Kevin Conway is, he’s just sort of there. Shockingly missing from the remake however, are the sea turtle aliens, the sequence where everyone turns gray, and the apocalyptic ending. Instead, we have a film where George Orr is upset because he’s dreamed away Heather Lelache, and Dr. Haber uses George Orr’s abilities for reasons we’re not really clear on.
Thanks, Hollywood, for fucking up another wonderful masterpiece. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and watch the original to remember why this story has had such a powerful impact on my life.
