# Are there any dream sequences in films and television that don't suck? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408 "2010-11-21T04:08:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/1 "2010-11-21T04:08:34Z")
I’m rewatching the Sopranos and I find most of the dream sequences a drag. Have you ever seen a film or show where dreams were well realised and useful to the story? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/2 "2010-11-21T04:27:30Z")
Twin Peaks. Agent Cooper’s dreams where an integral part of the storyline. ---
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/3 "2010-11-21T04:33:35Z")
Though not exactly central to the story, The Descent had a good one. (About the car accident toward the beginning.) Also, the episode “Hush” in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not to mention all those erotic dreams Spike has when he realizes he’s in love with Buffy. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/4 "2010-11-21T04:51:40Z")
This begins to address my usual problem with dream sequences - in my dreams, I never see myself from a third party point of view, I only see “out” from my own eyes as if in real life. The dream contents are, of course, generally weird, but the perspective is usually just the way it would be if I were awake. Dreams in films or TV are (virtually) never like that. It always takes me right out of the moment. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/5 "2010-11-21T05:07:17Z")
Gregory Peck’s dream sequence in Hitchcock’s _Spellbound_ was designed by Salvador Dalí. It is certainly not one of Hitchcock’s best endeavors, but the dream sequence alone is worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/6 "2010-11-21T05:09:42Z")
I can think of one good one, but it would spoil the movie for me to name it. Conundrum. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/7 "2010-11-21T05:12:42Z")
[Heffalumps and Woozles](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxZ33fcGKjk) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/8 "2010-11-21T05:13:16Z")
There is a good one in\* An American Werewolf in London\* but you don’t know it’s a dream until it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/9 "2010-11-21T05:21:49Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > [Heffalumps and Woozles](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxZ33fcGKjk) That scene and the pink elephants scene from Dumbo used to scare the shit out of me as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/10 "2010-11-21T06:41:00Z")
> [@Renifer](#): > > Also, the episode “Hush” in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I think you mean “Primeval”. Fetish clothed Willow and Tara, Pillow Book homage, Miss Kitty Fantastico, Xander’s extended set piece tour, human Adam, stage fright, “man… a sales man”, multiple cameos, the Cheese man, and Faith & Dawn foreshadowing. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/11 "2010-11-21T06:44:56Z")
the dream in The Fly is good because (1) it shows Ronnie’s worries and (2) it is the scariest part of the movie ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/12 "2010-11-21T06:48:59Z")
I always liked the one in The big Lebowski. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/13 "2010-11-21T07:46:06Z")
\*Newhart. \* ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/14 "2010-11-21T08:19:47Z")
Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/15 "2010-11-21T09:03:20Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > …in my dreams, I never see myself from a third party point of view… Sometimes I view dreams third-person. Occasionally I see them from another character’s point of view. I cna also usually “see” what’s going on in adjacent rooms, even though “I” am not in them. Dreams are weird. And I can’t recall ever seeing a portrayal of a dream in quite the way I experience them. Presumably they’re different for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/16 "2010-11-21T11:38:19Z")
I liked the dream sequence in _Big Bang Theory_ about Sheldon eating too much _Pad Tai_. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/17 "2010-11-21T13:06:36Z")
I liked the apocalyptic dreams of Sarah Conner in Terminator 2…also the most obvious answer: about half the movie Dreamscape. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/18 "2010-11-21T13:38:06Z")
ALICE IN WONDERLAND, as I recall, had some sort of dream that didn’t suck. Ditto the Judy Garland film version of the WIZARD OF OZ. In contrast, there’s a Fritz Lang’s WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, with Edward G Robinson as a college professor trapped in a “nightmare” of fate and deception, everything possible goes wrong leading to the most depressing climax of a movie EVER… and then it all turns out to be a dream, because Hollywood wouldn’t allow such a depressing end. Nonetheless, that little bit aside, it’s a brilliant film. But depressing as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/19 "2010-11-21T13:56:09Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > ALICE IN WONDERLAND, as I recall, had some sort of dream that didn’t suck. Ditto the Judy Garland film version of the WIZARD OF OZ. > > In contrast, there’s a Fritz Lang’s WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, with Edward G Robinson as a college professor trapped in a “nightmare” of fate and deception, everything possible goes wrong leading to the most depressing climax of a movie EVER… and then it all turns out to be a dream, because Hollywood wouldn’t allow such a depressing end. Nonetheless, that little bit aside, it’s a brilliant film. But depressing as hell. More depressing of an ending than _Requiem For A Dream_?? Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408/20 "2010-11-21T14:29:48Z")
Brendan Frazer’s second “Scrubs” episode. Though that might be considered more of a mental breakdown. -Joe [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-dream-sequences-in-films-and-television-that-dont-suck/561408.md?page=2)