The Lawnmower Man (1992)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Brett Leonard

Writers:

Stephen King (title only) (credit removed following lawsuit)
Brett Leonard (writer) ...

Release Date:

6 March 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

God made him simple. Science made him a god.

Plot:

A simple man is turned into a genius through the application of computer science.

Plot Keywords:

Virtual Reality | Intelligence | Scientist | Computer | Bare Back

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jeff Fahey	...	Jobe Smith
Pierce Brosnan	...	Dr. Lawrence Angelo
Jenny Wright	...	Marnie Burke
Mark Bringleson	...	Sebastian Timms
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Terry McKeen
Jeremy Slate	...	Father Francis McKeen
Dean Norris	...	The Director
Colleen Coffey	...	Caroline Angelo
Jim Landis	...	Ed Walts
Troy Evans	...	Lieutenant Goodwin
Rosalee Mayeux	...	Carla Parkette
Austin O'Brien	...	Peter Parkette
Michael Gregory	...	Security Chief
Joe Hart	...	Patrolman Cooley
John Laughlin	...	Jake Simpson

Also Known As:

Stephen King's The Lawnmower Man
Virtual Wars (Japan: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sensuality and a scene of violence.

Runtime:

107 min | USA:140 min (director's cut)

Country:

UK | USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Allied Vision

Trivia:

The eight minutes of computer generated special effects took seven people eight months to complete on a budget of $500,000.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Dr. Angelo, remarking on Jobe's progress with Latin, says that he himself took a year to learn just the Latin alphabet, which is still in use, plus a few letters, as the English alphabet. (In mitigation, he could be referring to the difficulty in reading ancient manuscripts, though this seems unlikely in context.)

Quotes:

Jobe Smith: What are you HIDING?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Pierce Brosnan/Destiny's Child (#26.18)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Game of Hearts

Not bad, especially the second time around

I saw this movie when I was 13 or 14, and didn't understand it at all. I was enamored by the visual effects. This time around, I'm 22, and have an electronics background, so I understand some of the concepts a little more. It really isn't a bad movie, it speculates what the world will become in 2001, which is obviously a little innaccurate, considering it's almost 2002, but still. The concept is completely science fiction, and, for all we know, could be a sign of things to come. Maybe not now, but in the future. It won't be as obvious as a mainframe with open I/O ports letting a purely electronic being out into the world's data networks, but it could be a precursor to some AI developments. In 50 years, people may think this movie was worthless, or they could think that it was a vision into the future.

Either way, the movie makes you think, and that is more than can be said for a lot of movies (i.e. Dude Where's My Car). Good movie. Rent it or watch it on the Sci-Fi channel.