The Lawnmower Man (1992)
Genre: Thriller / Scifi
Duration: 107 minuten / 140 minuten (director's cut)
Country:
United Kingdom / United States / Japan
Directed by: Brett Leonard
Stars: Jeff Fahey, Pierce Brosnan and Jenny Wright
IMDb score:
5,5 (42.836)
Releasedate: 5 March 1992
The Lawnmower Man plot
"God made him simple. Science made him a god."
dr. Angelo is the brain behind Virtual Reality. His research is funded by The Shop, a government agency interested in the military utility of Virtual Reality. When his test chimpanzee dies from an excessive 'dose' of aggression, Angelo decides to continue searching for peaceful applications on his own. He manages to turn his retarded neighbor Jobe into a genius in a short time, much to the amazement of the local residents, who often treat him cruelly. Angelo gets permission to continue experimenting with Jobe in The Shop's lab...
Actors and actresses
Jobe Smith
Dr. Lawrence Angelo
Marnie Burke
Sebastian Timms
Terry McKeen
Father Francis McKeen
The Director
Caroline Angelo
Lieutenant Goodwin
Peter Parkette
Reviews & comments
Tonypulp
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- 21231 messages
- 4608 votes
Falling, floating and flying... so what's next? Fucking?!
It's hard to believe this ever looked good, but seeing these über-futuristic 90's VR footage for the first time today will give you a laugh. As bad as it has withstood the test of time, it is one of the most interesting aspects of this Lawnmowerman. Fahey is pretty weird with his shiny orange-ish face and Bosnan is pure kitsch, but the colorful mix of the story and the over the top personas makes it great fun. Although the director's cut was quite long...
Translated from Dutch · View original
Chainsaw
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- 8845 messages
- 3711 votes
Pierce Brosnan, with earrings and often shirtless, is a scientist who makes his gardener with an intellectual disability smart through virtual reality. The neighbor in question then also uses less and less outerwear and knows how to drive horny neighbors crazy with his tight ass in jeans. In a hilarious CGI fight, Brosnan must stop the over-smart gardener. Producer Robert Shaye of New Line Cinema had the rights to Stephen King's story The Lawnmower Man and threw this title on a completely different script. Because King's short story has nothing to do with this film and he managed to get his name off through a lawsuit.
Not that The Lawnmower Man doesn't fit perfectly with the worse Stephen King films in terms of quality; the film is in no way inferior to a Mangler, Children of the Corn or Dreamcatcher. Anyway, King wrote a story about a crazy naked gardener who ate grass as a ritual and that's not what this movie is about. Only a scene with a self-propelled lawn mower comes from his short story, which has been shoved in briefly by the makers. Thanks to the wonderfully dated effects, The Lawnmower Man is actually quite funny. From the opening scene with a monkey with a virtual reality helmet on, it is laughable at the clumsiness.
2.5 stars.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Lovelyboy
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- 4214 messages
- 3165 votes
Quite a funny movie actually and therefore not even half as bad as expected nor feared. I can remember little or nothing of the King story, a salient detail by the way, according to Wikipedia the film is not an adaptation of the King story at all and only has the title as a similarity.
It is hard to imagine that this CGI was modern and maybe even groundbreaking in '92. How much the possibilities regarding computers and special effects have really taken off in about 30 years. I think it is too easy to judge the film in that respect on what was then possible but now looks pale. The virtual reality in the film can best be seen and accepted in the era of that time. The rest of the film is also up for debate. I personally always find Brosnan a sign of weakness since the man can't do much else than put down a caricature of himself, yet he is not very disturbing. Fahey is also quite acceptable, even if it is only in the second phase where he becomes intelligent and has charisma. Fahey, however, falls short to give good shape to the limited Jobe. The soundtrack is nice and there is the typical image of the government agencies that want to reap the benefits but above all don't want dirty hands.
A decent phase is especially when Jobe discovers his potential and blows it. The murderous lawnmower in particular is a brilliant and delightful scene and in fact the film reminds me a bit of Besson's Lucy in that phase with telepathy and telekinesis. The film can't be called super, of course, but at best it's quite entertaining and especially not as bad as expected. As said before, the final verdict is quite funny.
Translated from Dutch · View originalPre- and sequels
Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace
1996
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