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Movies / Upcoming / Scanners
Scanners

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Scanners (1981)

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Reviews Counted:25

Fresh:19

Rotten:6

Average Rating:6.9/10

Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Scanners are men and women born with incredible telepathic and telekinetic powers. This breed of superbrains was developed as an accidental side effect of a tranquilizer administered to some women... Scanners are men and women born with incredible telepathic and telekinetic powers. This breed of superbrains was developed as an accidental side effect of a tranquilizer administered to some women during pregnancy. Cameron Vale is one such scanner, and he, like most of those with similar powers, exercises the benefits of his special gifts in a safe and judicious manner. But a group of renegade scanners, led by the nefarious Revok, plans to create a race of telepathic ubermenschen who will rule the world. Vale must team up with a like-minded female scanner in order to thwart the plans of the fiendish gang. The protracted end game between Revok and Vale is heightened by a dark secret which is shockingly revealed just before their duel begins. [More]

Starring: Stephen Lack, Michael Ironside, Jennifer O'Neill, Patrick McGoohan

Starring: Stephen Lack, Michael Ironside, Jennifer O'Neill, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane

Director: David Cronenberg

Director: David Cronenberg

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Scanners

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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No review available.

comment Comment
04/13/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Like Tod Browning, Cronenberg doesn't have the stylistic resources to match the forcefulness of his ideas, but his movies remain in the mind for the pull of their private obsessions.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/05/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Ironside is fantastic as the lethal Revok, helping make this a popular cult favorite.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/05/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

All this should give fans of David Cronenberg's previous pix their money's worth, although lack of any rooting interest vitiates any possible suspense and highly elegant visual style works against much shock value.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/05/07
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Excellent Cronenberg horror flick

comment Comment
03/16/07
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

Part conspiracy thriller, part political tract, it is Cronenberg's most coherent movie to date, drawing a dark (but bland) world in which corporate executives engineer human conception to produce ever more powerful mental samurai.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out

A mind-blowing telekinesis thriller that immediately put Michael Ironside on the map as one of the most intense actors around.

comment Comment
02/20/06
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com

No review available.

comment Comment
09/23/05
Michael Szymanski
Michael Szymanski
Zap2it.com

No review available.

comment Comment
07/14/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
04/22/05
Nicolas Lacroix
Nicolas Lacroix
EnPrimeur.ca

No review available.

comment Comment
04/02/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

An early masterpiece by David Cronenberg.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
10/25/04
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Scanners is so lockstep that we are basically reduced to watching the special effects, which are good but curiously abstract, because we don't much care about the people they're happening around.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The quality of the film's inventiveness is not always of the first order, which is too bad because Mr. Cronenberg does seem to be a director-writer of some style.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/30/04
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cronenberg's obsession with making the human insides visible begins here.

comment Comment
03/08/04
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

An absolute must-see cult classic for horror and sci-fi fans alike.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
04/20/03
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

This relatively early work from Cronenberg shows all his signature stylistics in full bloom.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/10/03
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

The film is awkward and, at its worst, listless and meandering.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
03/09/03
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Classic Cronenberg, famous for its exploding head.

comment Comment
02/07/03
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
San Francisco Examiner
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Scanners

October 02, 2007: Cory Goodman to Remake Cronenberg's Brood
You guys! Check it out! You aren't going to believe this, but...it's a news item about a remake! More...

April 21, 2007: "Scanners" Remake Explodes...with Politics
It's easy to remake old horror movies with newfangled CGI effects. Recapturing their spirit is another story. That's what David Goyer hopes to do with his script for... More...

April 11, 2007: "Batman Begins" Writer Tackling a "Scanners" Remake
He's written some of the most popular movies of the past few years, but writer/director David S. Goyer isn't slowing down. His remake "The Invisible" hits screens... More...

March 01, 2007: "Saw" Maker to Tackle "Scanners" Remake
Darren Lynn Bousman, director of "Saw 2," "Saw 3," and the upcoming "Saw 4," will soon be helming a remake of David Cronenberg's... More...

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