Scanners
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- See scanner for references to devices such as image scanners.
| Scanners | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster for Scanners | |
| Directed by | David Cronenberg |
| Produced by | Claude Héroux |
| Written by | David Cronenberg |
| Starring | Michael Ironside Jennifer O'Neill Stephen Lack Patrick McGoohan |
| Music by | Howard Shore |
| Release date(s) | January 14, 1981 U.S. release |
| Running time | 103 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,500,000 (estimated) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Scanners is a 1981 Canadian sci-fi horror movie written and directed by David Cronenberg.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Scanners are people with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. ConSec, a corporation specialising in weaponry and security systems, is attempting to exploit their talents. At the start of the film, ConSec's last scanner is murdered by renegade Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside): in a notorious scene, Revok makes the scanner's head explode. Revok is captured by ConSec staff but uses his powers to escape.
Dr. Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan), the head of ConSec's scanner section, then recruits protagonist Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) (a drifter who can hear others' thoughts) to infiltrate Revok's underground organization.
The story is structured as a futuristic thriller, involving industrial espionage and intrigue, car chases, conspiracies, and shoot-outs (including a gruesome scanner duel between Vale and Revok at the end). It was the nearest thing to a conventional sci-fi thriller Cronenberg had made up to that point, lacking the sexual content of Shivers, Rabid or The Brood; it was also his most profitable film until The Fly six years later.
Because of the oddities of Canada's film financing structures at the time, it was necessary to begin shooting with only two weeks' pre-production work, before the screenplay had been completed. As a result, Cronenberg has said, Scanners was a nightmare to make.
[edit] Cast
- Stephen Lack as Cameron Vale
- Michael Ironside as Darryl Revok
- Patrick McGoohan as Dr. Paul Ruth, psychopharmacist
- Jennifer O'Neill as Kim Obrist
- Lawrence Dane as Braedon Keller
- Robert A. Silverman as Benjamin Pierce
- Lee Broker as Security One
- Mavor Moore as Trevellyan
- Adam Ludwig as Arno Crostic
- Murray Cruchley as Programmer 1
- Fred Doederlein as Dieter Tautz
- Géza Kovács as Killer in Record Store
- Sony Forbes as Killer in Attic
- Jérôme Tiberghien as Killer in Attic
- Denis Lacroix as Killer in Barn
[edit] Sequels
Scanners also has sequels, a series of spinoffs, and at one point a remake was proposed. None of these projects has involved Cronenberg:
[edit] Sequels
- Scanners II: The New Order (1991)
- Scanners III: The Takeover (1992)
[edit] Spinoffs
- Scanner Cop (1994)
- Scanners:The Showdown(a.k.a.Scanner Cop II) (1995)
[edit] Remake
- In 2004, Lions Gate announced plans to remake Scanners, despite opposition from Cronenberg. As of June 2006, however, there have been no further announced developments and the title has been removed from IMDB, suggesting the idea has been scrapped.
[edit] References in Other Media
- In episode 511 (Gunslinger) of the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, during the host segments, Dr. Clayton Forrester offers "The Scanner Planner" (which, of course, deals with blowing up people's heads ala Daryl Revok) as his end of the episode's "invention exchange". Dr. Forrester then proceeds to use the lessons taught in "The Scanner Planner" to blow up first Tom Servo's head, and then (by the end of the episode) TV's Frank's head. The cover of the planner features the iconic image of Michael Ironside as Daryl Revok, as he is shown during the film's climactic "Scanner battle".
| Movies by David Cronenberg |
|---|
| Transfer • From the Drain • Stereo • Crimes of the Future • Shivers • Rabid • Fast Company • The Brood • Scanners • The Dead Zone • Videodrome • The Fly • Dead Ringers • Naked Lunch • M. Butterfly • Crash • eXistenZ • Spider • A History of Violence |
[edit] External links
- Scanners at the Internet Movie Database
- Scanners II: The New Order at the Internet Movie Database
- Scanners III: The Takeover at the Internet Movie Database
- Scanner Cop at the Internet Movie Database
- Scanner Cop II at the Internet Movie Database
- Animated GIF of the exploding head from Scannersfr:Scanners
