Dreamscape (1983)

Rating: ***
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Max Von Sydow, Christopher Plummer

I remember being really thrilled by this movie when it first came out, but looking back on it now it seems to suffer from B-movie corniness. Fortunately that doesn't hamper the impact of the really cool dream sequences which are what propels this movie into super coolness. Two people with strong abilities in E.S.P. are involved in a research project to enter other people's dreams in order to perform "dream therapy." This would potentially help people with chronic nightmares, sleep disorders, or subconscious anxieties for instance. The bad dream guy is involved in a plot to enter the dreams of the U.S. president and assassinate him, since we all know that if you die in your dreams, you die in real life. The good dream researcher (Dennis Quaid) jumps into the president's dream to save him from his would-be killer in a barrage of mind-numbing imagery. The dream sequences are superbly realized, even if they're occasionally silly, and it's a trip to watch. Fun and mindless eye candy.