MovieChat Forums > Mindwalk (1991) Discussion > It's been a while since I thought about ...

It's been a while since I thought about this movie.

posted 11 years ago by bruce-129
12 replies | jump to latest

I used to look for this in the DVD section. I never found it. I actually bought it in the VHS format, but sold it because it was so fuzzy.

I want better, I want either streaming or DVD or even BlueRay?

Why is this movie so hard to get?

The second point is I am so tired of seeing lousy reviews and comments from people who bash this movie and then you look at who they are and they go rate the most inane actions movies 10/10.

This is like someone who just hates knowledge or thought ... why don't they just go search for math books and give them all bad ratings?

Anyway ... mostly I am commenting because I want to see this movie and discuss it. And I wonder why this movie is not published so I can buy it while the most braindead idiotic action flick is never out of print?

Liv Ullman in this movie was right, Western Civilization is going to destroy itself.

[–] Owlwise 11 years ago

I quite agree. After watching this movie many times over the past 2 decades, I still find something new to think about each time. It's not simply that the diagnosis of modern technological/capitalist consumer culture is even more on target now -- though that's a big part of it -- but I glean more about the backstories of the characters as well. Or else I read more into them. It definitely works as a midlife film as well, asking what happened to the dreams & idealism of youth, and wondering about the path the remainder of our lives will take. It also makes the viewer ask, "What is my life about? What is my meaning? How much or how little do I want to grow as a human being?" These are questions that contemporary culture discourages & disparages; it doesn't want people to stop & think, simply to consume & enjoy the endless distractions & sensations provided for that purpose.

You'd think at the very least it would be available via made-on-demand. But it really deserves the full Criterion treatment, to sit next to the likes of "My Dinner With Andre" on our Favorite Films shelf.

I did find the film posted in sections on YouTube & recorded the audio track so I could listen to the dialogue whenever I wanted. It works very well as an audiobook! But like you, I'm still waiting for that quality DVD.

[–] TrentnQuarantino (9363) 4 years ago

That was me in another life ... on IMDB!

[–] Owlwise (1536) 3 years ago

I remember IMDB at its best, when there was actual in-depth discussion of thoughtful movies like Mindwalk. And I wish that still happened more often here at MovieChat. But the likes of Mindwalk won't register with most people today, even though it remains urgently relevant.

[–] TrentnQuarantino (9363) 3 years ago

I think of John Heard when I think of Mindwalk and another of my favorite movies, Chilly Scenes of Winter. Two of my very favorites movies. And Mindwalk also makes me think of My Dinner With Andre which is probably primed for me having just re-read Woody Allen's biographical Apropos Nothing where he talks about Louis Malle, I think, wanting him to play the role of Wally. That would have been terrible. I so agree with you on IMDB in the beginning before people learned that there was no way to control the spammy trolls and marketing and political maneuvering.

[–] Owlwise (1536) 3 years ago

I'm so glad someone else remembers Chilly Scenes of Winter! It's sad that John Heard is mainly remembered for the Home Alone movies, and not for his brilliant performances in films like Chilly Scenes of Winter and Cutter's Way. Such films seem to have been utterly forgotten, along with Mindwalk.

[–] bollinger57 11 years ago

Yes it is on YouTube. There are ways to get a copy (video and audio) from YouTube if you do some googling. I only recommend this as there is no way to purchase this film anymore.

It is a movie that everyone needs to see and contemplate.

[–] bruce-129 11 years ago

Google recently changed their video format so it is much more difficult to grab movies from it. I think this is not a movie for everyone ... not everyone is open to these kind of ideas ... you can tell that by some of the reviews by people who really do not get it.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bruce-129 11 years ago

Well, no one asked you, but also not one said "if you disliked this movie, you didn't "get it"", what I said was that some people did not get it as evidenced by their reviews.

When you look at what it might have been written for, and written to do, I don't know how you make the conclusion that it was poorly written ... I think you just did not like the message. Kind of like saying the Bible is poorly written if you are not a Christian ... it is an irrelevant point. Same with your criticism of Ullman. Write your own review and explain why you did not like it with some genuine points, not just trite rationalizations for why you are against the message and idea of the movie.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Owlwise 11 years ago

It's all a matter of taste & what resonates with the viewer, of course. For me, Ullman was just right, in that her character is constantly veering away from her personal life & reserving her passion for ideas -- good, challenging ideas, to be sure -- but they also serve as a sort of armor against the demands of human relationships.

In fact, I see all three characters as both searching & running at the same time. They're all missing something in their lives, or even actively avoiding it. Their conversation brings each of them to some awareness of what they've been doing ... or not doing, as the case may be.

Again, much of this is what the viewer brings to it & fills in -- or not, perhaps. It struck a chord for me, as I've been in their shoes more than once in my life. The big questions asked, at least for me: How are we to live? What is my life about? And how does that life connect with the rest of the world?

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]