Alot of these old Siskel and ebert reviews were thought to be lost. Thank you for posting these! 👍

@nikosvault

5 жыл бұрын

thank IMDB and their sceret donors.Still hooping for 76-78 reviews.

@diaz5292

4 жыл бұрын

There's no such word as 'alot'. Dunce...lol

@JozeeWalz

4 жыл бұрын

@@diaz5292 Bad form!

@tod3msn

3 жыл бұрын

@@diaz5292 Dude....Why can’t one use the words “a lot.” Duh? I guess we are not as smart as you! The point is the early Siskel and Ebert shows are priceless for movie fans but you probably are too smart to understand that point. Duh!

@leczorn

3 жыл бұрын

I saw it on Showtime in the early 80s when I was about age 11 or 12. I barely remember it. Mostly, I just remember that it was very unsettling, and that Thaao Penghlis is in it. He's a longtime cast member of "Days of Our Lives," which my maternal grandmother watched zealously.

BOTH of these flicks are classics and both should be recommended...

@imbluz

3 жыл бұрын

The climax of Altered States was stupid. Scientifically I didn't buy it.

Watched ALTERED STATES earlier today. Such a good film.

@forrestlesak4385

5 жыл бұрын

I have seen that movie before and it was one of the most strangest films that I have ever seen. Its one of those movies that you're only going to want to watch once.

@jimmyl324

4 жыл бұрын

I watched altered states last week. One of my favorite movies

@kevinr.3542

4 жыл бұрын

I saw it for the first time a month or so ago, and it blew me away. I thought it was as good as any movie today. Really great performances in that film. Can't believe it's so under the radar

@DenverDeathrock

4 жыл бұрын

@Funk O'Matic It's on Vudu (with ads).

@matthewschwartz6607

3 жыл бұрын

Does it still hold up?

I love Scanners. Those early Cronenberg movies wow. Gritty, grey and cheap are still amazing movies. Scanners, Rabid, the Brood, Shivers. He later on made one of my favourite movies, the dead zone.

@monotech20.14

2 жыл бұрын

I get Ebert's point somewhat, there are slow boring parts. Still a good movie though.

@brianmcmanus4690

2 жыл бұрын

Fuckin Godhead...

@LordMarlle

Жыл бұрын

I enjoyed Scanners but Cronenbergs next movie Videodrome is a masterpiece to me

@mrbee4life182

Жыл бұрын

​@@LordMarlle Yeah Videodrome was amazing 👍🏻

I loved Altered States. It had some of the most psychedelic and duality behind it, combined with groundbreaking special effects, much like the first Matrix movie.

Scanners and Altered States in the same week? Man, so many good movies came out in the 80's and 90's.

@xxcrysad3000xx

3 жыл бұрын

@Noble Failures Truly. good times had by all.

Loved Scanners, Loved Altered States... Loved Siskel & Ebert.

Both classic movies from the early 1980s. Made me miss Roger and Gene and William Hurt, RIP.

Remember seeing Altered States on the theater. I was blown away.

Did these guys even mention the name "Ken Russell" in their talk of Altered States? I seem to have missed it if they did. Ken Russell was a mad genius. Altered States is a reflection of that mad genius.

@ZIALANDER63

4 жыл бұрын

Not to mention it was written by 3 time Oscar winner Paddy Chayefsky.

@ronaldh8446

4 жыл бұрын

@@ZIALANDER63 - Funny that Chayefsky disassociated himself from the production, crediting his given name Sidney Aaron. I read his script... it's practically verbatim. His issue was with how Russell used the actor's to deliver the dialogue and thought the material should have been taken more seriously. He was a genius but Russell was the perfect director for the material. The story was way too outrageous to be told straightforward.

@randycunningham7318

11 ай бұрын

Agreed. My favorite filmmaker.

I LOVE old Ebert reviews! Thanks for posting.

I think scanners is the one where they made a guy's head explode by thinking at him? That was a great scene!

@Mdebacle

4 жыл бұрын

Michael Ironside not only blew up the guy's head. he wiped out the team of Feds who tried to take him.

@babybird871

3 жыл бұрын

its on the restricted movie preview....

@mrbee4life182

Жыл бұрын

​@@Mdebacle Yeah Ironside was awesome as Revick in the film

Two of my all time favorite movies!

Scanners is a classic.

I don't know what it is about this show of theirs, but every time I start watching their classic eps, I feel they are still alive. I have to remind myself that they have both sadly passed away. I always loved their shows and them.

When I was 15, I saw both these films in a theater when they came out. I'd forgotten it was the same week.

S&E were both right and wrong: BOTH films were great! Both movies were so unlike anything anybody had ever really seen before, that even if only for their originality they should be applauded.

1981-1982 probably had the largest number of classic greats than all years combined up till today.

@mikesilva3868

8 ай бұрын

❤😊

I remember watching this review as a kid. It made me want to see these movies (although I didn’t until a couple of years later, I was 9 when they came out). I miss this show.

Gene liked it. Woaw. I'm always amazed by these guys.

I remember seeing this episode on PBS when I was a kid! Great stuff!

Bittersweet memories of when going to the movies was a real event. Now with covid social distancing, live streaming and torrent downloads people mostly watch at home alone. Sad.

@maxxxmodelz4061

3 жыл бұрын

I agree. It's a shame the movie-going experience is dead, because it was a brilliant way to get a really thrilling experience on a giant screen, and be out in a social environment. A real social environment, not a virtual one. Unfortunately, many theatres turned into slums in many communities, and the experience of seeing a movie was not a pleasant one toward the end of the decade anyway. It will be interesting to see if theatres can survive after covid, and if people will still be interested in going. Even before covid, it was starting to become very, very expensive for an experience that might not have been as fun as it once was. There are some movies though that would shine that much more if you see it on a huge screen, but I see people perfectly happy watching a movie on their iphones now, which is idiotic to me.

@tentcater4710

3 жыл бұрын

And everything is propaganda now not worth seeing so might as well stay home!

Scanners fun! Altered States Smart!

@kevinr.3542

4 жыл бұрын

Seriously altered states has segments that you can tell were written by scientists. The author actually studied sensory deprivation. Mainly the scenes where the scientists interact together. They speak and exist at a much higher intelligence level and thats obvious even when they're at parties making chit chat. Then 3/4 of the way through it becomes an all out 80s horror style movie with the early man escape scene. Then at the end it's basically 2001 a space odyssey

@errolbourgeois8230

3 жыл бұрын

Scanners is one of the underrated films of the 80's

@errolbourgeois8230

3 жыл бұрын

Scanners and Altered States are two sci fi movies that are overlooked when sci fi movies are discussed .That's pathetic

Siskel and Ebert were right about how a great director Cronenberg would become.

@JohnLouisBishop84

4 жыл бұрын

Siskel was wrong about William Hurt, though. He was made to be the leading man in a Cronenberg movie, and I'm amazed it took so long for them to do a movie together.

Altered States in 70-millimeter on the widest cinema screen in town in 1981 was quite a spectacular and memorable experience. It launched careers for two then-unknowns, William Hurt and Blair Brown.

@robertpiekosz7470

4 жыл бұрын

One of my favorite movies on the original big screen. Loved it.

@Dr.Claw_M.A.D.

27 күн бұрын

It was the actual screen début of a young actress. She wasn't credited her first role till she was 12. Mind you she was three in this movie. Drew Barrymore. She the toddler at the dinner party.

Thanks for uploading this old gem! I enjoy listening to those two guys talking back in 1981 about one of my favorite horror franchises Scanners and reviewing it. Little they know that "a young director" David Cronenberg would become one of the best and well known in the horror movie genre, alongside with big names like Wes Craven and John Carpenter.

Thanks so much for this upload!

Altered States was one of the first DVD’s I ever bought, 20 years ago. Along with Yellow Submarine, Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged me, and I think The Entire series of Spawn the Animated Series. Was BLOWN AWAY when I saw AS!!!!!

@cBe9999

4 жыл бұрын

That is one strange mix of DVDs right there - are you sure you didn't also buy 'Citizen Kane', 'Beaches' and 'Deep Throat' at the same time?

@jimmybonez8928

4 жыл бұрын

Yeaaaaaaah!!!!!!! I’m a STRANGE MIX KIND OF GUY!!!!!!!🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

Two brilliant films, two brilliant filmmakers. David Cronenberg (Scanners) and Ken Russell (Altered States).

This was the first episode of their show I ever saw.

Neither of them mentions that Altered States is a Paddy Chayefsky script, the same writer as Network. The dialog sparkles in Altered States. Wish our horror movies were that intellectual now.

I always enjoyed when Linda Hamilton in her SNL monologue showed how things tended to blow up in her life (cut to the clip of the bald guy blowing up in Scanners as her manager).

Cronenberg is so frickin' good, a true master. Cheers!

@randycunningham7318

11 ай бұрын

So is Ken Russell.

Saw Altered States with my friends in high school, wow what a trip. Very 1960s premise that doing drugs and sensory deprivation can alter reality. Scanners was awesome, although admittedly Stephen Lack's acting was wooden. Loved the final mind duel between Vale and Revok at the end! "We're gonna do this the scanner way. I'm going to suck your brain dry!"

@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah Lack had a great face but his acting was atrocious.

I'm agreeing with Gene on this one.

Both great movies!

Both were very good films- they took chances and risks that modern sci-fi/horror won't.

I saw it in 1980 and I never saw it as a special effects film. It's actually a love story

Scanners is genius. Stephen Lack & Michael Ironside are fascinating in their acting choices. Best practical effects of any film, especially the finale.

@sonnyblack0870

3 жыл бұрын

Oh man Stephen Lacks acting was terrible; if you could even call his flat robotic performance acting.

@SleepFan771

3 жыл бұрын

@@sonnyblack0870 I feel like his disaffected cold acting was on purpose. He could have been boring, but his character is supposed to be disconnected with people. I think he works perfectly for what Scanners is going for honestly.

@sonnyblack0870

3 жыл бұрын

@@SleepFan771 Yeah I dunno. I initially speculated he was giving a stiff lifeless performance on purpose because he’s a scanner, but then I realized he’s probably just a bad actor since his weak performance sticks out compared to the rest of the cast, to the point I found it a bit distracting throughout the film tbh. I think he gets away with it a little bit here tho because of, as you say, the overall tone of Scanners, but really I think he’s just a bad actor.

@SleepFan771

3 жыл бұрын

@@sonnyblack0870 agree to disagree then

@sonnyblack0870

3 жыл бұрын

@@SleepFan771 NO IM RIGHT AND YOU’RE WRONG Just kidding, agree to disagree.

Those 1970s soda machines I remember. I hated those machines. Not only do they tend to tilt and unable to fill your soda, they don’t fill it all the way up.

I saw Altered States at the theater and thought it was good movie , you never see that on tv nowadays , William Hurt always great

@hoggers7572

Жыл бұрын

William Hurt always great unless you're dating him.. fantastic performance in Altered States though

Ebert didn't believe in they idea that these humans can scan other humans? its a sci-fi movie Roger. "The Scanner's" only exist in the picture! The same would apply to The Terminator, Blade Runner or Alien, how is it possible that there was aliens with acid for blood and androids with super strength and robots that travel though time.

@captfeeny

4 жыл бұрын

I don't think he liked those films either.

@mrbee4life182

Жыл бұрын

Maybe he thought they were based on real events 🤣🤣🤣🤣

This was recorded back in a time when people respected rule number one of a fight club.

Altered States was great!

What fun. Ty!!!

Altered states is a Hulk of a film

Scanners was a pretty good movie but Altered States was so much better. The premise of a scientist using psychedelics and sensory deprivation to unlock an ancient dormant gene in his body which causes his regression into a quasi simian being (Hence the theory of evolution) is imo far more fascinating than people with telekinetic powers.

They were both right and wrong. What a good week in movies!

I love early Cronenberg.

RIP William Hurt.

I remember all these, thanks for posting them. I also remember that in Summer of 1980 Sneak Previews was briefly off the air thus we didn't get reviews of Airplane, Caddyshack, The Shining and Bronco Billy to name a few. Are these available?

@matthewschwartz6607

3 жыл бұрын

Ebert reviewed at least some of these in his old books. He did a movie review book every year.

Gene was totally wrong on Altered States.How could he not get it ? Awesome movie! Come on Gene!

Scanners is one of the best early movies of Cronenberg

RIP William Hurt

Loved Scanners, never seen Altered States, but now I want to. It looks good from what I seen here.

Wow. I didn't know that there was any havOK in Scanners. I'll have to check it out.

1981 was a great year for movies

I’m destined to see both of these movies, but I’m really looking forward to seeing Altered States, since it is gruesome and disturbing, but then again, it’s not like Scanners where it feels that way, even though I’d like to see that one, too. It was actually a lot of fun seeing that both of these guys defended each of these movies together, in their own ways, possible.

@silikon2

Жыл бұрын

Altered States does have some fantastic and events scary hallucination scenes. One sequence even conveys perhaps a convincing and relentless "bad trip". The actual premise and some of the events that occur are... I'm much less of a fan.

They used to use way way longer clips in the earlier shows...it’s a pity American tv shows get shorter the more popular they are because it means more commercials during the half hour...

@andrewpowell1734

4 жыл бұрын

Toby B This originally aired on public television and didn’t have commercials.

I saw both these films in the theater as a teen, what a great time in film I feel lucky that I lived in those times as compared to now where you can what any kinda movie you want as long as it’s a superhero movie 👎🏻

@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017

2 жыл бұрын

I am so sick of superhero movies.

@d.bcooper7819

2 жыл бұрын

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 my sentiments exactly

I'm curious about "Altered States" now.

Anyone else notice in this episode Siskel's right eye is very swollen? Like as if he were punched a few hours earlier?

Back when you could show four minutes of a movie you're reviewing. Now we have KZread, where reviewers live in fear of showing stills from the trailers.

@babybird871

3 жыл бұрын

it was public TV so no commercials they could show longer clips....

Love scanners great movie 😊

This is a funny episode. Ebert totally missed the point of the first movie, and Siskel totally missed the point of the second movie.

10:25 I believe Dick Smith did the FX on ALTERED STATES

@justanothersciencenerd6907

4 жыл бұрын

Yes, he did the makeup effects. They still look impressive after all these years.

@mdh1875

3 жыл бұрын

And SCANNERS.

I'm with Gene on this - absolutely loved Scanners because of the premise of the film and because of the action and Christ that soundtrack was wonderful but I just couldn't get into Altered States at all. Great light effects and definitely some good scenes but I just felt that it felt a little too hokey for my liking. Ultimately they are two cult films for a reason and I wouldn't argue against either.

R.i.p. Gene Siskel

@mrbee4life182

Жыл бұрын

And Roger Ebert 🙏🏻😥

Both good movies. I thought Altered states was a more interesting premise.

Siskel is about 45 going on 95 here

@kevinhoffman8112

3 жыл бұрын

There were several episodes where he had swollen eyes or a sore throat and couldn't talk well. He seemed to have a weak body that got ill very easily.

What an interesting side by side comparison. "Scanners" was too slow for me, but has some terrific gross out scenes. "Altered States" is the better film..

7:00 if he said that about highlander or something like bodysnatchers id buy it

03:05 Pure comedy gold 😂

@gus4u2c

Жыл бұрын

I’ll have what she’s having. Maybe this scene inspired the one in When Harry Met Sally?

Scanners had the still hot Jennifer O'Neil.

Altered States is a great sci fi film! The film manages to steer away from the standard mad scientist formula.

Altered States was such a commercial failure that it essentially ended Russel's feature film career. TV movies and docs was his destiny moving forward..R.I.P

Why does Siskel look older here than he does in like 1997?

@WordUnheard

4 жыл бұрын

He had an allergic reaction. He mentioned it at the beginning of the video. Well, Ebert mentioned it, and Siskel explained why he looked like shit.

I agree much more with Roger on "Altered States", but honestly they both miss the point about the film: It's a love story. Dr. Jessup is so obsessed with his research that he can't fully comprehend how much Emily loves him: even his proposal to her was more about logic than emotion. It was her love for him that brought him back from the edge, it was his realizing his love for her that rescued her. That the last words of the film are "I love you" is telling.

Siskel & Ebert: Agree to disagree :)

13:15 considering stuff like his thing review kinda weird he says that

What happened to the old woman who got scanned? Did she survive that? Cronenberg used to be really good .

Saw both of these at the theater and both were infinitely better on drugs.

I thought Altererd States came out in 1980.

@outpost31mac

4 жыл бұрын

It did, in December of that year.

@jimmybonez8928

4 жыл бұрын

They must have ahead Christmas break off.

@jessecoffey4737

4 жыл бұрын

The film opened in New York and Los Angeles on Christmas of that year and the next year went into much wider release. According to newspapers.com, its premiere in Chicago, where each of the two critics were from, was on January 23, 1981. By March, it was playing in all fifty states.

I liked galaxina and they both hated it but I Love it

I get Ebert's point somewhat, there are slow boring parts. Still a good movie though.

How could Roger be so wrong yet again with Scanners thats another classic he really didn't get what the films were going for but hey because he didn't like them made others see it to find out what the controversy was all about why exactly he hated it and then they found out he was totally wrong and the movie was great after all so well done Roger

And I love better off Dead and they both hated it it's a great movie

It’s clear you’re either a Scanners fan, or an Altered States fan. Very much the latter for me.

David Cronenberg’s films aren’t for everyone. Especially Roger with his early work.

Altered States had an amazing first half- very cerebral, bizarre. The end was a letdown.

What's up with Gene's face? Does he have a black eye?

Hurt's character takes shrooms and sits in an isolation tank and physically reverts to ab earlier hominid? Then breaks into a zoo and eats an animal? That's the writing of a 15 year old stoner. The hallucinations are actually spectacular though.

Sounds like Ebert dug Cronenberg just didn’t like the plot of Scanners

I guess Gene was more on the pulse than Ebert because scanners is more remembered than Altered state.

Looks like someone punched Gene in his left eye.

Guys, guys!! I'm from the future and both these movies are now cult classics!

Not shocked that Siskel liked Scanners and did not like Altered States. Such a cold fish. :D BTW Cronenberg made Scanners and will make The Fly in the late 80s which was sort of his version of Altered States.

Agree to disagree

Altered States is the better film.

Body horror