Coma (1978) Retrospective Review

[@43nostromo]

"Coma" was a fun movie. As a physician I can say that the institutional feel was very spot-on. As a filmgoer, I really appreciated the metallic chatterings of Jerry Goldsmith's dissonant and unsettling score, often used to great effect in other films such as "The Cassandra Crossing", "Alien" and "Star Trek-The Motion Picture." Crichton had a wonderful working relationship with the late Oscar-Winning composer, which included "The Great Train Robbery" and "Runaway". Goldsmith always understood the power of music in film included when its use was inappropriate, as in the final scene from "The Planet of The Apes".

[@CaminoAir]

Goldsmith also re-scored 'The 13th Warrior' after Chrichton took over re-shoots & editing. Great partnership.

[@ran9080]

“Lucifer and the fallen angels was a nod to the fallen humans who were booted out of Eden. It is the same story with the same purpose: place fear of rebellion in the consciousness systems of humans. Make it strong and potent in the unconscious mind, and make sure that Lucifer,Satan and the devil mirror the trinity of good-the father, son and the holy ghost. Anu realized that the best way to make his human creation lean his way was to make the path to his kingdom appear virtuous and morally acceptable. And how do you do that? You have evil embodied in demons that are bent on enslaving humans and preventing them from following the virtuous path. “It created a perfect polarity of human beings progressing to the Kingdom of god while demons seduced and ensnared them. Angels and ascended masters were guides to show the way to the waiting kingdom. Eastern traditions used demigods, hierarchies of masters,meditation, but it was based on the very same polarity, which at its most basic level was light as good,and darkness as evil. “So with that said,let me return to your question about Lucifer and the Animus. The story of Lucifer is like a prop on a stage. With Lucifer in play, the stage is more dangerous. You can place blame. You can deflect blame and responsibility from the morally righteous and god-fearing humans. You can infer that your enemies are enslaved by demons that do the bidding of Lucifer or Satan. “This creates conflicts that lead to wars. This creates histories of conflict which sow generation after generation of people who are living their forefathers’ conflict. Amid all of this, god grows in stature and importance. Everyone wants to claim that god is on their side. “Lucifer was a catalyst to enlarge the importance of Anu. To make humans dependent on him even though they never saw him,heard him,tasted him, smelled him or touched him. He was in the universal field vis-à-vis the unconscious mind. It was programmed this way,and religious culture only made it feel more real. “The Animus were the Human 3.0 in the trajectory envisioned by Anu to support his infinite supremacy over humanity. His goal was to synthesize humanity with technology. The Animus were us in a potential future. There are government organizations, corporate entities and research institutions that share this same goal even as we speak.”

[@bensneb360]

Definitely an underrated 70s thriller, something about the sterileness of everything just adds to the creepiness

[@FilmJournal]

Totally!

[@robfuzz]

Fun fact: Farrah Fawcett was originally offered the lead role but her Charlie's Angels lawsuit put a kibosh on that.

[@FilmJournal]

Didn’t know that- would have been more in keeping with the book character.

[@matttorrence2900]

Remember, Fauci said "If you argue with me, you are arguing with science." Chrichton was way ahead of his time.

[@pedroervert]

Wonderful video. I adore Crichton. He was an outlier of medicine and gene science. Thinking of power and abuse. Same with jurassic park

[@matttorrence2900]

My grandmother had this book, and in the middle, they had black and white stills from the movie in it... so obviously they re-released the book after the movie was made. It was fascinating to a little 6 year old like me.

[@richardkempton1894]

The gun in Looker essentially puts people in a short term "Coma". It does not stop time. There is an extensive scene that clearly shows Albert Finney losing track of time when hit with the gun.

[@FilmJournal]

Yeah that was bad wording by me- it puts you into like a temporary state of paralysis basically

[@robertconway9761]

Geneviève Bujold received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969). However, she did not win as this video states. Maggie Smith won the award for her performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

[@adrian2470]

What an articulate and well reasoned review. Definitely subscribing 😊

[@FilmJournal]

Thanks man! Love to see it!

[@danwroy]

Coma is a great Facility Film. The location really makes it, as you say.

[@DelosFive]

Looker is one of my favorites forever!!

[@FilmJournal]

Truly a hidden gem!

[@dimplesd8931]

I loved “Coma”! I can’t believe how many of its themes and scenes are reimagined in “Get Out”

[@jezzalexander]

'Looker' is really good, for its time and all that but with ongoing resonance - good to hear it getting a little nudge at the end there. Good video as always, informed analytics and layer peeling.

[@FilmJournal]

Thought about doing a Looker video bc I feel it has a lot to offer. Maybe I will

[@ThePrudentialist]

Great review!

[@FilmJournal]

Huge! Thanks for watching! Big fan of yours!

[@Lacunan]

I'm here because of your appearance on movies with Lowres and Hans. Great video.

[@FilmJournal]

Awesome! That’s great to hear. Had fun with those guys

[@jefferysteen1041]

Was Richard Whitmark ever young?

[@bnwinsf]

Interesting review. Nice job. I haven’t thought about this movie in years. FYI….. Bujold was nominated for an Oscar for Anne of a Thousand Days in 1969, but she didn’t win (Maggie Smith did).

[@harrisoncastleberry458]

I love this film. Loved it since I first saw it theatrically in 1978. The score by Jerry Goldsmith is also terrific!

[@FilmJournal]

Goldsmith was on a streak in the 70’s for sure!

[@jimmyboy7817]

Like a lot of 1970s films, this is the sort of film people in Hollywood wouldn't have the balls to make today.

[@FilmJournal]

I don’t even think the public would really embrace or understand it if it were made today. They have been largely cowed into submission. Red alarm bells start going off in your average normie mind if they are confronted with something off message.

[@esliet]

Always liked this movie

[@seanwieland9763]

7:55 Rip Torn is so young!

[@FilmJournal]

He looks great!

[@JohnAnderson-jy2js]

​@@FilmJournalin a blank or you will miss seeing there's a young actor who plays one of the coroners cutting up a body part that young actor is Ed Harris

[@BillLaBrie]

Rip Torn was never young. He was 45 at birth.

[@ZenGuyMax]

While your on your Crichton kick, don't forget "Disclosure," "Congo," and "Rising Sun"! 😎

[@FilmJournal]

Seen all three films, just read Congo, Rising Sun book is up next

[@EmilyFoxSeaton]

I remember it coming out at the time. I was just a little kid but just the photos of people in the modern housing was scary as could be.

[@FilmJournal]

Still very striking!

[@RichardEKranz]

The Great Train Robbery and Coma Both amazing scores from Jerry Goldsmith.

[@gerrydooley951]

I just remember the ad when she said, "they're putting people in.......cooooomas" hilarious

[@gregorpfueller6659]

what‘s the ambient music you‘re using for this video?

[@liamthompson9342]

Is that Tom Selleck playing a body?

[@FilmJournal]

He has a few lines too

[@victormelendez1074]

The argument about experts here is so silly. It is one thing to refute an expert as another expert but to refute an expert with a podcaster is folly. The expert has actually forgotten more about the topic than the podcaster would or could ever know. We have become anti expert especially when it comes to medicine because people are familiar with doctors because they see them daily. These lay people would never refute the expertise of an engineer building a bridge because very few of us have any experience on the inner workings of what it takes to actually build a bridge. Look at all the podcasters who believe the earth is flat despite all the actual truth being contrary. This argument is stupidity.

[@FilmJournal]

I’ll give you an example. The 6 foot spacing rule that was invented whole cloth by Doctor Fauci was obviously stupid and had no kind of scientific backing. He admitted himself recently that he basically made it up. Had someone said this: “the 6 foot rule is stupid and fake” in 2020 they would have been mocked, shunned, possibly censored on social media for defying the experts. I agree with your idea of expertise. I’m not saying expertise in a certain field is fake. What I am saying is that there are many people in power who cloak their falsehoods under the banner of “expert” and beat opposition to their ideas into submission by appealing to credentials.

[@bliss66]

@@FilmJournal This is a lame example. It was a global pandemic of a highly contagious virus - he certainly wouldn't have been wrong to suggest a harmless distance of 6 feet initially and empowered others to claim their own space and remain safe, saving thousands of lives I'm sure. This in no way compares to the issues of long-term healthcare and medical concerns raised in your video. /smh And it's Susan Wheeler not Catherine Wheeler. And while Genevieve Bujold was nominated for Best Actress for her performance in Anne of a Thousand Days, she did not win and, as of this date, has yet to be nominated again.

[@richardkempton1894]

@FilmJournal "It is better to have people think you're a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

[@FilmJournal]

@@richardkempton1894 would you like to make an effort to refute what I said or just repeat platitudes?

[@sms4077]

@@FilmJournal the problem with your example here is that "someone" thinking that something is "obviously stupid" isn't necessarily indicative that the thing is in fact stupid. "someone" who is a non expert should probably avoid making statements that directly contradict experts unless they have evidence backed by proven science. should we challenge them? sure. because we should similarly expect experts back their claims by proven science and not, as you say, by appealing to credentials.

[@jimmyl324]

Coma is excellent

[@fatdog1963rb]

Saw looker on TV early 80s thought it was very good. Love coma too

[@drmarkcthompson6504]

Loved this film when it came out!

[@garycolton6522]

Coma is excellent!

[@blackamerican40]

I have Looker on dvd.

[@Lovethemusic385]

Comma was good, but the movies about the exclamation point and question mark were much better.

[@FilmJournal]

Agreed. The semicolon film- life changing.

[@billysullivan6788]

Her name is Susan Wheeler in the stoey

[@Murrrraaayyy]

I was 10 and only knew this movie through Mad magazine!

[@FilmJournal]

Many such cases for many more movies I’m sure!

[@DelosFive]

I've never heard 'Jen Ee Vive' pronounced 'Jean Vie Yehr' before. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

[@mnpollio]

You keep saying Catherine, but the character's name is Dr. Susan Wheeler.

[@lunarmodule6419]

At a time when doctors smoked in the hospital while visiting their patients lol

[@CarloLicheri-s7q]

Great movie

[@thomasb.smithjr.8401]

Ah, that brutal 🪨 architecture ... treating all of humanity like disposable machines, just this side of West World or Logan's Run - how Cold War inspired, when one thinks about it. 🤔

[@FilmJournal]

I think brutalist architecture is very exciting in the movies bc of their dramatic and drastic shapes which look great when a colorful actor is in the foreground. Peep old Cronenberg movies or listen to my review on Gattaca where my guest, a fashion expert outlines the positive psychological effect brutalism can have on the mind.

[@AquarianNomadic]

Read the book as well.

[@fluid0]

why have i never heard of this or looker???

[@edwardhannah]

Harvesting human organs to be sold on the black market to the highest bidder is not so far fetched. Geneviève Bujold gives a competent performance in a subpar thriller 😕

[@paulvoorhies8821]

Anyone dig OR 8?? Tom Selleck’s debut as a hanging stiff??

[@shanecasebeer1364]

You changed Susan's name to Catherine, ha ha - TBH she looks more like a Catherine. I loved the book as a kid, especially the thick medical jargon, because it made me feel smarter. Tbe movie is a nice, slow-burn thriller. Fun review!

[@FilmJournal]

I honestly can’t believe I did that and I have no idea why. That’s crazy- I’m crazy!!

[@andrewcoulthard-clark]

Genevieve Bujould was specifically sought after and cast - without audition - to play the first female starship Captain in 'Star Trek: Voyager', in part based off her performance here; there is even a scene in the pilot episode that references the suspended bodies. However, she would last a day and a half before abruptly quitting the production.

[@joes9954]

For some actors, the rigors of TV production is a difficult adaptation. Too bad. It would be interesting to see what little of her scenes exist.

[@andrewcoulthard-clark]

@joes9954 I agree! She'd have been great - there are a few scenes, available on KZbin.

[@robynmarler1951]

But Kate Mulgrew is my captain oh captain😍😍😍

[@resellerworldnj]

Superb movie, deftly directed in a very creepy Polanski kind of way. But why does this narrator keep calling the main character Katherine, when her name is Susan?

[@JetScreamer_YT]

Grounded...I see what you did there.

[@jdsantibanez]

I saw Looker at the theater; really bad. Runaway was disappointing. They both deserved better scripts.

[@tanyet]

Loved them both.

[@83638ischia]

My mom, a film lover, exposed me to this movie at a young age and I’m grateful. It imparted in me a very specific narrative that sadly is so much more prescient than I could have ever expected. Regarding the power dynamic in relationships when both parties work, I can tell you firsthand as a working woman in 2024, nothing has changed. Men, no matter how much more or less they earn when compared to their female partner, expect a woman to still keep house and attend to all their partner’s needs. This is not reciprocated equally if work situations are reversed. Additionally, the approach to women’s health, when handled by men, is far too often counter to the patients’ actually conditions and needs.

[@animelib]

Solid perspective on the film, but could do without the silly COVID conspiracy theories.

[@FilmJournal]

What’s the conspiracy theory? If you had an alternative view of how Covid should be handled from a preventative standpoint point- I.e. against lockdowns or masking you were basically shunned, often banned from social media. Even Zuck from Facebook now admits the government was pressuring him to shut down true information bc it conflicted with lies from Fauci and NIH.

[@vcdonovan5943]

You're not too big into thinking for yourself. You need a television to put thoughts in your head for you. Otherwise you wouldn't have any.

[@robynmarler1951]

Why are they floating?😂

[@FilmJournal]

Bc it looks cool!

[@richardkempton1894]

I want to say it was a way to prevent or minimalize bedsores. I thought it was mentioned in the movie or that's just what my logical mind thought. lol

[@FilmJournal]

@@richardkempton1894 yes they do say that

[@diskjokk]

First of all, I found this video by a "happy accident." It popped up in my feed and I saw the movie, "Coma" in the title. I stopped, and had to watch it. Why? Because I remember (clearly) when I was around 10 years old, I already loved movies!!! So, I'd always spend time looking at the movie release section of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. I'd just stare at the movie ad/poster art of all the films being released that week and I remember staring at one for a movie called, "Coma." It stood out for me as strongly as ads for "I Spit On Your Grave" or "Food of the Gods." Of course, at 10 years old, i could never see these movies, but I wanted to. I'm so glad to have found this channel today and subbed to it immediately! I'm going to watch Coma for the first time ever this week thanks to this video and it's power to transport me back to my 10 year old self, staring at movie ads in a newspaper.

[@FilmJournal]

Wow! What a cool memory. I think movies were more special when they were out of reach like that. In the theatre, maybe on cable later, maybe in the 80’s you could find something on Videotape. Now that everything is so accessible- don’t get me wrong- it’s great. My channel couldn’t exist without home video or streaming for my research. But, movies had more mystique back then.

[@swirvinbirds1971]

Dude, trying to compare it to COVID was just idiotic. 🙄

[@FilmJournal]

Why?

[@swirvinbirds1971]

@@FilmJournal I mean a lot of reasons but no one was being silenced. It's why we had all kinds of crazy talk. Nevermind no one was trying to give people COVID, it was the VACCINE that everyone was fighting about. People were losing their jobs because they refused to take precautions to help prevent the spread. It's just a very odd take.

[@Silvio67]

great movie but it dwelt too much on the chase scenes

[@FilmJournal]

They are rather drawn out I agree.

[@billysullivan6788]

They're not married

[@FilmJournal]

“Wifely” is an adjective that describes behavior it doesn’t denote marriage necessarily.

[@neiltaylor6645]

Avoid OR 8

[@shawnthompson5166]

Very based review. I hope you didn’t fly too close to the sun by mentioning The Science in this.

[@FilmJournal]

We’ll see!

[@sole__doubt]

The feminist propaganda in the movie ruins it like every other movie its in.

[@FilmJournal]

Idk doesn’t seem that pronounced to me. I doubt Crichton was a feminist of any kind. Watch Disclosure with Michael Douglas- based on his novel. No fucking way anyone would make that movie today.

[@sole__doubt]

@@FilmJournal This is how I can tell. If you had Douglas playing Dr Wheeler and Bujold playing Dr Bellows it would make more sense. It would fit traditional gender roles. Feminism takes those roles and inverts them. Im not suggesting that Crichton intentionally did this, he may have been pressured into doing it by the producers. I have seen Disclosure a long time ago and you are right that wouldnt fly today.

[@stucorbett]

You're wrong about the slasher trope of "sin you die and virgins live." wasn't a part of Halloween. Debra Hill based the girls on normal teen behaviour. Have you even seen Halloween?

[@FilmJournal]

How am I wrong? Everyone who has sex dies.

[@stucorbett]

@@FilmJournal In Halloween, only one of the two girls has sex and dies. The sin and die trope came along in other films.

[@FilmJournal]

@@stucorbettMeyers also kills his sister at the beginning of the movie right after she has sex. Have you seen it?

[@Cinecrisis]

Have you even seen Halloween? There are three female characters. Two of them who engage in sex, Annie and Lynda, get murdered while the virginal Laurie survives. Whether or not it is normal teen behavior is irrelevant.

[@Iccarus72]

Great Movie