The Lawnmower Man (1992) on Netflix
Dr. Lawrence Angelo tests psychoactive drugs and virtual reality to boost intelligence in Project 5. The Shop seeks military uses for the research. Angelo's new subject: Jobe Smith, a gardener.
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- Rotten Tomatoes35%
Trailer
Plot summary
At Virtual Space Industries, Dr. Lawrence Angelo uses psychoactive drugs and virtual reality simulations to raise intelligence in a program called Project 5. The Shop, a clandestine organization, funds the company and seeks military applications for the research. An earlier subject, a chimpanzee named Rosco, gains enhanced intelligence and increased aggression. Angelo redesigns the treatments to remove the aggression factors, then recruits Jobe Smith, an intellectually disabled gardener, promising him greater intelligence. Jobe's mind sharpens, and he develops psychokinesis and telepathy.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Lawnmower Man (1992)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Brett Leonard and producer Gimel Everett wrote an original screenplay about virtual reality technology called Cyber God, inspired by seeing Jaron Lanier and his VPL Research technology at a San Francisco event called "Cyberthon". VPL's DataSuit and EyePhone both appear in the film as props.
- A federal judge ruled in Stephen King's favour in July 1992, the first successful such ruling since James Oliver Curwood had his name removed from 1922's I Am the Law. On appeal it was ruled that the on-screen credit could remain but King's name should be removed from advertising, and he received $2.5 million in settlement.
- New Line kept "Based on a Story by Stephen King" on the back covers in defiance of the order that his name be stricken, so a third court order imposed a penalty of $10,000 payable to King for every day the studio remained in contempt, plus forfeiture of all profits earned in that period.
- The scene where the priest is set on fire is an early use of motion capture, done by an Italian company that used the technology as a tool for golf training. The CGI reached film through the Gemini process: digital images were put on a high-resolution cathode-ray tube screen frame by frame and shot with a motion picture camera.
