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IMDb > Static (1986)
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Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   193 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 7% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Mark Romanek
Writers:
Keith Gordon (writer)
Mark Romanek (writer)
Release Date:
10 September 1986 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama more
Tagline:
STATIC... it's on a different wavelength.
Plot:
A quirky, out-of-of place worker at a crucifix factory in the Bible Belt invents a device he claims can show pictures of Heaven... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
Mark Romanek Taking On Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go
 (From FirstShowing.net. 6 December 2008, 1:44 PM, PST)

User Comments:
weird unknown gem more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Keith Gordon ... Ernie Blick

Amanda Plummer ... Julia Purcell

Bob Gunton ... Frank
Barton Heyman ... Sherriff William Orling
Lily Knight ... Patty
Jane Hoffman ... Emily Southwick
Reathel Bean ... Fred Savins
Kitty Mei-Mei Chen ... Li
Joel Krehbeil ... Deputy Tom Terrence
Eugene Lee ... Dale
Jack Murakami ... North
Mike Murakami ... South
Uma Ridenhour ... Sarah
Janice Abbott ... Sonya
Tamma Allgood ... T.V. Interviewer
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Necessity (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
93 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Australia:M | USA:R
Filming Locations:
Lake Powell, Utah, USA more

Fun Stuff

Movie Connections:
Referenced in Closure (1997) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Blue Christmas more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful:-
weird unknown gem, 18 October 2001
Author: (loig7) from OL MUFC Eire

"Static" is a precious film. It's a well kept secret, the kind of far-out gem (like , say, Talk Talk : "Spirit Of Eden") that will always escape classification. In a word, it's weird.

Visually, it belongs to the white walls, new wave, ambient American minimalist wave of "Sex, Lies, And Videos", "Bodies, Rest And Motion", "Parents", or the cult Hal Hartley films. The cherry on the cake has to be its soundtrack, complete with sublime atmospheric synthethizer waves by Japan.

The story : something magical happened in a small community ...except noone "gets" it, and a fairly disturbed young man can't get to communicate his sublime vision, and share his surreal "invention". What he has come up with is mind boggling... and noone else recognizes it. Past the suspenseful first half, the film veers into another, more tragic, direction ("Sugarland Express" ?), as he takes on the world. Weird, wacky, wonderful.

Details (like the half-melt crucifix collection, the survivalist, his kids' alien masks) abound, creating a suitably subtle poetic atmosphere. Add to that the fascinating presence of Amanda Plummer, who adds a doubly poignant subplot (returning "home", and sympathising with the loner), and you have a true cult classic of the eighties. -Other possible recommendations : "The Reflecting Skin" , or "The Darkness Of Darkley Noon".

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Static (1986)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
How I found Static Raukan
Name of song before the unveiling of the invention superneodesign
My TV Production Teacher Is In This Movie gojigeek411
Romanek's debut xena-wp
Static on DVD adam-707
UTAH: Heaven on film blaspheme52
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