Virtual Nightmare (2000) (TV)

Director:

Michael Pattinson

Writers:

Dan Mazur (writer)
David Tausik (writer)

Release Date:

14 April 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Radiation Suit | Cardboard | Virtual Reality | Librarian

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Michael Muhney	...	Dale Hunter
Tasma Walton	...	Wendy
Todd MacDonald
Jennifer Congram	...	Natalie
John Noble	...	Dad
Mitchell Butel	...	Miller
Paul Gleeson	...	Sanford
Bob Hornery	...	Stan
Jerome Ehlers
Peter Curtin
Amanda Wenban
Zoe Naylor
William Ten Eyck		(as Bill Ten Eyck)
Todd Levi
Jonathan Atherton

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Germany:16 | UK:12

Company:

Coote Hayes Productions

Interesting Film

I saw this on cable awhile back when I had absolutely nothing else to to do. For a low-budget TV movie, this one is interesting, thought provoking, and over-all good.

The plot is along the lines of books (and their movie adaptations) 1984 or BRAVE NEW WORLD, with some key ingenious changes that make the film unique and interesting. It is sometime later in the 2000's, and the world is perfect and sugar-coated - or at least seemingly perfect. There are some strange things in this perfect. People can buy "brand new" cars (most of them from the '50s and '60s) and the music used is mostly from the '50s. On top of this retro world there's modern appliances such as a wide-screen TV's, and the main character, Dale Hunter, is a advertising agent working on a new project, Arora (purposefully mispelled). But when Dale starts seeing strange things, like numbers and labels written over everything, he begins to suspect something is wrong. He and a librarian, Natalie (who also shares the opinion that something is wrong), try to uncover the truth behind their perfect world.

None of the actors seem to be very well known, but they show how talented they can be in this movie. The plot is well developed (though in the middle of the film, it got a little confusing). And the special effects are good, especially for a movie with such a low budget. The only problem I have with the movie is the ending. It seemed rushed and unrealistic. For the rollercoaster ride the movie was with so many twists and mind-challenging ideas, the ending seemed a little unsatisfactory.

Great movie, and one of the best TV movies that I've seen. If you can catch this movie on TV, I recommend that you watch it. It's an entertaining and interesting movie. Something that a lot of similar films, with even higher budgets and bigger stars, fail to achieve.

Rating: 8/10