Coma (1978) User Reviews

A Must See for Thrillers Fans

[ragosaal · 8/10 · 27 September 2006]

Based on Robin Cook's novel, the story goes that Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) a resident in the Boston Memorial Hospital suspects something is wrong when too many patients come out in a coma after minor surgery. When nobody takes her seriously she starts an investigation of her own and then realizes she is on dangerous ground for someone is trying to stop her even if she has to die.

Michael Crichton takes the most from Cook's book and assembles a most enjoyable thriller with tension all along, intrigue and an impacting ending too. Among the shocking and powerful sequences this movie offers there's the chasing of Wheeler by a hired killer that lasts in the hospital's morgue full with dead bodies hanging from the ceiling in transparent plastic bags in a sort of subrealistic scene; her visit to the mysterious Jefferson Institute where coma patients are held; the "accidental" death by electrocution of a cleaning employee of the hospital that knows to much; and the final discovery by Wheeler of how things are and who is behind them.

Genevieve Bujold gives a fine performance as the stubborn Wheeler and Michael Duoglas is alright too as her work partner and lover (not a very demanding role anyway). Rip Torn (the surgery chief) and Elizabeth Ashley as a sinister nurse credit the supporting cast. And there's finally Richard Widmark very convincing as the Medical Center's Director who shows sympathy for Wheeler although he believes she's just a trouble maker that could ruin the Hospital's reputation.

A great thriller that constantly improves as the film goes on. You can't miss it if you like real suspense in movies.

Genevieve Bujold: one tough cookie!

[moonspinner55 · 8/10 · 7 April 2002]

As a squirrelly doctor at a Boston hospital who smells a rat when her best friend mysteriously goes into an anesthesia-related coma during a routine operation, Genevieve Bujold proves once again what a dynamic presence she is on the screen. Cool-headed one moment, hysterical and running-in-all-directions the next, she's instantly identifiable to us. As a mystery-thriller that is so filled with continuity errors, gaps in logic and a final act that gives the audience the satisfying release it needs but at the risk of all credibility, "Coma" shouldn't work (and, indeed, many fans of Robin Cook's wordy book didn't think it did). However, as a trashy, one-box-of-popcorn melodrama, the film is very enjoyable and suspenseful. Not the least of the reasons why it's so good is Bujold; handling herself like one of the best crime detectives ever concocted, she is gutsy, feisty, nosy and infectious. You never tire of her spirit. *** from ****

Too Horrifying To Contemplate

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 9 June 2008]

In Coma young idealistic doctor Genevieve Bujold comes upon a practice that she finds too horrifying to contemplate. Patients are deliberately put into comas and then sent to an institute where they are kept mechanically alive so their body parts can be sold to the highest bidder. She tries to tell her boyfriend fellow physician Michael Douglas about what's happening, but he's not buying it. He's very much attuned to hospital politics and there's as much of that in the medical field as any other.

Michael Crichton's novel is turned into one creepy movie that gets creepier by the minute as Bujold uncovers more and more of the story. In her performance Bujold manages to hit the notes of idealism, vulnerability, and toughness at the same time, not easy to do. Bujold for instance, scared as she is, proves quite the match for Lance LeGault who's trying to kill her.

Some others in the cast are Richard Widmark, head of the hospital medical staff where she works in Boston, Rip Torn the very well connected head of anesthesiology which seems to be where the problem lies and Lois Chiles whose case sparks Bujold's interest.

Making early film bit appearances are Ed Harris and Tom Selleck. But the performance that will totally creep you out is Elizabeth Ashley, head of the institute where all the coma patients are warehoused. She makes Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest like Mary Poppins.

Coma is a fine thriller of a film and those last few minutes with Bujold quite vulnerable will have you on the edge of your seat.

Does Medicare Pay for This

[dougdoepke · 12 November 2012]

From now on I'm staying away from hospitals, no matter how cute the nurses, and especially if they stick something up my nose. The movie may be a one-track screenplay, but it's a first- rate thriller accelerating suspense by the minute. So what the heck is going on at this prestige hospital where too many folks are collapsing into comas after ordinary procedures. From the marquee, you'd expect Michael Douglas (Dr. Mark) to be the heroic bloodhound. But he's not. Instead, it's a she, sweet looking, little Bujold (Dr.Wheeler) who takes all the risks from climbing into the clouds to burying assassins in a pile of cadavers—an unforgettable scene. Underneath the riveting suspense, this is really a sneaky feminist-type film.

I really like the way we can never be sure about Douglas. Sometimes he's helpful and affectionate, but then there are the darker fleeting moments that add a good unsettling note. At the same time, the great Richard Widmark (Dr. Harris) is suavely slimy as the head doctor. And what about that Jefferson Institute. It may be the most sinister looking modern building I've seen, more like a futuristic prison, which I guess it is. Anyway, there are a number of unforgettably imaginative scenes that, along with a riveting screenplay, make this a first-rate nail-biter.

Ah, the 70s!

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 10 March 2019]

This is a real time capsule in many ways, and yet it is a very good thriller that still holds up. A surgical resident in a large Boston hospital, Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold), becomes suspicious when she investigates why her best friend, a healthy young woman, becomes brain dead after minor surgery. By infiltrating the hospital's computer system she finds all of the people who have become comatose after surgery in the last year, and finds ten who were young and healthy among them.

But considering that the hospital does 30000 operations a year, ten patients is statistically insignificant. And yet Wheeler keeps digging. The truth is something that is easy to believe post Watergate, which had ended a presidency just three years before.

How is this a time capsule? Well there are the numerous statements about Wheeler being a hysterical woman, even from her significant other, Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas). Boy does Douglas play this one emotionally timid and meek. He is miles from the role of Gordon Gecko he will play ten years later that will win him the Oscar, but then he said in his early career he tried to avoid playing angry fuming types so he would not be compared to his famous father.

Then there are the sexual mores of the 70s. Two employees are having casual sex on the floor when Wheeler visits the hospital lab. ("No Mrs. Baker we cannot explain why there is sperm in your blood sample, can you?"). And the surgery Wheeler's best friend comes in for? It is an abortion, and the surgery is actually shown and discussed in the film like it is no big deal. That would never happen today. It would never have happened in film just five years later in the Reagan years of the 80s.

There are other issues, but I will leave it at that. MGM, which was on its death bed at this point, must have not had much faith in the project, because they released it in January 1978, and that is a month when loss leaders generally open.

A Michael Crichton Thriller!

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 6 October 2015]

When a young female doctor (Geneviève Bujold) notices an unnatural amount of comas occurring in her hospital she uncovers a horrible conspiracy.

Maybe I am just too young, but I think of Michael Crichton as really blossoming in the 1990s. He had "ER", he had "Jurassic Park" and "Congo". It seemed like the height of his career. And yet, here we have 1978, he is already directing a very strong thriller. Maybe not well remembered compared to his other projects, but you still have a great movie with Michael Douglas in a big supporting role. (Bujold, though not as big of a name, has at least as distinguished a career.) "Coma" was Tom Selleck's first theatrical appearance. He would later work with Crichton again in the 1984 sci-fi thriller "Runaway". Composer Jerry Goldsmith would also work with Crichton on "Runaway", contributing his first--and only--all-electronic score.

Long but never bores

[Johan_Wondering_on_Waves · 7/10 · 27 March 2015]

I was pleasantly surprised by this mystery thriller. Here we have a young nurse played by the for me unknown Geneviève Bujold who is shocked when her best friend goes into a coma after a pretty standard surgery. When she goes on investigation it seems her friend was not the only one, its is happening to pretty young and healthy people and this all in the same operation room with number 8. This leads our heroine to another hospital. Even when some people are trying to stop her she shows incredible dedication to continue. The scenes where she is stalked are really exciting and atmospheric. Especially that room full of dead bodies pending on a hook as if it were clothes in a shop is wonderfully gruesome. Despite its long duration it is one that didn't bore me a moment.

A quite wonderful '70s conspiracy thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 9/10 · 21 April 2016]

A top-notch suspense thriller from Michael Crichton, the man who gave us WESTWORLD and JURASSIC PARK. Unlike those rousing crowd-pleasing adventure yarns, COMA is a film which works on subtlety, building up a level of quiet suspense unseen in all but 5% of such would-be films. Yes, this is great stuff, with tons of atmosphere and suspense, great acting from the entire cast and a large, complicated (yet easy to follow) plot with far-reaching implications. There are so many great scenes in COMA that it's hard to keep track of them. There's a wonderful stalking sequence in which Bujold finds herself being chased by a murderous mystery man, which makes the best use of a hospital I've yet to see in a movie - forget the gory, boring HALLOWEEN 2, this is the real stuff and with not a drop of blood to be seen. There's also a really nail-biting climax which had me on the edge of my seat - something which only a small handful of films are capable of doing.

Following in the footsteps of other '70s conspiracy films like THE CONVERSATION, COMA lets the plot unfold at a slow pace, building up pieces of a jigsaw until it all falls into place with a horrific clarity. Genevieve Bujold is excellent as the smart and sexy young doctor who acts as the eyes and ears of the audience, as we follow her journey and never get ahead of her in her investigation. The camera-work and music is also great, with fine locations (the Jefferson building couldn't look more sinister) and some excellent visuals, like the famous shot of the comatose bodies suspended from wires in a warehouse. The action set-pieces are well handled and stick in the mind (like the murder of the janitor, for instance, which has the best on screen death by electrocution I've seen).

Bujold is supported by a familiar cast of old and new faces, all of whom put in fine turns. Michael Douglas is the misunderstood boyfriend who helps Bujold in her research, while Richard Widmark has the fun role of the evil mastermind (don't worry, it doesn't take much to work that out) behind the illegal organ donation scheme. The rest of the cast includes Tom Selleck as a victim, Rip Torn as a doctor and a chilling turn from the guy playing the hired killer; it's a shame I don't know the actor as I'd keep an eye out for him. COMA takes the audience on an epic journey, is gripping at all times, and simply one of the best conspiracy-thrillers out there. 100% recommended.

One of the best cover-ups of the 70's.

[di63 · 7/10 · 27 January 1999]

I rented this movie because it is one of the early works of M.Crichton. I must admit that if this film was released today, it would definitely score high figures in tickets. It is a cover-up thriller about Dr Wheeler (G.Bujold), who after her best friend falls into a coma, discovers similar cases at the Boston hospital where she works. But as her investigation unfolds, she discovers a horrific conspiracy - and finds herself hunted by a killer. Coma has all the ingredients that compose a successful thriller : The plot unfolds step by step with no easy predictions, a very good music score, good cast and an excellent acting by G.Bujold. The scene where the killer hunts Dr Wheeler down in the anatomy room is one of the best scenes I've seen in thrillers. Thriller funs, no blood spreads, boogie-man or hi-tech special effects exist here, but this film is a small jewel in your local video store. A good 7 out of 10.

The standard setter for medical thrillers!

[Banshee57 · 10/10 · 16 April 2005]

COMA: An extremely impressionistic medical thriller, which has since, set standards for many other thrillers of the type. The concept was novel, and surreal. Dr. Susan Wheeler, (Genevieve Bujold) is a successful, beautiful, and intelligent woman, at Boston Memorial Hospital. She has a love/hate relationship with fellow doctor Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas). She has no reason to suspect any sort of foul play at work, until she looses her best friend to an accident during surgery. A deep investigation leads on to the awful truth, that her friends death was no accident, and other deaths weren't either. Much more suspense and intrigue await at the Jefferson Institute, were the shocking truth is revealed. Michael Crichton is just as good a director as he is a writer. The two leads play great off each other, and Jerry Goldsmiths score will send eerie vibes through you goosebumped skin! The first, and best medical thriller, COMA has everything a proper, intellectual movie needs. Terrific introductions, affective development, twisted characters, and mystery for the bold, and brave. A classic to be known, and enjoyed over and over again.

a better second half

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 26 October 2015]

Dr. Susan Wheeler (Geneviève Bujold) and Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas) are resident surgeons in Boston Memorial Hospital and are living together. Her friend is a patient who falls into a coma after surgery. There has been a series of comas in the hospital. Susan starts investigating and stepping on many toes. Mark plays politics and is pressured to reel in his girlfriend. Susan discovers that all the comas come from one operating room and the patients get transferred to Jefferson Institute for long term care.

Michael Crichton directs and adapts the novel by Robin Cook. It's got some very good paranoia thriller vibe during the second half. The first half can be a grind. Crichton is not the best at pushing the pace when the story isn't at its most intense. He could have had some help. Geneviève is not always the most animated actor. Her investigation could have been more compelling. It is an interesting movie with a great twist.

Excellent medical thriller

[preppy-3 · 9/10 · 5 March 2003]

Patients check into the (fictitous) Boston Memorial Hospital for routine operations and, inexplicably, go into irreversible comas. Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) wants to know why much to the disappointment of her doctor boyfriend (Michael Douglas). When she tries to find answers, she finds herself marked for death.

Michael Crichton directed from Robin Cook's great novel. There are huge gaps in logic, but the film is so exciting and entertaining those can be forgiven. It's fairly well-directed and well-done overall. There are many great sequences--Bujold being stalked by a killer in the hospital late at night; a visit to the creepy Jefferson Institute; some lovely views of Cape Cod MA; Bujold, and then Douglas, tracking a suspicious oxygen line and the "accidental" death of a janitor. Also there's Jerry Goldsmith's loud, pounding score moving the picture along and, best of all, this was shot on location in Boston.

The acting is so-so. Douglas and Bujold are OK as the leads. Richard Widmark is having the time of his life playing a hospital administrator. Rip Torn and Elizabeth Ashley also turn in good performances. Also look for Tom Selleck, Ed Harris (with hair!) and Joanna Kerns in bit parts.

A very good movie. However you do have to deal with some very dated dialogue of Bujold trying to make it in a "man's" world. Also be aware that this is pretty extreme for a PG rated movie--there are fairly clear shots of Bujold's body during a shower scene and plenty of nude, dead bodies in a freezer sequence and some really gruesome scenes throughout the hospital.

This film has disappeared for some reason. It caused a lot of excitement around here when it was filmed in 1977 and was a big hit in 1978. Then it just disappeared. That's surprising considering how the careers of Cook, Crichton and Douglas have taken off. It deserves rediscovery.

Suspenseful, Well-Acted, Expertly-Directed,Top-Notch Medical Conspiracy Thriller

[ShootingShark · 7/10 · 17 May 2007]

Susan Wheeler is a doctor at Boston Memorial Hospital when a close friend undergoing routine surgery suffers an extreme reaction to anaesthesia and lapses into a coma. Investigating the case, she discovers both an unusually high instance of coma amongst otherwise healthy patients, and extreme resistance to her actions from senior colleagues. Is she clutching at straws, or is there a deadly conspiracy at work ?

Robin Cook's bestselling novel Coma is the classic organ-harvesting cabal thriller, a staple of tabloid headlines ever since, but there's only one movie which deals with the subject, and the reason is because it's a near-perfect thriller that couldn't be bettered. It does what so few thrillers do; it gets the balance of characterisation and authenticity and action and suspense exactly right. The first half is an immersive, completely believable depiction of hospital life (Crichton was a medical student at Harvard) - the cast seem more like medics than actors - whilst the second is a delirious, nerve-wracking fantasy of assassins, murderous chases, futuristic cryogenics and political coverups, and the shift from one to the other is seamless. Bujold is convincingly out of her depth but determined to uncover the truth, and Douglas is the ultimate don't-rock-the-boat corporate climber, forced to make fundamental decisions about who to believe. Both are excellent, with strong support by Widmark, Ashley and Torn as the heavies, and nice bits by Chiles, Selleck, Doyle and a young Harris. There's also a great blaring unmelodic score by Jerry Goldsmith that twists the knife and very spooky photography by Victor J. Kemper and Gerald Hirschfeld. I find it disappointing that Crichton hasn't made more films, because although he's a great writer it's his directorial style that really scores - his grasp of visual grammar, suspense and eye for spaces in the frame. Most movies made by writers-turned-directors (e.g. Sleepless In Seattle) show little visual flair, whereas by contrast Crichton's movies are full of imaginative effects (see Westworld and Runaway particularly). Coma has a big set-piece chase sequence through the deserted hospital which is spectacularly creepy and unsettling, and the Jefferson Institute scenes are just breathtaking. With the possible exception of the work of David Cronenberg, this movie taps into everything that has ever unnerved you about doctors and hospitals, and is one of the finest conspiracy thrillers of the seventies.

Pretty good if unspectacular thriller.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 16 October 2007]

Coma is set in Boston where Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) & her boyfriend the chief resident surgeon Dr Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas) work at the flagship Boston Memorial Hospital. Susan's best friend Nancy Greenly (Lois Chiles) has a seemingly routine abortion carried out but never regains consciousness, Nancy is diagnosed as brain dead & is comatose. Susan investigates the circumstances surrounding her friends coma & discovers a high rate of young, healthy patients who mysterious come out of routine surgery in a coma. Susan's investigations take her to the Jefferson institute where the coma patients are taken & where she finds out the horrible truth...

Written & directed by Michael Crichton this is a pretty decent thriller. The script is slow going at times which is a shame because it can become a bit tedious in places, it sets the basic situation up of people mysteriously ending up in coma's but then doesn't do anything with it for ages as we see Susan search for the truth. This is OK & it provides a taught enough thriller but I just wish it was a little bit more eventful & not quite as long. The basic story is interesting, it's as much a psychological horror as thriller as it plays on our fears about Hospitals. Places where we go to be healed & cured, the notion & idea that these sacred places could be used for evil gets to you on a basic level & in that respect the story is effective. Unfortunately the film is rather ponderous & takes absolutely ages to do anything with the idea & even then I felt the eventual end was a bit of an anti-climax. This is a good solid thriller for sure but I wouldn't call it a classic by any stretch of the imagination. The character's are good, the dialogue is OK & the story is interesting but I just couldn't help but feel a little bored while watching it.

Director Crichton is usually better known for his big budget screenplays like Jurassic Park (1993) but he turns in a relatively tight & taught thriller even if it's a little slow going at times. There's a nice atmosphere to it & the seeing the comatose patients in the Jefferson institute hanging by wires is sort of creepy but there isn't many out & out scares, it's a film which constantly tries to build the tension until a big climax which as I said I don't think was as good as it could have been.

Technically the film is very good, it has that Hollywood polish about it. Actually shot on location in Boston in Massachusetts. The cast do a good job & the acting is fine, this was an early role for Michael Douglas & as such isn't the star while Tom Selleck has a small role & loses his kidneys.

Coma is a decent thriller that entertains to an extent, there are some interesting ideas & notions but it's all just a little bit too slow going & unspectacular for my liking. Good but not great.

Good, fun thriller that still holds up

[nikatnyte · 14 May 2004]

I just revisited this movie after 25 years and was surprised how well it held up, even given the rather absurd plot and advances in medical technology in the interim. Genevieve Bujold has forever been underused and underrated, and she is simply superb here. And while I wouldn't tarnish Hitchock's reputation by comparing Coma too closely to any of his work, Crichton does a good job of maintaining suspense. I love the scene where Richard Widmark explains the crazy rationale behind it all, and we see it through Bujold's drug-addled eyes, which somehow makes it more palatable than if we were watching it straight.

And I love all the cameos -- Lois Chiles! Tom Selleck! Ed Harris! Many other recognizable faces. Elizabeth Ashley is so over-the-top she's camp. All in all, a fun movie.

Douglas and Widmark add juice to this quasi-thriller trashy high budget flick

[secondtake · 7/10 · 23 April 2011]

Coma (1978)

A totally pop culture fun ride, which is zero surprise because it was not only based on an airport novel by Michael Crichton, but directed by him as well.

Which means it's fast, filled with twists, and populated with easy to grasp characters. The hero is a heroine, a doctor at a major Boston hospital. The actress is French Canadian Genevieve Bujold, a slight but strong character, one of the first of the admirable women leads in movies in the New Hollywood and feminist aftermath (thankfully). In truth, she is admirable if sometimes stubbornly solitary in her pursuit of the evil she has uncovered at work.

And that evil is a series of unexpected comas in young patients, including her best friend (who has gone in for an abortion in this Roe v. Wade era, under the guise of a less politically loaded procedure). This leads to more sensational aspects that I leave to you to uncover.

By her side, either for her or against her (you can't tell after awhile) are two huge Hollywood names, an aging Richard Widmark as the head of the hospital and a young Michael Douglas as another up and coming surgeon (and Bujold's lover). The politics as well as the medical ethics get increasingly mixed up in sensational trashy novel style, which is exactly what this kind of movie needs. It's fun, quasi-realistic, interestingly speculative, and overall well made.

Yes, well made and well directed. Crichton pulls of his second full Hollywood production off with conviction. It feels like a routine, well made, Hollywood movie from 1978--it would have been terrific at a good drive-in, and it's great at home, too. Just to be sure, the movies at the time that were more inventive and impressive included "Deer Hunter" and "Midnight Express" to name just two. And in its own way this tries to touch on an explosive idea at the time (beyond the casual abortion aspect), which is the dignity of life and the black market in body organs.

It's all better than we have a right to expect, if you don't expect too much!

Made me afraid of surgery.

[Aaron1375 · 7/10 · 7 May 2009]

Yes, this movie most definitely had a negative impact on my life as it made me very scared of going under the knife. In which case it makes this movie a very effective movie as well. Also, it seems to be the first movie with the title of Coma made in a rather long list of them here at the internet movie database. The movie is about a hospital where there is something amiss. Seems a good number of the patients are going into comas after surgery and most of them are seemingly patients that are in relatively good health for the most part. One young lady doctor suspects something is wrong and she works to uncover the truth. You also have Michael Douglas who does not really believe her when she starts to find things out. All in all a rather good mystery thriller type movie written by the guy who did Jurassic Park and other science fiction type novels. It is entertaining for the most part, but it also has a few slow stretches of film as well. However, I can not deny that when I had a surgery years after I had seen this movie this movie came to mind when I was going under.

Decent medical thriller

[grantss · 6/10 · 27 August 2016]

A young doctor at a hospital, Susan Wheeler (played by Genevieve Bujold), starts noticing a pattern of strange occurrences with patients. Healthy patients are suddenly developing complications and ending up in comas. She starts investigating and what she reveals is astonishing.

Decent medical thriller. Reasonably suspenseful and direction is solid. Plot is not entirely bullet-proof though and some twists can be spotted well in advance.

Good performances from Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas in the lead roles. However, support is so-so. Richard Widmark wasn't entirely convincing. Also includes Tom Selleck and Ed Harris in minor roles.

A wonderfully adapted medical thriller.

[KillerLord · 10/10 · 29 May 2009]

Novels are best made into movies when you follow them as sincerely as possible. Of course, one can never follow a novel completely since what can be conveyed to the minutest detail in a 600 page novel definitely cannot be packed in a two hour movie. But still, when you do not miss out the essential aspects of the movie, only then can you satisfy those who have read the novel. Coma is one of the fine examples of how a movie can be made out of a good novel.

Coma is based on the novel of the same name by Robin Cook. Robin Cook, being a man of medicine himself is able to present to us with great amount of realism as to how the profession of medicine can be used for commercial selfish gains. Most of his novels are set in a premise where the men of medicine are misusing their powers in order to gain wealth. The story of Coma is about a hospital where something suspicious is going on, as discovered by our lead character – Dr. Susan Wheeler.

The movie then shows how her suspicions prove to be right but she gradually discovers the complexity of the plot and is then faced with a dilemma as to who can be trusted and who cannot be trusted. The best part of the movie, as is the best part of the novel is that it works in a smooth flow and makes us believe that what is being depicted is a surreal possibility and who knows – somewhere in world, it just might be the truth.

For a movie that is made in 1976, the direction, screening and scripting is simply beautiful. It keeps us on the edge of our seats and gives our gray cells plenty of exercise as they try and anticipate as to what is going to happen next. The whole cast does a wonderful job in creating a movie that will for me remain one of the most defining movies in the genre best described as "medical thrillers'.

"We all know, doctors make the worst patients."

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 23 July 2006]

At Boston Memorial hospital, there have been 12 cases of young healthy patients in very minor and different surgical operations, never regaining consciousness afterward and falling into a coma. Although, when Dr. Susan Wheeler's friend happens to be one of those casualties, she takes it upon herself to dig in deep, about this strange occurrence, as the frequency and cloud covering it seems to be way too fishy. Soon, she finds herself in one big conspiracy that just doesn't want to be found out with plenty of obstacles blocking her path and no one believing her.

No wonder why hospitals can give you the wet-willies! Director / screenplay writer, Michael Crichton's "Coma" is a glum medical thriller with a very scary idea and builds suspense and intrigue up like Hitchcock flick. The secret web of crafty turns and unpredictable patterns, works extremely well with its cleverly planned out and thorough script, which takes its time in setting up the mystery and paranoia edge. It's truly effective in that department, but I did find to be overdrawn and finish with a too soft of an ending. The compatible looking production gives the film a little more credit and a certain slickness to its B-material. Yeah, it's b-stuff, but the key is, it's done very well with it opting for a more serious outlook despite the silly nature of it all when you look deeper into it. In patches it does get quite nagging and I found it hard to actually connect with the bitter heroine in this piece. The story doesn't particularly flesh out these characters, but really, they are secondary to the morbid actions occurring. Genevieve Bujold gives in a true performance as the headstrong Susan Wheeler, who puts her nose where she's not supposed to, but I found the character very unlikeable and frustrating. Michael Douglas who shares the screen, basically isn't given too much to do, but he's fine in the co-role as Wheeler's sceptical boyfriend / fellow doctor Mark Bellows. Richard Widmark gives a tip-top performance, Rip Torn is fair and so is Elizabeth Ashley. In bit parts, are Tom Selleck and a creepy looking Ed Harris. Chiming in is Jerry Goldsmith's kinetic score that's truly on the alienating side and crisp photography gives the film a real nice shine when capturing the cold and sterile setting. Novelist / director, Crichton, does a efficient job in the director's chair and he frames some well-executed, blood curdling and nail biting scenarios.

The thriller "Coma", provides a good dosage of ghoulish entertainment. It's definitely worth a daily check-up.

Not One of Douglas's Best - But One of Bujold's

[cyrillmandrake · 9/10 · 13 January 2011]

Love this picture. It should have become a suspense classic but for some reason it has ended up being aired on anything but prime time on various TV-networks. I believe that this might be due to it not being one of Michael Douglas's most memorable films. His heart really didn't seem to be in it. Maybe he and Genevieve Bujold didn't hit it off or that it's more of her film than his. The other actors did swell, especially Widmark, Torn and Ashley.

Bujold gives an energetic performance and is utterly believable as the paranoid yet justifiably suspicious doctor seeking the answer to the question: "There have been 12 cases of unexplained coma in young healthy patients the last year; don't you find that surprising?" And everybody replies: "No." And there's of course the priceless Jefferson Institute.

The sequence where the protagonists approach its sinister exterior is very well done in a Hitchcockian fashion. Its inside and creepy activities are fundamental, not merely to the story, but to the overall impact of this picture. I was somewhat disappointed to be informed of it being owned by Xerox at the time of the shooting. And now by a shoe brand...

Macabre Medical Thriller

[JamesHitchcock · 6/10 · 5 April 2007]

A young woman named Nancy Greenly goes into hospital for a routine abortion, but something goes wrong during the operation and she goes into an irreversible coma. Susan Wheeler, a young doctor at the hospital was a close friend of Nancy, and when she starts looking into her friend's death she finds a disturbing pattern. Over the last few years the same thing has happened to numerous young, relatively healthy patients during routine operations. The numbers are far higher than would be statistically expected, but when Susan tries to voice her concerns she is met first with complacency, then with obstruction, and finally with threats that her career will be at risk if she persists in investigating this matter. Even her boyfriend and fellow-doctor, Mark Bellows, refuses to believe that anything sinister is going on. Undeterred, Susan continues to investigate, only to find that she has stumbled upon a horrifying conspiracy and that her own life is in danger.

Today, a plot like this would seem quite commonplace; the Hugh Grant vehicle "Extreme Measures" from the mid-nineties is so similar to "Coma" that it virtually qualifies as an unacknowledged remake. In the seventies, however, such a plot probably seemed much more original. Although there were exceptions, such as the sadistic surgeon played by Charles Coburn in "King's Row", Hollywood had hitherto generally portrayed the medical profession in a good light, so the idea that doctors and nurses could be murderous villains rather than selfless, idealistic healers was no doubt shocking.

The film also makes good use of its setting. As another reviewer has pointed out, many thrillers make use of dark, claustrophobic settings, so it must have been a challenge to the ingenuity of writer/director Michael Crichton, himself a former doctor, to conjure up an atmosphere of suspense in a cold, clinical, brightly lit hospital. (Alfred Hitchcock took on a similar challenge in "North by North West" when he succeeded brilliantly in creating a sense of menace during the crop-duster sequence, set in daylight in the flat, wide open Illinois prairie). Some of the suspense sequences in "Coma" have a particularly macabre quality to them, especially the scene where Susan is menaced by a villain in a refrigerator filled with corpses in body-bags.

Michael Douglas (in one of his earliest starring roles as Mark) is adequate but seldom more than that. He gives little indication that he was on the verge of stardom as one of Hollywood's biggest names of the eighties and nineties. Genevieve Bujold, however, is rather better as Susan, making her an attractively determined heroine, and there are good supporting performances from Richard Widmark as Dr Harris, Susan's paternalistic boss who may not be all he seems, and from Elizabeth Ashley as Mrs Emerson, the weird, zombie-like nurse (a sort of Stepford Wife of the medical world) at the sinister Jefferson Institute where the coma patients are taken. One can also spot a few stars of the future in minor roles, such as Tom Selleck, Ed Harris and Bond-Girl-to-be Lois Chiles as Nancy.

There are (as others have pointed out) a number of holes in the plot- I could not, for example, understand why the medical establishment of the hospital were so complacent about the number of patients they were losing to coma. I won't detail the other plot-holes as to do so would be to give away too much of the plot. These are not, however, the sort of weaknesses that are likely to spoil one's enjoyment of the film, but rather the sort that become apparent when one sits down to analyse it later, or when one sees it for a second time (as I did recently). Some commentators have called this film "Hitchcockian". Whereas in quality it is by no means up to Hitchcock at his best, it is a reasonably exciting, if modest, thriller. 6/10

A medical Watergate?

[ShadeGrenade · 10/10 · 3 August 2011]

If you find hospitals scary, don't watch this. Based on the bestseller by Robin Cook, and brought to the screen by Michael Crichton ( the man behind 'Westworld' and 'Jurassic Park' ), it is a terrifying exercise in Hitchcockian suspense. 'Dr.Susan Wheeler' ( Genevieve Bujold ) notices that a number of healthy people have been lapsing into comas during routine operations. All have happened in the same operating theatre. The comatose patients are then shipped off to the mysterious Jefferson Institute. When Susan's best friend Nancy ( Lois Chiles, later to appear in 'Moonraker' ) also lapses into a vegetative state, Sue investigates, uncovering a conspiracy led by Dr.Harris ( Richard Widmark ). The Jefferson Institute is illegally using the bodies for medical experiments. Attempting to expose the scheme, Susan is herself then drugged and sent off for an operation. It is down to her boyfriend, fellow doctor 'Dr.Mark Ryland' ( a young Michael Douglas ) to try and save the day...

French actress Bujold showed tremendous promise in 'Anne Of The Thousand Days' ( 1968 ) but sadly never lived up to it. Not her fault. The scripts she was offered were mostly poor, such as the execrable 'Swashbuckler' ( 1976 ). 'Coma', though, is an exception. Anyone who thinks movies in which women are the main characters are a relatively new invention should be made to watch it. Douglas' character, by comparison, is a supporting one.

'Coma', even when viewed thirty-three years later, is strong stuff. Scenes such as Susan being shown round the Jefferson Institute and encountering dozens of bodies suspended in mid-air are horrifying to this day. When an assassin follows her into a room full of vertically-stored corpses, she pushes them and they topple on top of him like falling dominoes. The suspense is highlighted by a typically brilliant Jerry Goldsmith score.

Things To Look Out For - one of the doomed patients is a young Tom Selleck ( future 'Magnum P.I.' ).

Film versions of books are often inferior, but 'Coma' does not dumb down the story. If anything, it is better. Cook's novel was badly let down by a weak ending. The film's climax, however, is right on the money.

Decent 70's thriller

[The_Void · 7/10 · 22 May 2005]

While Coma isn't quite good enough to be considered a 70's classic, it's still a very decent thriller and is one that is thrilling enough to be given that name. The film draws on the fears of people doing terrible things in secret and also the idea of what goes on while you're under the anaesthetic while having an operation. The film's plot follows the mysterious goings on at a hospital after several patients slip into comas. Of course, comas are a normal occurrence at hospitals; but it's happening far too often for Dr Susan Wheeler's liking, and so she sets off to find out the truth behind what's happening. But sometimes, the truth is too difficult to take. Because of the way that the film draws it's plot, the overall atmosphere is one of paranoia; and the movie taps into this with the viewers in order to make itself interesting. Throughout the film, the audience is never really certain what's happening and the way that the film holds certain cards towards it's chest until they have to be played gives full credit to the assured plotting.

The film is typical of the seventies because of it's bulky plotting and the way that the action is forced onto the viewer. The seventies was a definite golden age for cinema, and although this isn't one of the golden films of that era; it shows that it was the golden age because even the lesser seventies films did what they set out to do, which is something that cant be said for this day and age. The acting in the movie is largely good, especially when you consider that this movie is closer to the 'b' side of cinema than it is to the 'a' side. The acting in 'b' movies often leaves a lot to desire, but I'm happy to say that isn't the case here. Geneviève Bujold, despite having roles in a few notable releases (such as De Palma's Obsession and Cronenberg's Dead Ringers) never really got noticed enough to be a star, but still does well here. Her opposite number is Michael Douglas, which despite only being a co-star really, still manages to do well with his role. On the whole, I don't recommend having high hopes for this one...but it is worth watching.

Implausible farce, how to take a good story line and ruin it

[david_w_gibson · 4/10 · 29 January 2017]

First they portray the female lead as an independent sort, but when she locks the hit man sent to get her in a medical cooler after she's found out how they put people into comas, instead of going to the police, she runs back to her boyfriend. Then, after she goes to all the trouble to go to the "Institute" that's selling the body parts at auction, she goes and reports it to the hospital administrator rather than go to the police or FBI. Makes no sense at all and totally implausible. there were so many other plausible ways they could have written this. Like having her call the cops, yet the guy got out of the cooler via a cohort and the equipment had been removed to make it seem she was delusional.