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76-444: Chayefsky withdrew from the project after disputes with Russell and took his name off the credits, substituting "Sidney Aaron", his actual first and middle names. The film stars William Hurt , Blair Brown , Bob Balaban , and Charles Haid , and marks the screen acting debuts of Hurt as well as Drew Barrymore (in a small role). The film score was composed by John Corigliano and conducted by Christopher Keene . Warner Bros. gave

152-554: A Ceratosaurus . The film reinforced the incorrect notion that non-avian dinosaurs co-existed with prehistoric humans. The anachronistic combination of cavemen with dinosaurs eventually became a cliché , and has often been intentionally invoked for comedic effect. The comic strips B.C. , Alley Oop , the Spanish comic franchise Mortadelo y Filemón , and occasionally The Far Side and Gogs portray "cavemen" with dinosaurs. Gary Larson , in his 1989 book The Prehistory of

228-457: A flotation tank , aided by two like-minded researchers, Arthur Rosenberg and Mason Parrish. At a faculty party, he meets fellow "whiz kid," and his future wife, Emily. Over a decade later, Edward is a tenured professor at Harvard Medical School . He and Emily have two daughters, are on the brink of divorce, and reunite – for the first time in seven years – with the couple who first introduced them. When Edward hears of

304-531: A high wire . It moves with the loping energy of a crafty psychopath, or of film makers gripped with the potential of blowing the moviegoer's mind out through his eyes and ears. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Altered States . Corliss calls the film a "dazzling piece of science fiction"; he recognizes the film's dialogue as clearly Chayefsky's, with characters that are "endlessly reflective and articulate, spitting out litanies of adjectives, geysers of abstract nouns, chemical chains of relative clauses", dialogue that's

380-564: A rape . In response to the accusations aired on CNN on April 13, 2009, Hurt's agent declined to respond, but Hurt issued a statement the following day that his "own recollection is that we both apologized and both did a great deal to heal our lives. Of course, I did and do apologize for any pain I caused. And I know we have both grown. I wish Marlee and her family nothing but good." In a 2022 essay for Variety , after Hurt had died, author Donna Kaz wrote about dating Hurt in their twenties, from 1977 to 1980. She accused Hurt of domestic abuse in

456-409: A treatment he had written into a novel first, and he agreed. He did extensive research with scientists and anthropologists. The novel was published in early 1978. As was the case with his previous films, Chayefsky was granted full creative control over the film version of Altered States . Film rights were sold to Melnick, who had greenlit Network while the head of production at MGM , and who had

532-630: A "welcome antidote to all those recent...movies in which brutal characters speak only words of one syllable and four letters." But the film is ultimately Russell's, who inherited a "cast of unknowns" chosen by its original director and "gets an erotic, neurotic charge from the talking-heads scenes that recall Penn at his best." Pauline Kael , on the other hand, wrote that the "grotesquely inspired" combination of "Russell, with his show-biz-Catholic glitz mysticism, and Chayefsky, with his show-biz-Jewish ponderousness" results in an "aggressively silly picture" that "isn't really enjoyable." John C. Lilly liked

608-416: A Hinchi name meaning "first/primordial flower" in recognition of the deep memory states which it can evoke. An indigenous elder ("the brujo ") is seen with a root in his hand, which he asks Edward to hold, before cutting Edward's hand in order to add some drops of blood to the mixture he is preparing. Immediately after consuming the mixture, Edward experiences bizarre, intense hallucinations, including one of

684-483: A Hollywood film, Altered States attacks the viewer with its inventive, aggressive mix of muddled sound effects and visual pyrotechnics." Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. The initial reviews were generally strong. "It's been a while since I've gotten the acclaim I've gotten on Altered States ," said Russell. Janet Maslin of The New York Times termed

760-441: A clause in his contract stipulating that the words in the script could not be changed. Russell, "at the height of his alcoholism", was rebuffed when attempting to change the words, and then "began purposely trying to destroy Paddy's dialogue by having the actors eat while they were delivering it, or having them deliver it in a staccato, machine-gun kind of style, so that you couldn't make out what they were saying." Eszterhas considered

836-479: A computer. The frames were first manually traced with an electronic pen and transferred to a tablet. For more complex scenes a high-resolution scanner was used. When finished, a digital plotter would draw the frames in black and white on frosted mylar animation cels. The cels were then photographed on a computer-controlled animation stand. An optical printer added the colors, requiring multiple passes with color filtration and separate mattes. The film's original director

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912-544: A deal with Columbia. In April 1978, Chayefsky turned in his script to Columbia. In June 1978, Melnick became the head of production at Columbia, but under his deal, he was still allowed to produce Altered States . Melnick wound up resigning in October, taking Altered States with him. For the final transformation sequence a computer-assisted rotoscope system was created, which produced smooth movements without jitter or objectionable outline. The glow and particles were made on

988-506: A dispute with Chayefsky. Penn later recalled that the only way he could leave the project and get paid for his work was to be fired. But he and Chayefsky remained friends thereafter. The eventual director was Ken Russell, who had struggled to find feature film work since the box office failure of Valentino (1977). Russell later recalled that "they wanted a director who has a very visual imagination, and they knew I had that." Russell later said his agent told him directors who had turned down

1064-407: A disused tank in a medical school, Edward uses it to experience a series of increasingly drastic visions, including one of early Hominidae . Monitored by his colleagues, Edward insists that his visions have "externalized". Emerging from the tank, his mouth bloody, frantically writing notes because he is unable to speak, Edward insists on being X-rayed before he "reconstitutes." A radiologist inspecting

1140-569: A facetious ring. The screenplay, on the other hand, cries out to be taken seriously, as it addresses, with no particular sagacity, the death of God and the origins of man . Film critic Richard Corliss attributed Chayefsky's disavowal of the film to distress over "the intensity of the performances and the headlong pace at which the actors read his dialogue." Russell maintained that he changed almost nothing in Chayefsky's script. "We shot every word that Paddy wrote except for some trifling changes in

1216-532: A nationwide theatrical release in the United States in February 1981 by Warner Bros. Altered States grossed $ 19.9   million in the United States and Canada, against a production budget of $ 15   million. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 85% of 48 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Extraordinarily daring for

1292-805: A nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play . Hurt was born on March 20, 1950, in Washington, D.C. , to Claire Isabel (née McGill; 1923–1971), who worked for Time Inc. , and Alfred McChord Hurt (1910–1996), who worked for the United States Agency for International Development and the State Department . He had two brothers. With his father, he lived in Lahore , Mogadishu , and Khartoum . His parents divorced and, in 1960, his mother married Henry Luce III (1925–2005),

1368-428: A picture." Chayefsky later withdrew his name from the project, so the screenplay is credited to the pseudonymous Sidney Aaron. Film critic Janet Maslin , in her review of the film, thought it "easy to guess why": It's easy to guess why [screenwriter Chayefsky] and [director Ken Russell] didn't see eye to eye. The direction, without being mocking or campy, treats outlandish material so matter-of-factly that it often has

1444-903: A powerful crime boss in A History of Violence (2005). After this run of prominent roles in the 1980s, including appearing in the thriller Gorky Park (1983) opposite Lee Marvin , Hurt began to appear more frequently in supporting roles. Some of his notable roles include performances in Dark City (1998), Lost in Space (1998), Sunshine (1999), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Tuck Everlasting (2002), The Village (2004), A History of Violence (2005), and Syriana (2005). Hurt received particular acclaim for his role in A History of Violence , where despite less than 10 minutes of screen time, he received an Academy Award nomination. In June 2007, Marvel Studios announced that Hurt would portray General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross in

1520-424: A puff of cigarette smoke .' But when I read the script, I realized the picture would only succeed to the extent that it dramatized a certain experience common to all men. And that experience isn't gas going through the universe." Russell added, "there is a great deal of dialogue in 'Altered States,' and as I saw it, my task was to make those scenes as visually interesting as possible so they wouldn't be swallowed up by

1596-827: A relationship for two years, which included living together. Hurt's girlfriend Sandra Jennings sued Hurt in New York, seeking recognition of their relationship as a common-law marriage under South Carolina law. The New York court held that the relationship between Hurt and Jennings did not qualify as a common-law marriage under South Carolina law and found in Hurt's favor that no marriage existed. During Jennings' lawsuit against Hurt, she alleged that Hurt subjected her to physical and verbal abuse. His spokesperson denied that Hurt ever beat Jennings. In her 2009 autobiography I'll Scream Later , Marlee Matlin said that their relationship involved drug use and physical violence from Hurt, including

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1672-729: A school for the deaf who falls for a deaf custodian in Children of a Lesser God (1986) and for playing a dim-witted television news anchor in Broadcast News the following year. Broadcast News , a romantic comedy directed by James L. Brooks , would come to be Hurt's most acclaimed film, with an inclusion to the National Film Registry in the Library of Congress in 2018. Hurt's fourth career Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor, would come in 2006 for playing

1748-683: A son of publisher Henry Luce . Hurt attended the Middlesex School , where he was vice-president of the Dramatics Club and had the lead role in several school plays. He graduated in 1968 and his yearbook predicted, "you might even see him on Broadway." Hurt attended Tufts University and studied theology, but turned instead to acting and joined the Juilliard School (Drama Division Group 5 : 1972–1976). Hurt began his career in stage productions. From 1977 to 1989, he

1824-861: A variety of temporary structures, such as tents and wooden huts (e.g., at Ohalo ). A few genuine cave dwellings did exist, however, such as at Mount Carmel in Israel . Stereotypical cavemen have traditionally been depicted wearing smock-like garments made from the skins of animals and held up by a shoulder strap on one side, or loincloths made from leopard or tiger skins. Stereotypical cavewomen are similarly depicted, but sometimes with slimmer proportions and bones tied up in their hair. They are also depicted carrying large clubs approximately conical in shape. They often have grunt-like names, such as "Ugg" and "Zog". Caveman-like heraldic " wild men " were found in European and African iconography for hundreds of years. During

1900-484: A version of Frankenstein they decided to do a version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde . Chayefsky went home and wrote a three-page "dramatic statement and I have never seen something come together so fast." Chayefsky decided to write a serious film on the American scientific community and the archetypal man in his search for his true self. A producer at Columbia Pictures , Daniel Melnick , suggested that Chayefsky turn

1976-480: A well-deserved best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for a performance that is crafty at first, carefully nurtured and finally stirring in profound, unanticipated ways... What starts out as a campy, facetious catalog of Hollywood trivia becomes an extraordinarily moving film about manhood, heroism and love.” Hurt subsequently received Best Actor Oscar nominations for playing a speech teacher at

2052-657: Is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic . The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian " or " ape -like" by Marcellin Boule and Arthur Keith . The term "caveman" has its taxonomic equivalent in the now-obsolete binomial classification of Homo troglodytes (Linnaeus , 1758 ). Cavemen are typically portrayed as wearing shaggy animal hides , and capable of cave painting like behaviorally modern humans of

2128-556: Is credited for Special Visual Effects in the front titles, and created the VFX actually used in the film. Dick Smith worked on the groundbreaking special makeup effects, which made extensive use of his pioneering air bladder technique. It was the first time Russell had made a film in Hollywood. He later said, "I thought I would hate Hollywood, but I rather liked it. Everyone there is supposed to be terribly materialistic, but Altered States

2204-818: The Academy Award for Best Picture , and he later had a supporting role in the ensemble comedy I Love You to Death (1990). In the 1980s, Hurt received three consecutive Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, beginning with an Oscar win for his turn as a prisoner in Hector Babenco 's drama Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1985. He also received the Best Male Performance Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for this role. The New York Times wrote, “Mr. Hurt won

2280-676: The Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon . In 2009, Hurt became a series regular on the FX series Damages playing a corporate whistleblower opposite Glenn Close and Marcia Gay Harden . For his role in the series, he earned a 2009 Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series . In September 2010, Hurt played United States Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson in

2356-694: The Bronx Zoo . Additionally, scenes set in Mexico were filmed on location in Creel, Chihuahua , and included real-life footage of Tarahumara people collecting psychotropic mushrooms. There were three weeks of rehearsals in March 1979, during which Chayefsky and Russell had a massive dispute. The writer left the project and did not appear on set during filming, contrary to his normal practice. Dave Itzkoff 's book on Chayefsky, Mad as Hell: The Making of NETWORK and

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2432-753: The FX legal drama Damages , which earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series . In 2011, he portrayed Henry Paulson in the HBO movie Too Big to Fail and received another Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie . On stage, Hurt appeared in off-Broadway productions including Henry V , Fifth of July , Richard II and A Midsummer Night's Dream ; and made his Broadway debut in David Rabe 's dark comedy Hurlyburly , for which he received

2508-470: The Middle Ages , these beings were generally depicted in art and literature as bearded and covered in hair, and often wielding clubs and dwelling in caves. While wild men were always depicted as living outside of civilization, it was not always clearly whether they were human or non-human. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's The Lost World (1912), ape-men are depicted in a fight with modern humans. How

2584-474: The Sci Fi Channel miniseries adaptation Frank Herbert's Dune in 2000, playing Duke Leto Atreides ; it was one of Syfy's highest-rated series ever. He was in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King 's Nightmares and Dreamscapes , in a piece titled Battleground (known for its complete lack of dialogue). He appeared in the cast of Vanya , an adaptation of Anton Chekhov 's Uncle Vanya , at

2660-480: The last glacial period . They are often shown armed with rocks, cattle bone clubs, spears, or sticks with rocks tied to them, and are portrayed as unintelligent, easily frightened, and aggressive. Typically, they have a low pitched rough voice and make vocalisations such as "ooga-booga" and grunts or speak using simple phrases. Popular culture also frequently represents cavemen as living with, or alongside of, dinosaurs , even though non-avian dinosaurs became extinct at

2736-453: The petrifaction and subsequent erosion by blown sand of Emily and himself. The following morning, Edward leaves the Hinchi plateau under a cloud, having killed, while in his intoxicated state, a large specimen of the Hinchi's sacred monitor lizard (which a petroglyph shown in the dream sequence shows that they believe to have given them the sacred mushroom in the mythic past). He returns to

2812-544: The 1970s. His film debut, in Ken Russell 's science-fiction feature Altered States , was released in 1980, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year . In 1981, he had a leading role in the neo-noir Body Heat , co-starring Kathleen Turner . His starring roles in a series of critically acclaimed films garnered three consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor : Kiss of

2888-723: The 2008 film The Incredible Hulk alongside Edward Norton , Liv Tyler , and Tim Roth . Hurt reprised his role in four additional Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films: Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Widow (2021). Other later film roles included Into the Wild (2007), Mr. Brooks (2007), Vantage Point (2008), The Yellow Handkerchief (2008), and Robin Hood (2010). Hurt had several roles in television and theater. Hurt starred in

2964-638: The Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies , chronicles the making of Altered States and claims that Russell, objecting to Chayefsky's interference, had the writer banned from the set. Chayefsky reportedly tried to have Russell removed as director, but by then the film was already well under way, and the studio already had replaced one director (Penn). The film's producer, Howard Gottfried , told Chayefsky's biographer Shaun Considine that Russell

3040-707: The First Letter Was Written and How the Alphabet was Made are two of Rudyard Kipling 's Just So Stories (1902) featuring a group of cave-people. Edgar Rice Burroughs adapted this idea for The Land That Time Forgot (1918). A genre of cavemen films emerged, typified by D. W. Griffith 's Man's Genesis (1912); they inspired Charles Chaplin 's satiric take in His Prehistoric Past (1914), as well as Brute Force (1914), The Cave Man (1912), and later, Cave Man (1934). From

3116-564: The HBO film Too Big to Fail , an adaptation of Andrew Ross Sorkin 's book. He also starred as Captain Ahab in the 2011 television adaptation of Herman Melville 's novel Moby-Dick . Hurt was set to play Gregg Allman in the film Midnight Rider , but he left the production after an on-set accident. In 2018, Hurt was cast as the lead in The Coldest Game (2019), but after he

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3192-502: The Hinchi tribe whose members experience shared hallucinatory states , he travels to Mexico to participate in their ceremony. During the climb up into the Hinchi hill country (a plateau covered in spectacular mushroom-shaped ventifacts ) Edward is told by his guide, Eduardo Echeverria, that the Hinchi use in their ceremonies a potion containing the sacred mushroom Amanita muscaria and the shrub sinicuiche , which they are collecting for next year's ceremonies. The tribe calls sinicuiche by

3268-481: The Mexican sequences," said Russell. "In fact, I was more faithful to the script in 'Altered States' than in any previous movie, and I think I did it great justice." "We're saying every word exactly as he wrote it," said Brown during filming. "I suppose the truth is he [Chayefsky] and Ken are such different personalities they found it impossible to work together." According to screenwriter Joe Eszterhas , Chayefsky had

3344-571: The Rue Morgue , The Nutty Professor , 2001 , Alien , Love Story . It opens at fever pitch and then starts soaring—into genetic fantasy, into a precognitive dream of delirium and delight. Madness is its subject and substance, style and spirit. The film changes tone, even form, with its hero's every new mood and mutation. It expands and contracts with his mind until both almost crack. It keeps threatening to go bonkers, then makes good on its threat, and still remains as lucid as an aerialist on

3420-1012: The Spider Woman (1985), which he won; Children of a Lesser God (1986), and Broadcast News (1987). During this time he also starred in The Big Chill (1983), The Accidental Tourist (1988), Alice (1990), Until the End of the World (1991), Trial by Jury (1994), Michael (1996), Lost in Space , Dark City , and One True Thing (all 1998) and Sunshine (1999). Hurt earned his fourth Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actor , in David Cronenberg 's crime thriller A History of Violence (2005). His later character roles include A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Tuck Everlasting and Changing Lanes (both 2002), The Village (2004), Syriana (2005), The Good Shepherd (2006), Mr. Brooks and Into

3496-430: The U.S. with a sample of the Hinchi potion for analysis by his colleagues and further self-experimentation, and continues taking it in order to take his exploration of altered states of consciousness to a new and higher level. When toxic concentrations of the substance make increased dosage dangerous, Edward returns to sensory deprivation, believing it will enhance the effects of the substance at his current dose. Repairing

3572-657: The Wild (both 2007), Vantage Point and The Yellow Handkerchief (both 2008), Robin Hood (2010), The Host (2013), Winter's Tale (2014), Race (2016), The Miracle Season (2018), The Last Full Measure (2019), and The King's Daughter (2022). From 2008 to 2021, he portrayed Thaddeus Ross in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films The Incredible Hulk (2008), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Black Widow (2021). Hurt's various television projects included

3648-470: The X-rays says they belong to a gorilla . In later experiments, Edward experiences actual, physical biological devolution . At one stage he emerges from the isolation tank as a feral and curiously small-statured, light-skinned caveman , going on a rampage through some streets in town and breaking into a zoo before returning to his natural form. Despite his colleagues' concern, Edward stubbornly continues. In

3724-730: The article. Hurt died on March 13, 2022 at his Portland, Oregon home from bone-metastasized terminal prostate cancer, a natural cause of death with which he was diagnosed in May 2018. He was 71. Many paid tribute to Hurt, including Chris Evans , Robert Downey, Jr. , Gwyneth Paltrow , Tom Hanks , Rita Wilson , Dennis Quaid , Marg Helgenberger , Kevin Costner , Russell Crowe , John Goodman , Patton Oswalt , Albert Brooks , Bryce Dallas Howard , Maria Bello , Jonathan Frakes , Ben Stiller , Mark Ruffalo , Jennifer Garner , Jeremy Renner , and Topher Grace . Caveman The caveman

3800-538: The descriptions, Griffith's characters cannot talk, and use sticks and stones for weapons, while the hero of Cave Man is a Tarzanesque figure who fights dinosaurs. Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (1977-1980), is an animated comedy depicting cavemen as being hairy and carrying clubs. Griffith's Brute Force represents one of the earliest portrayals of cavemen and dinosaurs together, with its depiction of

3876-477: The direction of Russell to have "destroyed" the script and film, which was ultimately "a critical and commercial failure [...] a heartbreaking experience for Chayefsky, who had fought for decades against that, and for protecting his material. It was such a heartbreaking experience that he died shortly afterwards, some say from a broken heart." Altered States began a limited theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles, California , on December 25, 1980. It received

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3952-794: The end of the Cretaceous period , 66 million years before the emergence of Homo sapiens . The era typically associated with the archetype is the Paleolithic Era , sometimes referred to as the Stone Age , though the Paleolithic is but one part of the Stone Age. This era extends from more than 2 million years into the past until between 40,000 and 5,000 years before the present (i.e., from around 2,000 kya to between 40 and 5 kya). The image of these people living in caves arises from

4028-408: The fact that caves are where the preponderance of artifacts have been found from European Stone Age cultures. However, this most likely reflects the degree of preservation that caves provide over the millennia, rather than an indication of them being a typical form of shelter. Until the last glacial period, the great majority of humans did not live in caves, as nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes lived in

4104-530: The film a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 25, 1980, followed by a wide release in February 1981. The film garnered generally positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for Best Original Score and Best Sound at the 53rd Academy Awards . In 1967, Edward Jessup is a Columbia University psychopathologist studying schizophrenia . He begins to think that "our other states of consciousness are as real as our waking states." He begins experimenting with sensory deprivation using

4180-468: The film a "methodically paced fireworks display, exploding into delirious special-effects sequences at regular intervals, and maintaining an eerie calm the rest of the time. If it is not wholly visionary at every juncture, it is at least dependably—even exhilaratingly—bizarre. Its strangeness, which borders cheerfully on the ridiculous, is its most enjoyable feature." She also called it "in fine shape as long as it revels in its own craziness, making no claims on

4256-449: The film in a list of "the 20 best body horror movies", and wrote that, "The film's psychedelic scenes are visual marvels in and of themselves, and a strong early career performance by William Hurt (in his first film role) ensures that Altered States is still highly watchable four decades after its release". According to TV Guide , Basil Dearden 's 1963 film The Mind Benders "is the direct predecessor of Altered States ." The film

4332-468: The film, and noted the following in an Omni magazine interview published in January 1983: The scene in which the scientist becomes cosmic energy and his wife grabs him and brings him back to human form is straight out of my Dyadic Cyclone (1976) ... As for the scientist's regression into an ape-like being, the late Dr. Craig Enright, who started me on K (ketamine) while taking a trip with me here by

4408-552: The final experiment, Edward experiences a more profound regression, transforming into an amorphous mass of conscious, primordial matter. An energy wave released from the experiment stuns Edward's colleagues and destroys his tank. Emily recovers and finds a swirling maelstrom where the tank had been. She searches in the vortex for Edward, finding him as he is on the brink of becoming a non-corporeal energy being that will vanish from reality altogether if this transformation reaches its conclusion. His friends bring Edward home, hoping that

4484-611: The isolation tank, suddenly "became" a chimp , jumping up and down and hollering for twenty-five minutes. Watching him, I was frightened. I asked him later, "Where the hell were you?" He said, "I became a pre- hominid , and I was in a tree. A leopard was trying to get me. So I was trying to scare him away." The manuscript of The Scientist (1978) was in the hands of Bantam, the publishers. The head of Bantam called and said, "Paddy Chayefsky would like to read your manuscript. Will you give him your permission?" I said, "Only if he calls me and asks permission." He didn't call. But he probably read

4560-594: The manuscript. Christopher John reviewed Altered States in Ares Magazine #6 and commented that "Simply put, Altered States is very good at what it proposes to do – luckily it proposed to do very little." In Ready for My Close-Up!: Great Movie Speeches (2007), screenwriter Denny Martin Flinn called Chayefsky's screenplay "brilliant" and selected Emily's speech as "Chayefsky's last great take on life and love." In 2023, Christian Zilko of IndieWire included

4636-593: The project included Steven Spielberg , Stanley Kubrick , Sydney Pollack , Robert Wise , and Orson Welles . He says his agent told him he was the twenty-seventh choice. Filming was then set to begin in March 1979 for Columbia with Howard Gottfried as producer. The film would eventually be done for Warner Bros, in part because the cost rose from an original budgeted $ 9 million to $ 12.5 million. It would eventually come in at just under $ 15 million, with $ 4 million of that going on special effects. Russell later replaced special effects expert John Dykstra with Bran Ferren , who

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4712-533: The special effects." Russell admitted he did not "shoot scenes as he was used to having them shot in other movies he has been involved in. I try to avoid the covering shot, long shot, close-up technique. Instead, I try for long, fluid sequences." The director said he felt Chayefsky had never "been involved with a director who wasn't malleable. He would make suggestions, and I would listen courteously, and then disagree. 'I can't use your eyes,' I told him. 'I've got to use my own. In any case, there can be only one director on

4788-479: The spring of 1982, which was followed by Hurt's divorce from Mary Beth, after which Hurt and Jennings relocated to South Carolina , a state that recognized non-ceremonial common-law marriages . Hurt and Jennings never held a marriage ceremony and later separated. Hurt was a private pilot and owner of a Beechcraft Bonanza . He was fluent in French and maintained a home outside Paris. Hurt and Marlee Matlin had

4864-502: The transformation and returns to his human form. Edward embraces Emily, as she returns to normal. The film had its origins with a meeting Paddy Chayefsky had with his friends Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner at the Russian Tea Room in 1975. They were feeling "disgruntled" and as a joke conceived a movie they could make together. They wanted to pitch something to Dino De Laurentiis , who was making King Kong . After discussing

4940-505: The transformations will end. Watched over by Emily, Edward begins to regress uncontrollably again, the transformations no longer requiring the intake of "first flower" or sensory deprivation. Urging Edward to fight the change, Emily grabs his hand, immediately being enveloped by the primordial energy emanating from Edward. The sight of Emily apparently being consumed by the energy stirs the human consciousness in Edward's devolving form. He fights

5016-497: The viewer's reason. But when it asks you to believe that what you're watching may really be happening, and to wonder what it means, it is asking far too much. By the time it begins straining for an ending both happy and hysterical, it has lost all of its mystery, and most of its magic." Richard Corliss began his review of the film: This one has everything: sex, violence, comedy, thrills, tenderness. It's an anthology and apotheosis of American pop movies: Frankenstein , Murders in

5092-592: Was Arthur Penn . He cast the movie, including the relatively unknown leads William Hurt (in his first movie) and Blair Brown . At one point, Scott Glenn was a contender for the male lead. Another key role went to Bob Balaban. Miguel Godreau, a dancer and teacher with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater , was cast as Jessup's caveman incarnation. Filming was to begin in November 1978. However, during rehearsals Penn resigned after

5168-589: Was a member of the acting company at Circle Repertory Company . He won an Obie Award for his debut appearance there in Corinne Jacker 's My Life , and won a 1978 Theatre World Award for his performances in Fifth of July , Ulysses in Traction , and Lulu . In 1979, Hurt played Hamlet under the direction of Marshall W. Mason opposite Lindsay Crouse and Beatrice Straight . His first major film role

5244-583: Was in the science-fiction film Altered States (1980), where his performance as an obsessed scientist gained him wide recognition. His performance opposite newcomer Kathleen Turner in Lawrence Kasdan 's neo-noir film Body Heat (1981) elevated Hurt to stardom. Kasdan and he became frequent collaborators: Hurt co-starred in Kasdan's acclaimed comedy-dramas The Big Chill (1983) and The Accidental Tourist (1988), both of which were nominated for

5320-455: Was injured in an off-set accident, he was replaced by Bill Pullman . In one of his final roles, Hurt played opposite F. Murray Abraham in a standalone episode of Mythic Quest in 2021. Hurt had been set to appear in the series Pantheon and films The Fence , Men of Granite , and Edward Enderby before his death in March 2022, though he ultimately only appeared in Pantheon . Hurt

5396-456: Was joking but he wasn't joking." An unnamed source close to the film later opined that "two strong artists were jockeying for control and, at a given point, a movie becomes a director's movie. You can't stand over his shoulder. You either support him or fire him." "Paddy's hallucinations were impossible to film," said Russell in another interview. "He'd write a direction, something like 'Interstellar gas shot through 5 million miles of universe like

5472-487: Was making the actors appear drunk in a scene where they were written to be slightly tipsy in a bar ... There was a lot of embarrassing dialogue, and there was a hell of a lot more in the original script than there is now; it was a verbose script." "I couldn't work with someone else judging everything I did," said the director. "Chayefsky told me, 'I'll just be on the set as a benign influence.' The producer said, 'How do you spell benign, Paddy?' He answered, 'W-I-C-K-E-D'. He

5548-483: Was married to actress Mary Beth Hurt (née Supinger) from 1971 to 1982, and to Heidi Henderson from 1989 to 1993. Hurt had four children: one with Sandra Jennings; two with Henderson; and one with French actress, film director, and screenwriter Sandrine Bonnaire . In 1981, while he was still married, Hurt and Sandra Jennings began a relationship in Saratoga Springs, New York . Jennings became pregnant in

5624-399: Was nominated for two Academy Awards: William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. He is widely known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award , BAFTA Award , and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor . Hurt studied at the Juilliard School and began acting on stage in

5700-400: Was polite and deferential prior to production but after rehearsals began in 1979 "began to treat Paddy as a nonentity" and was "mean and sarcastic." Chayefsky called Russell a "duplicitous, mean man." Russell said Chayefsky "didn't like the color of the paint on the isolation tank. Then it went on to other things. He didn't like the lighting, then he didn't like the machinery, then he thought I

5776-527: Was the first movie I ever worked on where nobody—not Warner Bros., not Dan Melnick, the executive producer, or Howard Gottfried, the producer—ever mentioned money." The film was shot at Sunset Gower Studios , Burbank Studios , Boston , and New York City . On-location filming locations included Harvard Medical School , Beacon Hill , Logan International Airport , Columbia University , the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic , and

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