A Part of The Music Box 70mm Film Festival 2022 

70mm with Magnetic Sound from Chicago Film Society, permission Park Circus

A group of scientists, including Christopher Walken, Natalie Wood, and Louise Fletcher, invent a brain-computer interface capable of recording and playing back personal experiences and sensations on computer tape, and quickly discover the dangers of playing with memories. The second and final feature directed by Douglas Trumbull, mastermind behind the special effects on 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and BLADE RUNNER, BRAINSTORM was initially envisioned as a showcase for Trumbull’s 70mm 60 frames-per-second Showscan system. The version that made it to cinema screens in 1983—in one of the largest 70mm print runs in history—switches between 35mm (blown up to 70mm and representing real life) and 70mm (representing virtual reality) to great effect, making it a truly unique showcase for the possibilities of 70mm as a format. Overshadowed by Natalie Wood’s untimely death prior to the film’s completion, BRAINSTORM is a vastly undervalued entry in the ’80s sci-fi canon. 

BRAINSTORM will be preceded by:

HERE’S CHICAGO! CITY OF DREAMS - (Ted Hearne, 1983, 13 min)

New Restored 70mm Print with DTS Sound from Chicago Film Society

Produced for the multimedia tourist attraction of the same name, the 70mm travelog HERE’S CHICAGO! screened nearly every day at the Water Tower Pumping Station from 1983-1993, until the exhibit was closed prematurely in a classic City of Chicago lease dispute. A literal time capsule, HERE’S CHICAGO has been restored from the only surviving 70mm print and features breathtaking shots of the city by helicopter and “Where’s Waldo”-scale opportunities for watching the crowds of our great city.

***Preserved by the Chicago Film Society with funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation.***