The Terminal Man

Plot synopsis:
Harry Benson, an extremely intelligent (IQ 144) computer programmer in his 30s, suffers from epilepsy. He often has seizures which induce a blackout, after which he awakens to unfamiliar surroundings with indications of unpredictably violent behavior on his part. He also suffers from delusions that computers will rise up against humans.
Benson suffers from Acute Disinhibitory Lesion (ADL) syndrome, and is a prime candidate for a psychosurgical procedure known as "Stage Three". Stage Three requires surgeons to implant electrodes in his brain, which will detect the onset of a seizure and then use an electrical impulse to stop it. The surgery initially appears to be a success.
Benson's psychiatrist, Janet Ross, is concerned that once the operation is complete, Benson will suffer further psychosis as a result of his person merging with that of a computer, something he has come to distrust and disdain. Two days after the operation, it becomes apparent that his brain is now addicted to the electrical impulses. The seizures are initiating at increasingly short intervals. When they become continuous, Benson will be in a permanent blackout, with the violent behavior that goes with it.
Just before Ross realizes what is happening, Benson escapes from the hospital. He does become unpredictably violent, but his intact intelligence allows him to evade the police for a considerable time, at one point confronting Ross in her home.

Tags: murder, cult, violence, insanity, tragedy, suspenseful, sadist

Review:
The only one who thinks with heart as well as head is the Joan Hackett character, and the clash between her and the good 'ol boys of science is both profound and heartbreaking.I urge anyone with an IQ larger than their shoe size to ignore the negative comments and give this film a chance.
It's the kind of film we could use more of, and the fact it's considered boring by today's audiences is very sad proof of the dumbing-down effect of Hollywood clap-trap.
Although this movie is weak as a 'thriller', its real power is its evocative sense of place and the emotional texture of science as it was seen in the 1970s -- sombre and dystopian, yet strangely attractive.
The plot centres on a group of scientists and doctors who are pushing the frontiers of neuroscience by implanting a computerized chip in the brain of a man (George Segal) afflicted with terrible seizures.
Only when the the chip malfunctions, and the patient breaks out of the hospital and starts killing people, does the veneer of omnipotence and professionalism fall away, revealing in the scientists ambition, uncertainty, and humanity.
Segal does a good job of portraying the wildly changing emotions of a man who's mind is under the control of a computer.
The most interesting moments of the movie are the early ones, where the patient interacts with his dispassionate doctors in the sterile, streamlined chromium world of the hospital.
The messy humanity of the patient, demonstrated through humour, fear, weakness and anger, stands in contrast to his surroundings, and it is not surprising to the audience when he disappears from his hospital room.Scenes of the doctors in tuxedos and evening gowns at a dinner party while a shiny computer console monitors their ailing patient lend the robotic professionals a strange, formal humanity, at the same moment in the movie when their own fallibility begins to be revealed.
Once the patient leaves the hospital, the movie shifts to a more conventional 'crazed murderer' theme, and things become less interesting.
The movie closes with a disappointing, clichéd 'Big Brother' riff on mind control and the future.
The technological landscape is presented with a glistening newness that evokes movies like The Anderson Tapes, Coma, Westworld, and The Andromeda Strain (the last three of which, like Terminal Man, were written by Michael Crichton).
Like Andromeda Strain, Coma and the Anderson Tapes, Terminal Man is less a thriller and more a cultural time capsule.
I found the 'slow' pacing quite beautiful, and I loved the way that the colour within each scene slowly built as the movie progressed.
Replace the "wires in the brain" with today's over-prescribed Ritalin, SSRI's, and other similar drugs, and you will see the point.This is an excellent movie which deserves to be on DVD, with commentary by Crichton, Hodges and/or Segal.
"The Terminal Man" is written for the screen, produced, and directed by Mike Hodges ("Get Carter", "Flash Gordon", "Croupier"), based upon the Michael Crichton novel, and tells an intriguing story, the likes of which Crichton always excelled at, that combined science and thrills.The likable George Segal stars as Harry Benson, a computer scientist who, since a car accident, has suffered from blackouts & seizures that made him dangerously violent.
Now a team of surgeons is performing ground breaking surgery on him: attaching electrodes to 40 of his brain terminals that will hopefully counteract his violent impulses.
However, as the viewer certainly suspects will happen, this doesn't work, and his brain ends up craving the shocks / stimuli that it receives, and Harry loses control once again.I can certainly understand the problems that some people may have with this production, as it's really not the typical thriller at all.
Even after Harry has made the expected escape from the hospital, he doesn't spend that much time running amok, and certainly does not kill very many people.But this movie *is* noticeably intelligent and thoughtful and does offer rewards for patient viewers.
And, like other movies of this kind, there is a certain wariness (voiced by Harry) on the part of mankind regarding the computer age and what it could mean for us all.Another wonderful element to "The Terminal Man" is its incredible cast of both stars and rock solid character actors.
Segal is effectively low key in the lead, and is nicely supported by Joan Hackett, Jill Clayburgh (in a small but welcome appearance), Richard Dysart, Donald Moffat, Matt Clark, Michael C.
All in all, "The Terminal Man" is a good movie that does deserve to be discovered or rediscovered.Seven out of 10..
"The Terminal Man" is a classic Michael Crichton story.
The main story line still comes across well, and the viewer experiences the emotions and dilemmas of the patient.The irony here is that a science has now proven the film's premise correct.
"The Terminal Man" is an example if fiction becoming fact, and film previewing our future.If one likes science and science fiction, it is a good film to pick.
George Segal is Harry Benson A brilliant computer scientist, as a result of a head injury, he begins to experience violent seizures.
Directed by Mike Hodges, Michael Crichton The Terminal Man, is undeniably a lost classic it is nothing short of brilliant.
George Segal proves that he can be more than comedic, he is joined by other great actors such as Richard Dysart, the late Jill Clayburgh, It is now available through Warner Brother's made to order 'burning' archive it's a shame that they've not subjected it to a proper special edition title..
I been a fan of Mike Hodges film right from the first time I watched Get Carter.
I have watched most of his films: some brilliant Pulp, Black Rainbow, Croupier, some misunderstood, Flash Gordon, some could of been better, Morons From Outer space, A Prayer For The Dying and some underestimated I'll Sleep When I'm Dead and The Terminal Man.The Terminal Man is one of coldest brilliant movies of 70's which I can understand why many people would not like this film.
OK its not a chick flick or A Vin Diesel material, but hey wasn't going to be.It is well directed by Hodges and acted by George Segal and I would to see this classic getting a DVD released.
Based on the Michael Crichton novel, this adaptation(directed by "Get Carter" Mike Hodges) tells the story of computer programmer Harry Benson, who, in an attempt to cure his brain seizures, agrees to an experiment where he has micro-computers implanted in his brain, in order to correct the faulty brain chemistry.
Things don't go as planned when his new mind starts to get pleasure from the violent impulses he now feels, and so escapes from the hospital, starting a desperate manhunt to prevent him from murdering anyone, and of course to cover-up the scientific failure.George Segal is believable as Harry, and the rest of the cast is fine, and though Mike Hodges tries, this film is simply too dreary and downbeat to succeed, and by the end, there doesn't seem to have been any discernible point to it all..
computer brain implants), but spoilt by a lamentably SLOOOOW plot development, which also moves into cringingly sub-standard thriller/stalker territory, (penultimate scene where George Segal breaks into the female doctor's house, (who, inevitably, is alone AND in the shower!)), as the film has nowhere else to go..
Brilliant computer scientist (George Segal) has been involved in an auto accident which left "a pressing" on his brain; uncontrollably angry and violent, he has nearly killed two people.
Intentionally clinical and cold, this adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel has been directed by Mike Hodges with barely a trace of personality, stray levity, energy or irony.
Just watched a pretty interesting sci-fi thriller from 1974, Mike Hodges' "The Terminal Man," starring George Segal, Joan Hackett, Jill Clayburgh, Richard Dysart and Ian Wolfe.
Based on a Michael Crichton novel, this one tells the story of a computer programmer (Segal) who lives in fear that the machines of the world will soon be taking over the humans.
The film is very slow moving in its first half, and indeed, the operation that is performed on Segal takes up a very long part of the film's running time.
Even though his finest stories like "The Andromeda Strain", "Westworld", "The Terminal Man" and even "Jurassic Park" are seemingly very differing tales, they basically do share the same basic concept, namely artificial technology and/or science that develops and turns into a giant menace to the same human that created it.
Crichton referred to "The Terminal Man" as the worst adaptation of his work, but maybe that has to do with personal resentment because he was initially set to adapt his own novel and direct, but got fired by the directors.
"The Terminal Man" is everything but a bad film, although it's fairly easy to see why many people dislike it.
The brief plot description promises an exciting concept of a man suffering from psychosis who agrees to participate in a scientific/medical experiment in which a tiny computer is implanted in his brain that will keep his violent impulses under control.
Although seemingly successful at first, the man's brain somehow becomes addicted to the little shocks that the electrodes are sending out, resulting in the triggering of even more violent impulses.
If you read it like this, "The Terminal Man" sounds like a tense, exciting and action-packed thriller, but instead it's actually a slow-brooding, atmospheric and integer drama.
It all is a bit misleading perhaps The premise speaks of "A man suffering from a mental condition that often causes him to become homicidal", but we are only introduced to Harry Benson when he obediently awaits the operation and remains very calm and docile at all times.
Director Mike Hodges ("Get Carter", "Pulp") literally turns the film into a work of art, with stunning cinematography and exquisite use of classical music.
I honestly wished for "The Terminal Man" to benefice from a faster pacing, a bit more background to Harry Benson's character, a bit less medical mambo-jumbo and a few more brutish murders..
Writer and sometimes Movie Director Michael Crichton's Clinical, Sterile Style is one of His Strengths and one of His Weaknesses.
When it Works, "Westworld" it can be Intricate and Impressive in a Genre (Sci-Fi) that is Frequently Neither.In this Film, based on the Crichton Novel but Directed by Mike Hodges, it is Technologically Stunning and Visually "Still Life" Calculatingly Smart and Sharp.Reminding of Stanley Kubrick's Still, Lingering, Symmetrical Approach, the Story was and is Topical and the Machines or (A.I.) Takeover and Dehumanization results in the Slowest of Burn Rendition of Scientific and Medical Hubris gone Bonkers.George Segal and the rest of the Cast, especially Joan Hackett, try and Inject some Humanity into the Project but the Framing of the Film is so Overpoweringly Oppressive and Overwhelming that People are Present only in the Abstract.The Movie is Beautiful, but Brain-Numbing Boring, especially in the First Half and requires of the Viewer to be in a Beta-State to Endure the Pacing.
All the other characters lacked motivation, and the stark art direction only served to underline the complete lack of emotion in this film.If you get the chance to see this movie....
Slow, sure...but the real crime here is a zombie-like George Segal (in a bad wig most of the film) but NO amiable banjo-playing!
Darn!PLENTY of these semi-plodding scenes could've been livened up with a wry wink and some Shakey's-pizzeria-style banjo noodling from Johnny Carson's 5,756th favorite guest...Oh well -- at least stabbing Jill Clayburgh to death on a waterbed sets a good tone for the rest of the '70s (only Karen Black -- or maybe Susan Anspach -- as the victim would've been more aptly emblematic)...C'mon -- would it have killed the auteur to end the sterile, over-wide-screened mise-en-scene with Segal playing a banjo in that open grave...THEN a blissfully anticipated hail of bullets silencing "Oh, Susannah" (or whatever).
George Segal delivers a brilliant performance as the mentally tortured Benson and also conveys the menace of man on the edge.
A lot of the reviews say that the film is "boring" but in reality if you appreciate a slow but nevertheless gripping and fascinating film, watch this classic science fiction film and you won't be disappointed.
The Terminal Man is set in Los Angeles where a man named Harry Benson (George Segal) is set to undergo a revolutionary operation, after being involved in a car accident & suffering a brain injury he has had black-outs during which he becomes incredibly violent.
Harry escapes from hospital & goes on a violent rampage through Los Angeles as he eventually targets the (young, good looking female) doctor he believes is responsible for his condition...Written, produced & directed by Mike Hodges not long after his success with the classic Michael Caine thriller Get Carter (1971) this futuristic sci-fi thriller was based on a novel by Michael Crichton (who was apparently fired from writing the screenplay for this film adaptation because it did not follow his original novel closely enough & he was originally set to direct as well) & is an obvious & sometimes striking warning about science.
I suppose the films big scene takes place just after the operation & Harry is questioned as various technicians in another room electrically induce all sorts of feelings & sensations which I guess is supposed to imply that science & scientists regard humanity & our thoughts & feelings & who we are as nothing more than electrical impulses.
Also at almost 110 minutes not that much happens, the pace is slow to say the least but the story is good & fairly engaging if you can get into it although it definitely does require patience.The film has a very stark sterile clean look with very little personality, the hospital itself is whiter than white & Hodges films in a very matter of fact way as the camera barely moves & a lot of shots are nicely composed & almost seem symmetrical.
The acting like the story & setting is quite emotionless & George Segal is the only one who shows a little humanity & personality as the big bad scientists even take that way from him in the end.The Terminal Man is a film that makes a point & it takes quite a while to do so, the story & film-making is good here but the pace will put many off & while some may say the slow pace doesn't matter I think it does.
"The Terminal Man" is another under-appreciated film from the 1970's.It's a science fiction tale that is both austere and elegant.A cautionary tale of medical science and it's "we can cure anything or f#%k you up trying" mentality .Directer Mike Hodge does a wonderful job setting the tone and keeping it flowing in at a deliberate pace.Much like the film's beautiful classical based score.The actors are superb.The vastly underrated George Segal took a role way out of the "comfort zone" of the top actors of that era.(and he was one).He's very subdued, intelligent and very good.Joan Hackett is equally fine as a empathetic psychiatrist.
Ambiguous and fun to watch.There are many rewarding subtleties and nuances throughout this film for the viewer with the willingness and patience.The plot revolves around a new experimental,innovative surgical procedure being utilized to stop Segal's character from having violence filled black-outs/seizures.Needless to say ,things go awry and the patient finds himself caught between a sudden addiction of his body to have these seizures so that it can receive the soothing "high" from the micro computer implanted in his brain.(Oh, I didn't mention the "patient" has a intense phobia of machines).There is a great scene where Segal (now pretty much berserk) breaks into the lab where he used to work(on robots no less) and he proceeds to bash them up and does great damage to them.They're still functioning in this damaged capacity and Segal's on his knees, in the middle of them,moving in rhythm as they move, to-fro, up-down.
Segal plays a man who has had an accident and suffered some sort of cranial injury (I'm sorry Micheal Crichton, It really isn't explained well enough in my opinion).
So basically the entire idea for the plot is scuppered right away before the movie even really gets a chance to start.The film pursues the idea anyway, and Segal has a micro implant into his brain to control impulses that cause him want to kill.Yep, of course it fails and the implant starts giving him the impulses.
Segal escapes the hospital after his operation (how is he even able to do anything after major surgery on his brain?) he starts having attacks and kills his girlfriend and runs off on a frenetic killing frenzy.
Warner's prognosticators use TERMINAL MAN to issue a dire warning about the known status and direction of the KGB human mind control experiments in the 1970s.
Tried Hard to Like It, I Tell Ya. I love Michael Crichton movies - Coma, Looker, Westworld, The Andromeda Strain, etc.
It's implied."The Terminal Man" is far from being the worst movie I've seen, but it is certainly in the running for the most boring.
"The Terminal Man" by contrast there's nothing to it, it's just people talking to each other.
It is an engaging, if cold hearted 1974 science-fiction movie penned by Michael Crichton, the doctor-turned-author responsible for such successes as THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, WESTWORLD and COMA.George Segal stars as an computer scientist who has an electronic pacemaker inserted in his brain to prevent him from having epileptic fits.
THE TERMINAL MAN postulates push-button brain surgery of a type I've personally glimpsed already (electroshock therapy, for instance, is still very much in use).
Well, that's about all I have to say just now; but take my advice and check out THE TERMINAL MAN: it's an underrated Fright Film no True Fan should miss..