Brainstorm

On paper, with its fascinating premise - a helmet-like device to enable people to experience other people's experiences - this has a lot going for it. On screen, however, it's an interesting and ambitious package that doesn't quite work. Use of the device is limited to the obvious, like sex and racing cars, or to the impossibly mystical, which fails to crack the old problem that hell is always more vivid than heaven. The drama comes from the battle between the mad scientist (Walken) who wants the device to benefit mankind, and the mysterious men in dark suits who want to keep it all under wraps for the military. As a thriller it's a bit soft, as sci-fi it's a bit simple.