Product Description

Before he created "ER" Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, Twister) adapted and directed (his debut behind the camera) this chiller from Robin Cook's best-seller about a sinister medical conspiracy. Genevieve Bujold, Michael Douglas and Richard Widmark star as doctors caught in its web.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13253 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 1999-10-26
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.com
Something is awry at Boston General Hospital. Dr. Wheeler's (Genevieve Bujold) friend Nancy goes in for a routine procedure, but never comes out of the anesthesia and slips into a coma. Wheeler learns that a tissue sample from the young woman went to the lab, then soon finds out that a high number of patients have become comatose recently. She digs a little deeper and finds a conspiracy mired in hospital politics, running afoul of the head of anesthesia, Dr. George (Rip Torn) and the head of surgery, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark). Nobody believes the young MD, not even her boyfriend Dr. Bellows (Michael Douglas), but she soon uncovers a black-market trade in body parts, conducted offsite at the Jefferson Institute, a state-of-the-art coma-care facility. As a thriller, Coma certainly has its moments (the scene where a hit man is buried under a pile of frozen-stiff cadavers is an inspired touch), but it's not without its problems. Director Michael Crichton is an MD himself, and the film has a seamless, almost mechanical structure and plotline (taken from the Robin Cook novel). However, the movie's cold, detached feel works against it at times, making the suspense scenes oddly more effective but rendering the emotional content of the characters rather flat. Douglas in particular seems to not put much into his performance; Bujold, on the other hand, is strong and resourceful as the movie's protagonist. More telling, perhaps, is the way that the story shows its age in a time when medical ethics have changed and the phrase "organ harvesting" has made its way into our lexicon. --Jerry Renshaw

Customer Reviews

It's Burke and Hare all over again!
After his success with the 1973 sci-fi thriller "Westworld" director Michael Crichton followed up with 1978's "Coma". In the earlier film he dazzled us with a fantastic futuristic vacation resort that turns against it's patrons. Here Crichton depicts the medical care system as a treacherous terrain where some patients may fall victim to odious conspiracy's.

Most people quite naturally experience an overwhelming fear of being defenseless and vulnerable while at the mercy of a hospital staff when they are admitted for surgery. Crichton explores this tendency of ours to suffer anxiety and apprehension at this prospect without being exploitative. He carefully crafts a believable scenario and we soon become caught in the same tangled web as the lead character Dr. Susan Wheeler, played marvelously by Genevieve Bujold. Wheeler is a bright, strong willed, liberated woman who supports herself and can withstand a challenge from her current boyfriend Dr. Mark Bellows, well played by Michael Douglas. Crichton received both critical praise and public criticism for the movie's portrayal of such an emancipated heroine, a role which has fortunately become more standard in the years that have followed.

When Wheeler's friend Mary is admitted to the hospital for an abortion Mary expresses her fears to Wheeler who assures her it is a routine operation and that she shouldn't feel a need to worry. Something does go wrong with the operation however and Mary falls into a coma, shortly afterward she dies. This event doesn't seem possible to Wheeler and out of curiousity she reviews Mary's medical records and notices inconsistencies and inquires about them. This sequence begins what will become a complicated and formidable investigation that she proves completely capable of following through on. Her defiance is so threatening that soon a predator is stalking her intending on silencing her permanently and she handles this situation resolutely, fighting against her fears and facing the enemy.

Crichton presents coherent, edifying scenes of doctors, interns and nurses going about their daily duties that adds authenticity to the film. The anesthesia explanation is well written and necessary for our understanding of the plot. The Jefferson Institute complex is the film's great set piece. It stands isolated in a lush green valley looking sterile and impersonal, matching the cold treatment that Wheeler has been receiving from her male superiors who she has been reporting her findings to. The building also adds a striking Gothic horror feel to the movie; the sight of bodies suspended by wires from the ceiling is eerie, chilling and unforgettable.

"Coma" also features splendid supporting peformances by many recognizable faces. Tom Selleck has a brief bit as a patient who is victimized; Ed Harris appears as a Pathology resident - with a headful of hair!; Rip Torn plays Dr. George, the hospital's Chief of Anesthesiology, who Wheeler suspects; Elizabeth Ashley is the autocratic and apparently soulless head of Jefferson Institute. But it's Richard Widmark who makes the strongest impression as the hospital's administrator, Dr. Harris. His final self-righteous discourse to Bujold, as she slowly succumbs to poisoning, is memorable - he brazenly explains away ethics as if they were a mere contrivance. It's at this point you realize that throughout the film he has been dispensing his diabolical medical elitism with all the ease and grace of a seasoned diplomat.

Mysteriously, Crichton chooses to film a climax that has Wheeler falling into an all too familiar 'damsel in distress' situation where she needs to be rescued by a man. But the sight of her lying helpless on the operating table makes your heart pump with fear and anxiety, creating another of the film's most effective moments. Not one of us wants to be this completely helpless and vulnerable!

"Coma" remains a top-notch medical thriller today despite it's lack of special effects that today's sophisticated audiences demand from this genre. Still, it remains largely unknown, enjoying a bit of cult movie status among the moviegoers who came of age in the 70's.

One final note: People often mistakenly credit Crichton for writing the book upon which the film "Coma" is based. Actually Robin Cook is the book's author although I can see why people would easily make this incorrect distinction due to some similarities between them. They each have a medical degree and earlier in his career Crichton penned a handful of novels that had a medical setting and wrote the non-fiction book "Five Patients" as well.

You won't fall asleep during this thriller
Writer/director Michael Crichton's second film was an adaption of Robin Cook's bestselling novel. Michael Douglas plays the role of the heroine while Geneviene Bujold has the hero's role in this role reversal thriller. This was made prior to Douglas becoming a break out star. There are a number of fine performances including a great turn by the always interesting Rip Torn.

The extras are slim; we get the trailer and both the widescreen and standard versions of the movie. No director's commentary or observations from the cast; no "making of" documentary (or promo fluff piece for that matter). Which is a pity as this fine thriller does deserve better but then that was SOP when DVD's started coming out.

You can't argue with the price nor with Crichton's direction. He really never got any better than this as a director (although there are a couple of films like The Great Train Robbery that hold up to this and Westworld). Crichton isn't a great film director (he's a better writer) but he gets the job done. Coma will keep you guessing.

WELL EXECUTED THRILLER
I discovered by chance that this 1978 thriller with Michael Douglas was written and directed by Michael Crichton, who was himself a qualified medical doctor, but this film would have one believe that he had no love lost for his original profession (as would "The Andromeda Strain".)

Coma despite being an "old" movie by many standards, is surprisingly fascinating on DVD. Crichton gets good performances from the whole cast, with Genevieve Bujold, in particular, reminding us of what a fine actress she can be. As a doctor suspicious of certain goings-on in her hospital but disbelieved by everyone around her, she shows courage and determination (without ever losing her femininity) which is welcome in a female lead. She finds herself forced to question her own sense of perspective, even her sanity, as she struggles to uncover the mystery of comatose patients that surround her.

There's one sizeable twist towards the latter half of the movie, but you generally know what's going to happen. The beauty of this movie is in the overall execution -- it's VERY well done.

Recommended rental. Especially for the medically inclined.