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It was all a dream

post #1 of 53
9/21/12 at 12:03pm
Thread Starter 

It's amazing that, despite the gripes of millions of viewers, filmmakers still do this to resolve, or complicate, a story.

 

Are you tired of this trope? Does it still work? Can you think of any recent examples where you think it did work? I know it's often pegged as something of a narrative shortcut, but it does open the film in question to more complex, peculiar interpretations, depending on the material itself.

 

Please warn of spoilers beforehand.

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post #2 of 53
9/21/12 at 12:33pm

Ok, it worked in Jacob's Ladder, thats all I can think of it ever working in.

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post #3 of 53
9/21/12 at 12:38pm

The only time I thought that this trick worked was during an episode of The Twilight Zone called

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

The Midnight Sun.

 

Otherwise, I've been pissed about it ever since I got to the end of Super Mario Bros. 2 and was treated to this bullshit

 

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post #4 of 53
9/21/12 at 12:47pm

Monty Python pretty much killed this dead back in 1972.

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post #5 of 53
9/21/12 at 1:04pm

This is kind of cheating, but it works in INCEPTION.  

 

The original ending for THE DESCENT uses this to great, brutal effect, also.

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post #6 of 53
9/21/12 at 1:30pm
Is it okay to bring up a certain 2001 David Lynch movie? If so, then enough said.
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post #7 of 53
9/21/12 at 1:50pm

Yeah, it's kind of impossible to mention any movie in this thread without spoiling it.

 

So I will say that one of the following films I saw recently made excellent use of this technique:

 

1) Vernon, Florida

2) The Double Hour

3) The Devil's Double

4) The Grey

5) His Girl Friday

 

There were plenty of hints calling back to the waking world that were trippy without being overdone or too obvious.

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post #8 of 53
9/21/12 at 2:08pm
I don't mind it being ALL A DREAM if it serves the story. If it's merely a twist that allows the director to cover up the fact that they don't know how to end the movie, then no.
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post #9 of 53
9/21/12 at 2:16pm

This is not in reference to "it was allllll a dream" endings, but I remember in the year 2000 (why do I feel the need to qualify 2000 with 'in the year'?) it felt like lots of movies were playing that 'daydream' card.

 

Specifically, moments like in REQUIEM FOR A DREAM when Jared Leto, bored out of his mind, grabs a cop's gun and starts playing keep-away with him with Marlon Wayans' help.  Then we snap out of his head and realize it was a daydream/imagination/wish-fulfillment.

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post #10 of 53
9/21/12 at 2:20pm

I used to read Word Up magazine!

 

Sorry, I just couldn't help it.

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post #11 of 53
9/21/12 at 2:26pm
It's actually more of a "the last third of the movie was just a dream" than all of it, but there's Next with Nicolas Cage. For some reason it feels like a cheat, but I can't actually muster a solid reasoning for why. It might just be knee-jerk reaction on my part.
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post #12 of 53
9/21/12 at 3:35pm

Devil's Fucking Advocate.  Even to this day, I have so much spite towards that film.

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post #13 of 53
9/21/12 at 3:42pm

I do understand why so many appreciate it, really I do.  But I remember hating the fuck out of  Linklater's Waking Life when seeing it in theaters a very, very long time ago. 

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post #14 of 53
9/21/12 at 3:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post

(why do I feel the need to qualify 2000 with 'in the year'?) 

Maybe it's just been drilled into your head by the old Conan O'Brien sketch. cool.gif

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post #15 of 53
9/21/12 at 3:59pm

The real ending to Brazil.

 

Good lord, people, I'm not even the film's biggest fan, and that was that first film that came to mind.

 

Also, I know the film's fallen out of/never was in favor round these parts, but I remain a HUGE fan of the Mad World sequence in Donnie Darko for turning this trope on its ear a bit.

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post #16 of 53
9/21/12 at 4:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by User_32 View Post

The only time I thought that this trick worked was during an episode of The Twilight Zone called

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

The Midnight Sun.

 

Otherwise, I've been pissed about it ever since I got to the end of Super Mario Bros. 2 and was treated to this bullshit

 


Hah, I never beat it so I didn't know that. Considering how different the world is, it makes a lot of sense.

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post #17 of 53
9/21/12 at 5:09pm

There's a terrific episode of Gargoyles called "Future Tense" that has one of the best uses of this trope. There are hints throughout that the main action of the episode is a dream/hallucination, and when the reveal happens, it turns out to have been a deliberate act by a third party for their own gain.

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post #18 of 53
9/21/12 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Hughes View Post

Hah, I never beat it so I didn't know that. Considering how different the world is, it makes a lot of sense.
(Actually, the world is different because it's a completely different game that's been slapped with Mario sprites for the American release...)
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post #19 of 53
9/21/12 at 8:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The NZ Natural View Post

Devil's Fucking Advocate.  Even to this day, I have so much spite towards that film.

 

The previous fantastic 2 hours pretty much saves it though.  Reeve's best performance with Pacino smearing his testosterone all over the place, and a very very solid turn from Theron.  It's a damn good film. 

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post #20 of 53
9/22/12 at 1:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ambler View Post

 

The previous fantastic 2 hours pretty much saves it though.  Reeve's best performance with Pacino smearing his testosterone all over the place, and a very very solid turn from Theron.  It's a damn good film. 


It also wasn't a dream. Satan changed reality when his plan went awry in order to corrupt Reeves's character from a different angle. At least that was my interpretation.

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post #21 of 53
9/22/12 at 9:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fafhrd View Post


It also wasn't a dream. Satan changed reality when his plan went awry in order to corrupt Reeves's character from a different angle. At least that was my interpretation.

That's how i read it, too. That didn't work? Well, let's hit reset and try again with a DIFFERENT vice.
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post #22 of 53
9/22/12 at 12:20pm
Thread Starter 

So... it doesn't work?

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post #23 of 53
9/22/12 at 12:26pm
For me, it worked great.
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post #24 of 53
9/22/12 at 12:32pm
Thread Starter 

I mean the general "it's all a dream" conceit, which I would agree The Devil's Advocate doesn't necessarily use. Despite your comments, the consensus of the thread seems to be highly negative.

 

I honestly don't know how I feel about it myself. I almost feel like using it in a contemporary film is almost ballsy since it's so overdone. I'm thinking especially of a certain small genre film from a couple of years ago where the RZA briefly showed up. I think some of you know which one I mean.

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post #25 of 53
9/22/12 at 1:17pm

How about Batman: The Animated Series in the episode Over the Edge. Maybe one of the best episodes ever nullified by the ending. I understand why, of course, but there was that little hope that this was the new direction the series was going to take.

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post #26 of 53
9/22/12 at 1:19pm
Thread Starter 

Yeah, I thought that whole thing was pretty tacky and ugly. I really dislike that fourth season of Batman the Animated Series.

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post #27 of 53
9/22/12 at 1:26pm

The elephant in the room: DALLAS, with the entire season that ended up being Pam's dream (so that they could bring back Bobby Ewing).  The collective GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE from the entire viewing audience was palpable.

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post #28 of 53
9/22/12 at 1:31pm

How about the "it was all a daydream in the mind of an autistic kid, thus linking 282 television shows forever" trope?

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post #29 of 53
9/22/12 at 3:52pm

The only show to ever make the dream thing work was Roseanne.

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post #30 of 53
9/22/12 at 7:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackyShimSham View Post

The only show to ever make the dream thing work was Roseanne.

 

WRONG. That was an awful finale.
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post #31 of 53
9/22/12 at 7:50pm

De Palma sure enjoys employing the dream fake-out, which gets its biggest play in FEMME FATALE. Your mileage may vary. (Personally, I love the film.)

 

Depending on your interpretation of the ending, MYSTERIES OF LISBON may qualify.

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post #32 of 53
9/22/12 at 8:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by User_32 View Post

How about Batman: The Animated Series in the episode Over the Edge. Maybe one of the best episodes ever nullified by the ending. I understand why, of course, but there was that little hope that this was the new direction the series was going to take.

Yeah, I was going to mention that. The problem is, they'd already done pretty much the exact same story in an earlier "Batman: The Animated Series" episode (with The Mad Hatter), and in that instance, it was brilliant. That Mad Hatter episode was one of the best of the series, and even with the dream thing, it had one of the show's most powerful and moving endings (Roddy McDowall sells the hell out of it, with his most emotional performance ever).

 

"Over the Edge" seems to generally get a lot of praise from fans of the show, but at the end, I was disappointed that they went back to the same well again. I wouldn't go as far as saying it nullified the whole episode (I still find the rest of it entertaining), but it did render the episode's conclusion a little limp.

 

Unfortunately the writer wrote himself into a corner there. It pretty much had to be a dream. I was watching it with a friend once and after about 5 minutes, he was like, "I can't believe she's dead, it must be a dream". Well, duh! I agree that the last season was weak...the fact that "Over the Edge" (despite its huge flaw) is one of the better episodes serves as evidence of that.

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post #33 of 53
9/22/12 at 10:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackyShimSham View Post

The only show to ever make the dream thing work was Roseanne.

 

Incorrect.  The only show to make that dream thing work was NEWHART.

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post #34 of 53
9/26/12 at 10:20pm

The only show to make the dream thing work was Lost.

 

Am I doing this right?

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post #35 of 53
9/26/12 at 11:28pm

The Golden Girls had a very effective episode that was essentially revealed to be a dream. It was heartbreaking and poignant, especially since it dealt with [spoiler]the dynamic of losing a longtime love/spouse to death and living the rest of your days wanting so badly to be fooled by the illusion of your dreams that said love never really left you behind.[/spoiler]
 

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post #36 of 53
9/27/12 at 1:05am

I thought it worked quite well in the under-rated 2005 Ryan Gosling movie Stay, especially if you’re paying attention and spot the signs peppered throughout the movie.

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post #37 of 53
9/27/12 at 3:36am

It made for a fun sequence in High Fidelity as well.

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post #38 of 53
9/27/12 at 5:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ambler View Post

 

The previous fantastic 2 hours pretty much saves it though.  Reeve's best performance with Pacino smearing his testosterone all over the place, and a very very solid turn from Theron.  It's a damn good film. 

 

His reaction to Theron stabbing herself is the best thing he's ever done. For about thirty seconds he is breathtaking, then he goes back to normal... and that not-quite-right southern accent.

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post #39 of 53
9/27/12 at 6:05am

Left us not forget an entire franchise where its reality was always on the iffy side: Phantasm.

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post #40 of 53
9/27/12 at 6:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent Z View Post

The Golden Girls had a very effective episode that was essentially revealed to be a dream. It was heartbreaking and poignant, especially since it dealt with [spoiler]the dynamic of losing a longtime love/spouse to death and living the rest of your days wanting so badly to be fooled by the illusion of your dreams that said love never really left you behind.[/spoiler]
 

 

Do we need to spoiler-proof reveals from the Golden Girls?  Really?

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post #41 of 53
9/27/12 at 6:23am

True story: I used to get Golden Girls and Gilmore Girls muddled up all the time. When friends tell me they fancy one of the chicks from Gilmore Girls, I involuntarily shudder.

 

Carry on.
 

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post #42 of 53
9/27/12 at 6:32am

Buffy The Vampire Slayer sort of did this with the episode Normal Again. But that was with her actually being crazy in an asylum than a dream. Community almost went there too with the John Hodgman episode last season.

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post #43 of 53
9/27/12 at 6:40am

ON topic:

 

The Brittas Empire, the most surreal, violent mainstream sitcom ever to find success on primetime British television, ended its seven-season run with the "it was all a dream" gambit. I urge people to check this show out if they're looking for bizarre examples of UK humour.
 

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post #44 of 53
9/27/12 at 7:24am

Used to love Brittas Empire!

 

Speaking of television: OZ... It was the most gleefully sadistic show ever to grace our screens so of course they'd have an entire episode that focussed on everyone's favorite character finally getting his happy ending, only to rip it away at the end while laughing and peeing in your direction.

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post #45 of 53
9/27/12 at 7:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Untitled View Post

Buffy The Vampire Slayer sort of did this with the episode Normal Again. But that was with her actually being crazy in an asylum than a dream. Community almost went there too with the John Hodgman episode last season.

 

I don't like these examples, because 1) "Normal Again" might get my vote for worst episode of the series precisely because I hate this twist, and 2) Community specifically (and hilariously) takes the piss out of the concept with that episode.  

 

Rather than repost all my thoughts on when this does and doesn't work, I'll just link.  But few things are as aggravating in a story as this trope done lazily.

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post #46 of 53
9/27/12 at 7:45am

Quantum Leap of all shows did one of these episodes as well. A good Halloween episode where he's a horror writer. I hated the dream reveal though, because up until that point the episode was fairly creepy (for QL) straight up supernatural episode. As I kid it had me, in a "holy shit, the actual Devil is pretending to be Al!" kind of way.

 

The X-Files also did a pretty crummy "dream" episode (Field Trip) where Mulder and Scully are trapped underground with this hallucinogenic fungus. Lousy episode, but in my personal continuity for The X-Files the majority of season 7 (Millenneum/X-Cops happened prior to Field Trip) and the entirety of the 8th-9th seasons take place in this dream world. 

 

Hopefully the "second" X-Files movie will simply gloss over the episode and whatever Mulder and Scully were up to in the years in-between and provide a satisfying conclusion to the series mythology. ;)

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post #47 of 53
9/27/12 at 7:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Untitled View Post

Buffy The Vampire Slayer sort of did this with the episode Normal Again. But that was with her actually being crazy in an asylum than a dream. Community almost went there too with the John Hodgman episode last season.

 

Pretty sure Buffy did it first, and I'm just about ok with it there, but I hate the way this storyline keeps cropping up in genre tv. It just seems so horribly lazy, like this generation's "Mirror, Mirror".

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post #48 of 53
9/27/12 at 9:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post

 

Incorrect.  The only show to make that dream thing work was NEWHART.

 

EXACTLY!

 

 

As a general rule - "It's all a dream!" is lazy writing, which is why its usually not very good, especially the longer it goes on. (A 2-minute dream sequence is much more toleralbe than a whole episode/movie or season.) It worked marvelously for Newhart because it was so totally out of left field yet completely perfect for Bob Newhart fans. (I don't know why but I actually remember seeing this episode live the night it aired. I wasn't a big Newhart fan, but for whatever reason watched that episode.)

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post #49 of 53
9/27/12 at 10:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by neil spurn View Post

 

Do we need to spoiler-proof reveals from the Golden Girls?  Really?

 

What does it hurt to include it anyway? Trust me, somewhere out there someone is watching the series for the first time and is helped from not being spoiled on one of the better episodes.

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post #50 of 53
9/27/12 at 1:21pm

The Last Temptation of Christ, anyone?

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