The Lathe of Heaven--again.

I just watched the 1980 PBS version.

I know this is considered by many fans to be the definitive, Ursula-K.-Le-Guin-endorsed version. And I did enjoy it as much as the remake, which I watched first.

But I'm sorry to say I'm still waiting for a film that can do the book justice. Both films, IMO, suffer from an over-simplification of the script and an over-reliance on melodrama in some scenes which were definitely not present in the book. George Orr is a whiner. Dr. Haber is decidedly more villainous than Le guin's character. And this Heather Lelache also lacks attitude.

The same problems I encountered in the remake are all here. So why does everyone love this version?

Sigh...looks like I'm going to be the black sheep in SF yet again. At this point I like the remake better. Both films deviate from the book in similar respects anyway; why shouldn't I prefer the version with a more believable sense of place? But I actually love the Star Wars prequels, so this estrangement from cult nerd-dom is nothing new to me.

Speaking of Star Wars...Bruce Davison as George Orr.

Come on now. Tell me that blonde bob and that whiny voice don't remind you of Luke Skywalker. In the A&E remake, on the other hand, George Orr's sulky emo ass reminded me of Hayden Christensen.

There's got to be a middle ground between Luke and Anakin Skywalker. Somewhere. The filmmakers just didn't find it.

At least we have the turtle aliens in this one. By the way, I also chuckled when the alien called him Jor Jor because...no, okay, we won't go there. :P