12 Most Underrated 1980s Sci-Fi Movies

While Director Douglas Trumbull would like us to believe otherwise, this 1983 Christopher Walken starring project is a really good watch. Trumbull had major troubles working with production company MGM, who all but shut down the film shoot upon the death of lead actress Natalie Wood, who drowned in mysterious circumstances in the middle of filming.

The troubled production combined with MGM's indifference with the product lead to the film receiving mixed reviews and becoming a box office flop. It's a great shame, as there is an awful lot to like here, including a clever premise that was years ahead of its time.

The story follows Walken's scientist Michael Brace and his wife Karen, played by the late Natalie Wood, invent a device that allows a person's sensations and emotional experiences to be recorded and experiences by anyone who 'listens to them'. The first half of the film is the strongest, when the exploration of the plusses and negatives of the device, including the experience of near death experiences, is the story's focus.

The finale becomes a touch cliched when Michael attempts to destroy the device upon finding out the military tried to use the device for nefarious reasons, but Walken is such a great pleasure to be around it's impossible not to be engaged. The movie's final moment where Michael envisions the afterlife is genuinely affecting and indicative of a grand vision that Trumbull should be proud of.