participant." Trumbull proceeded to complete the film by rewriting the script and using Natalie Wood's younger sister Lana for Wood's few remaining scenes. The film carries the dedication credit "To Natalie". Effects The film was conceived as an introduction to Trumbull's Showscan 60 frames-per-second 70 mm film process. "In movies people often do flashbacks and point-of-view shots as a gauzy, mysterious, distant kind of image," Trumbull recalled. "And I wanted to do just the opposite, which was to make the material of the mind even more real and high-impact than 'reality'". MGM withdrew its plans to release the experimental picture in the new format. Trumbull instead shot the virtual reality sequences in 24 frames-per-second Super Panavision 70 with an aspect ratio of 2.2:1. The rest of the film was shot in conventional 35mm with an aspect ratio of approximately 1.7 to 1. Soundtrack The score to Brainstorm was composed and conducted by James Horner, it won him the Saturn Award for Best Music in 1983. The Varèse Sarabande album/CD release is a re-recording with the London Symphony Orchestra, produced shortly before the original theatrical release. Reception Brainstorm was released on September 30, 1983, almost two years after Wood's death. However, it opened on a small number of screens and with little publicity despite being lauded unofficially as "Natalie Wood's last movie". Rotten Tomatoes reports that 57% of 21 critics have given the film a positive review with an average rating of 5.69/10. Janet Maslin of the New York Times gave particular credit to Louise Fletcher's "superb performance". Christopher John reviewed Brainstorm in Ares Magazine Special Edition #2 and commented that "For those looking for nothing more than the same old spaceships and monsters, well, this one probably isn't for you – but then again, you've got all the movies you need this year. Brainstorm is for the rest of us." Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a mixed 2 stars out of a possible 4, describing the premise as "a good idea for a movie" and credited Trumbull with providing "intriguing" special effects. However, Ebert thought the cast was not used well: "The characters take such a secondary importance to the gadget that we never feel much for them." The film was not a commercial success, with a production budget of $18 million and grossing only $10 million in ticket sales in North America. Because of the