Looker

Looker is a 1981 American science-fiction thriller–horror film written and directed by Michael Crichton and starring Albert Finney, Susan Dey, and James Coburn.[3] The film is a suspense/science-fiction piece that comments upon and satirizes media, advertising, television's effects on the populace, and a ridiculous standard of beauty.

This article is about the 1981 film. For other uses, see Looker (disambiguation).
Looker
original film poster
Directed byMichael Crichton
Produced byHoward Jeffrey
Written byMichael Crichton
Starring
Music byBarry De Vorzon
CinematographyPaul Lohmann
Edited byCarl Kress
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • October 30, 1981 (1981-10-30)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million[1]
Box office$3,281,232[2]

Though sparse in visual effects, the film is notable for being the first commercial film to attempt to make a realistic computer-generated character, for the model named Cindy. It was also the first film to create three-dimensional (3D) shading with a computer,[4] months before the release of the better-known Tron.

Plot

Dr. Larry Roberts (Finney), a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, is puzzled when four beautiful models working in television commercials request cosmetic surgery to make changes so minor as to be imperceptible to the naked eye. When these models later start dying under mysterious circumstances, he discovers they are all linked to the same advertisement research firm.

The Digital Matrix research firm rates advertising models using a scoring system to measure the combined visual impact of various physical attributes in television commercials. In an experiment to increase their scores, some models are sent to Dr. Roberts to get cosmetic surgery to maximize their visual impact. Though the models are physically perfect after the surgery, they still are not as effective as desired, so the research firm decides to use a different approach. Each model is offered a contract to have her body scanned digitally to create 3D computer-generated models, then the 3D models are animated for use in commercials. The contracts seem to be incredibly lucrative for the models; once their bodies are represented digitally, they get a paycheck for life, never having to work again, since their digital models are used for all their future work in commercials.

However, when these same models start dying under mysterious circumstances, Roberts becomes suspicious and decides to investigate Digital Matrix. He has a strong interest in investigating the deaths: he is considered a prime suspect by the police (from evidence planted at the scene of one of the murders) and his most recent patient, (with whom he is in a relationship) Cindy (Susan Dey). Cindy is the last of the models to be digitally scanned.

During his investigation, Roberts discovers some advanced technology that the Digital Matrix corporation is using to hypnotize consumers into buying the products they advertise. He also discovers the Light Ocular-Oriented Kinetic Emotive Responses (L.O.O.K.E.R.) gun, a light pulse device that gives the illusion of invisibility by instantly mesmerizing its victims into losing all sense of time.

Cast

Production

Crichton started thinking about the subject of the film in 1975.[5] He says he went to a Los Angeles computer company to find out how they could create copies in commercials without looking too ridiculous and discovered a company in Texas was already doing it, called tomography.[6]

Looker became an early production of The Ladd Company.[7] It was Leigh Taylor-Young's first film in eight years.[8]

Reception

Looker was poorly received by critics. The film holds a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 21 reviews. It was also unsuccessful at the box office.

gollark: What I would probably do is run a Wireguard link to osmarksnetnet™, such that they could host things and do stuff.
gollark: How did it not work? Weird.
gollark: Alternatively, have an actual video, I'm sure the webcam can do it.
gollark: <@231856503756161025> https://github.com/pikvm/ustreamer you.
gollark: Perhaps it's apifying the quality.

See also
  • Timeline of CGI in film and television

References
  1. http://catalog.afi.com/Film/56653-LOOKER
  2. http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Looker
  3. "Looker". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  4. Visual and Special Effects Film Milestones from Filmsite.org
  5. Warga, Wayne. (Mar 1, 1981). "Fact, Fiction Intertwined By Crichton". Los Angeles Times. p. m22.
  6. Buckley, Tom. (Feb 6, 1981). "At the Movies: How Resnais made a success with science". New York Times. p. C12.
  7. Pollock, Dale (Aug 6, 1980). "Film Clips: All Geared Up With Nowhere To Go". Los Angeles Times. p. i3.
  8. "Roderick Mann: Leigh Taylor-Young Returns To The Scene". Los Angeles Times. Jan 8, 1981. p. h1.
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