I thought this film was expertly done. Moreover, I liked how the movie concluded on a low-key realistic note instead of with some big cliché car chase or explosion.
You've seen Guy Standeven in something because the man was in everything.

by - charcoalchicken on Sun Jul 16 2006 08:51:18
Has a lot going for it Just kind of falls flat at the end.

This was another great film for creating atmosphere, the story was great so was the music.
The acting was good except for the main villain, I didn't really buy it too much.
Good movie, worth seeing, the rating it has on here is basically spot on.
my feelings exactly
http://www.imdb.com/board/10077355/board/nest/182813089

http://www.imdb.com/board/10077355/board/nest/182813089

How did the ending fall flat?
Dr. Wheeler was almost killed by the head who was behind the murders. Michael Douglas's character discovers Dr. Wheeler was right, there was something eerie going on, saved her life on her last breath before coma kicked in. Movie was excellent from beginning to ending.

I disagree with that. The end was very suspenseful with the doctor trying to kill the woman who was on to them. What r you talking about?

In this case a nihilistic, GAME OF THRONES style ending would have sucked.
Why this mania for nihilism now?
It's nothing new: Plenty of books and movies end unhappily (see ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE OMEN), but why do people especially crave it now??

Operating Room 8 = OR8

what is OR 8?
The movie was great from start to finish imo.

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The perfect ending would have been her turning into a vegetable, but not like a coma, more like profound retard, because she was without oxygen for a while.
That would have gotten a perfect rating from me.
The way it ended it gets an 8.
The Greatest Action Film Of All Time IS RAMBO

They had ambiguous endings in movies by 1978.

Or for her to believe Michael was on her side, and for him to turn out to be a bad guy maybe he entered a relationship to use her or something.
That's kind of the nature of older movies.. to tie it all up in a pretty little bow at the end. If they'd have made the movie more recently, maybe they would've ended it your way, or maybe they would've ended it more like the book where you don't know what happens.

Based on what you're saying about the novel, I'd have to say Michael Crichton's screenplay sounds like a huge improvement. I loved Genvieve Bujold's complicated but very realistic (and ultimately warm and moving) romance with Michael Douglas. And that moment at the end that look of shock on Widmark's face when Bujold starts coughing and coming awake is just spectacular
Sounds like this is one of those times (as with JAWS and DOUBLE INDEMNITY) when the movie actually improves on the novel.

I thought the relationship between Mark and Susan was a bit confusing and didn't quite tie in with the plot.
It would appear that the scriptwriter added more of a feminist slant which did not appear in the book. Is this the case?

The book was much better. She was a medical STUDENT (not a physician yet) and he was overseeing the lot of them - and they were not in a relationship. That relationship ruined the whole movie in my opinion.
Further, at the end you don't know if she survived or not. The scene where she came to was NOT in the book so it was left up to you, the reader, to determine whether or not YOU think she survived with her brain intact.

I thought it would have been much better for michael douglas to have been a bad guy, like she originally thought, and for susan to actually be put into a coma and the final shot of the film to be her strung up in the jefferson institute
this is what i thought would happen and I was well annyoyed when it didnt!

I tend to give a lot of 6s and 7s for films I like, but this is definitely a 9. It's an intelligent thriller that builds its characters slowly without today's gimmicks of quick-cuts, explosions and car chases. Watching this film is like reading a good novel.

I liked it overall, but I have to say I thought the ending was a bit predictable.
Having said that, I bought it recently when DeepDiscountDVD.com had their semi-annual sale and don't regret it.
Good, not great, 70s thriller (or chiller) - definitely worth a viewing.

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I think it's an excellent movie. An intelligent thriller full of suspense. And I disagree about it falling flat at the end. I'm not to easy on the 8s, 9s and 10s when I vote on films, but this is a 9 to me. One to watch, and unmissable for people who like 70s thrillers.