What Dreams May Come (1998)

50 Pictures

6.8	Rating (890 ratings)
7.1	IMDB rating

Add to favorites

Edit page

Buy at Amazon

Directed by

Vincent Ward

Starring (View all)

Robin Williams
Chris Nielsen

Cuba Gooding Jr.
Albert Lewis

Annabella Sciorra
Annie Collins-Nielsen

Max von Sydow
The Tracker

Jessica Brooks Grant
Marie Nielsen

Josh Paddock
Ian Nielsen

Rosalind Chao
Leona

Lucinda Jenney
Mrs. Jacobs

Written by

Richard Matheson

Ronald Bass

Lists

386 votes

Mindfuck movies (162 items)
list by Vandelay

Published 13 years ago

49 comments

295 votes

Works of Art in Cinema. (90 items)
list by daparafuseta

Published 12 years, 8 months ago

35 comments

229 votes

It's a private emotion. (235 items)
list by Lexi

Published 14 years ago

19 comments

133 votes

6,006 Movies For a Post-Covid World... (6013 items)
list by ToonHead2102

Published 12 years, 11 months ago

14 comments

126 votes

ViSUALLY BEAUTiFUL (I).. (87 items)
list by Chani

Published 14 years, 11 months ago

26 comments

View all What Dreams May Come lists

What Dreams May Come Videos

What Dreams May Come by Ennio Morricone (Rejected Score)

300 Views

Added 12 years ago

What Dreams May Come Trailer

159 Views

Added 12 years ago

Entrevista al actor Robin Williams por filme What Dreams May come

112 Views

Added 12 years ago

View all What Dreams May Come videos

Cover art, photos and screenshots

15 votes

11 votes

10 votes

9 votes

View all What Dreams May Come pictures (47 more)

Reviews

This is the guy who doesn't give up.

12 years, 10 months ago at May 30 14:36

Ana

1 vote

This is one of the most intelligent, emotional, and visually beautiful movies I have ever seen, and it’s my favorite one. It makes you really happy, it makes you sad. It is remarkable love story that you can see countless times.
I absolutely love this movie and I refuse to write more about it. Just see it.

Review

13 years, 8 months ago at Aug 20 12:03

dappa1975

1 vote

I think the idea behind this is immense - and enjoyable visuals - great concept and Williams performance as per norm.

An interesting failure

13 years, 2 months ago at Feb 8 10:42

johanlefourbe

1 vote

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Robin Williams, I thought I might as well give it a try. It was pretty much a flop when it was first released but it doesn’t mean that it was actually completely worthless. To start with, I have to admit it, the title was just way too cheesy. Furthermore, the main issue, in my opinion, like with many other ... read more

View all What Dreams May Come reviews

Description: This spiritual adventure film, with a screenplay by Ron Bass based on a book by Richard Matheson, boldly begins with the idea that eternity is similar to the realm of the imagination. Chris (Robin Williams), a pediatrician, and Annie (Annabella Sciorra), a painter, are soul mates whose love relationship seems invincible. However, when their two children (Jessica Brooks Grant and Josh Paddock) are killed in an automobile accident, Annie has a breakdown and is institutionalized. Chris pulls her back to reality but then he dies while trying to help others at the scene of a terrible wreck. He ends up in Heaven where he is escorted a This spiritual adventure film, with a screenplay by Ron Bass based on a book by Richard Matheson, boldly begins with the idea that eternity is similar to the realm of the imagination. Chris (Robin Williams), a pediatrician, and Annie (Annabella Sciorra), a painter, are soul mates whose love relationship seems invincible. However, when their two children (Jessica Brooks Grant and Josh Paddock) are killed in an automobile accident, Annie has a breakdown and is institutionalized. Chris pulls her back to reality but then he dies while trying to help others at the scene of a terrible wreck. He ends up in Heaven where he is escorted around by Albert (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Leona (Rosalind Chao), who both know a lot about his past.

This is an oddly American version of the afterlife as totally individualistic. Chris finds himself wandering around inside one of Annie's impressionistic paintings of the place where they met and planned to grow old together. Albert and Leona have private Heavens, too, that are consistent with their memories. God is nowhere to be found, a view that is contrary to the rich tradition of Heaven as a place of union with the Creator put forth by Western religions.

This afterlife reflects the idea that "belief creates experience" or "thinking makes it so" common in today's pop psychology circles. To move through the heavenly realm, all Chris needs to do is see those desired images. This may seem strange to rationalists, but such movement will be quite familiar to those who have practiced waking dreams, lucid dreaming, shamanistic traveling, and other experiences in the imaginary realm. Still, the film's simplistic credo—"Thought is real; the physical is an illusion"—does a disservice to the spiritual depths of the imagination as a separate reality.

The special effects, however, are striking and provocative. Vincent Ward (The Navigator, Map of the Human Heart) is the perfect director for this kind of visually rich presentation. The scenes of flying people outside a Heavenly City, shipwrecks at the gates of Hell, and a surrealistic sea of faces of lost souls are arresting and thought provoking.

As interesting as these visions of Heaven and Hell are, the film is best when it is addressing a different subject altogether: How do we reach someone who is in deep despair? Chris must find an answer on two occasions: trying to reach a self-blaming and very withdrawn Annie at the mental hospital and, later, communicating to her through her denial of him in Hell. His strategy on both occasions is the same. He realizes he has failed her not because he couldn't change her or be stronger for her but because he couldn't join her. When he does—when he suffers with her—their soul-mate bond is reaffirmed. Starting out as an exploration of the imagination, the film ends with an eloquent statement about compassion. ... (more)

Release date: 2 October 1998
UPC: 044005827521

Tags: Fantasy (37), Drama (31), Romance (27), Afterlife (20), Suicide (19), 1998 (16), Hell (14), 1990s (13), Heaven (13), Death (12), Love (10), Family (9), Sad (8), Soul (7), Lake (7), Mental Institution (6), Father Daughter Relationship (5), Awesome (5), Sort (5), First-rate (5)

My tags:

Add tags

Update feed

Agent Kermit D. Fonz added this to a list 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Pop Culture Phenomenon Films: 90’s (1884 movies items)

" Chris Nielsen dies in an accident, and enters Heaven. But when he discovers that his beloved wife Annie has killed herself out of grief over the loss, he embarks on an afterlife adventure to reunite with her. Based on the novel by Richard Matheson, What Dreams May Come is considered to be one of Robin Williams’ best films ever. Critics felt that it was a wonderful, stunning and beautiful movie, and strikingly visually awe inspiring, but for the most part, the film ended up getting mixed re"

Agent Kermit D. Fonz added this to a list 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Pop Culture Phenomenon Films: 90’s (1884 movies items)

Agent Kermit D. Fonz added this to a list 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Visually Breath Taking Films (676 movies items)

Texal added this to a list 3 months, 1 week ago

History of art in cinema (55 movies items)

"Romanticism 1800-1850"

cteddiesgirl added this to a list 10 months, 3 weeks ago

Movies/Titles I Have (7076 movies items)

ramsobrien added this to a list 1 year, 2 months ago

100ish Films to Return to (793 movies items)

Kandi added this to a list 1 year, 3 months ago

Resting on the Grass (13 movies items)

" Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra"

Agent Kermit D. Fonz added this to a list 1 year, 3 months ago

1998 Awardie Awards (40 movies items)

"Other nominations Best Visual Effects "

apo55a voted for an image 1 year, 7 months ago

Kandi voted for an image 1 year, 8 months ago

Nusch voted for an image 1 year, 9 months ago

Kandi added this to a list 1 year, 10 months ago

Loss of Son/Daughter - Movies (19 movies items)

" Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra"

apo55a voted for an image 1 year, 11 months ago

apo55a posted a comment on this image 1 year, 11 months ago

"Great film and a magnificent interpretation of Robin Williams."

johanlefourbe added this to a list 2 years, 2 months ago

Listal's 100 Films To See Before You Die (2022) (100 movies items)

Monstermaster added this to a list 2 years, 3 months ago

Personal Favorite Movies (105 movies items)

DarthTrino added this to a list 2 years, 4 months ago

Películas que he visto y aumentando. (6352 movies items)

Jorobado StarrK added this to a list 2 years, 5 months ago

Registro de Películas (1021 movies items)

apo55a voted for an image 2 years, 7 months ago

Texal voted for 3 images 2 years, 10 months ago

Texal added this to a list 2 years, 10 months ago

Off-camera characters deaths in movies (123 movies items)

"Marie Nielsen Ian Nielsen Annie Collins-Nielsen"

movieman added this to a list 2 years, 10 months ago

1998 Movies Ranked (108 movies items)

mirinbuddy added this to a list 2 years, 11 months ago

1998 Films Ranked (90 movies items)

Texal added this to a list 3 years, 2 months ago

The most beautiful movies I have ever seen (45 movies items)

Stehako added this to a list 3 years, 5 months ago

Top Ten Performances - Robin Williams (16 movies items)

" as Chris Nielsen "

Raquel added this to a list 3 years, 5 months ago

To Inspire My Dream World (26 movies items)

Kandi added this to a list 3 years, 8 months ago

Annabella Sciorra - Movies I've Viewed (9 person items)

" Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra"

Kandi voted for an image 3 years, 9 months ago

Stehako added this to a list 4 years ago

Favorite Movies of All Time (2013 Edition) (1000 movies items)

"2012: 925 2011: 896 2010: 858 2009: 808 2008: 748 2007: 701 2006: 621 2005: 562 2004: 465 2003: 433 2002: 349 2001: 296 2000: 163 1999: 150 1998: 110 "

Agent Kermit D. Fonz added this to a list 4 years, 4 months ago

Favorite Drama Films: 1998-1999 (100 movies items)

" Directed by: Vincent Ward Produced by: Barnet Bain, Ronald Bass, Alan C. Blomquist, Stephen Deutsch, Ted Field, Erica Huggins, and Scott Kroopf Written by: Ronald Bass Based on the novel by: Richard Matheson Cinematography: Eduardo Serra Edited by: David Brenner and Maysie Hoy Music by: Michael Kamen Distributed by: PolyGram Pictures"