The Lawnmower Man

"God made him simple. Science made him a god."

1992 1h 48m EN

😐

5.6

MID

🥫

35%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

5.4

IMDB

★5.6TMDB · 888🥫35%Rotten Tomatoes●42Metacritic★5.4IMDB · 40,365

Science FictionHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A simple man is turned into a genius through the application of computer science.

“God made him simple. Science made him a god.”

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Cast

Jeff Fahey
Jobe Smith
Pierce Brosnan
Lawrence Angelo
Jenny Wright
Marnie Burke
Mark Bringelson
Sebastian Timms
Geoffrey Lewis
Terry McKeen
Jeremy Slate
Francis McKeen
Dean Norris
Director
Colleen Coffey
Caroline Angelo

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Brett Leonard
Writers: Gimel Everett, Brett Leonard, Stephen King
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

34 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Lawnmower Man Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Brett Leonard, shot by Russell Carpenter. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dan Wyman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Alan Baumgarten shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jeff Fahey and Pierce Brosnan and Jenny Wright carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "God made him simple. Science made him a god.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Brett Leonard directs. Russell Carpenter behind the camera. Dan Wyman scores. Alan Baumgarten cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.2× over at the box office.
234 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "The Lawnmower Man Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Brett Leonard, shot by Russell Carpenter. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Dan Wyman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Alan Baumgarten shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Jeff Fahey and Pierce Brosnan and Jenny Wright carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "God made him simple. Science made him a god.".
9IMDB entry: tt0104692 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "dreams", "virtual reality", "technology", "chimpanzee".

The technical file

Cinematography: Russell Carpenter
Original score: Dan Wyman
Editing: Alan Baumgarten
Production design: Alex McDowell
Costume design: Mary Jane Fort
Sound: Randy Honaker
Stunt coordinator: Dan Bradley
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $32,100,816
Return: 321% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Lawnmower Man (1992)
Rotten Tomatoes: 35% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 42/100
IMDB rating: 5.4/10 · 40,365 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

3 nominations total

Part of

The Lawnmower Man Collection

A science fiction horror film series about a simple man turned evil genius when he is transplanted into a virtual reality universe.

Also by

Brett Leonard

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2013-11-04
★ 3.5/10
It Lacks Qualcast Quality. The Lawnmower Man is directed by Brett Leonard who also co-writes the screenplay with Gimel Everett. It stars Pierce Brosnan, Jeff Fahey, Jenny Wright, Geoffrey Lewis, Jeremy Slate and Dean Norris. Music is by Dan Wyman and cinematography by Russell Carpenter. Dr. Lawrence Angelo (Brosnan) is a big mover in the science of virtual reality. When he tries his new technology on mentally challenged gardener Jobe Smith (Fahey), it elevates him to a higher intelligence and it’s not long before Jobe acquires scary new powers… Originally meant to be, and titled as, Stephen King’s Lawnmower Man, the film eventually, after a King lawsuit, ended up bearing very little resemblance to the author’s short story. There’s a couple of small ligaments that link the two, but in the main (not Maine) this Lawnmower Man is its own entity and an obvious attempt to cash in on the then virtual reality zeitgeist. Lawnmower Man has a cult fan base, of that there is no doubt, where much like Tron from 10 years earlier, the effects work and the capturing of something very much being “in” with the youth of the time, has proved perpetually appealing to nostalgists. But strip away these and you have your basic Frankenstein story for the 90s, a pretty standard story lacking intelligent smarts or deep thematic points of worth. And then of course there is the bizarre fact of having a film decrying the advancement of computer technology, by using computer technology to make the film’s strongest moments! Hee. It’s only adequately performed by the cast, and Leonard’s direction matches his writing, which is mundane when not about the visual effects; effects work that dated very quickly as it happened. Other cuts and sequels would follow, the former didn’t improve the same basic problems of the theatrical cut, the latter releases proved to be laughably bad. The Lawnmower Man, an interesting movie in the context of its time, and certainly fun enough for those who were there cloaked in a visually inspired warm glow, but it has not been a must see film for anyone else since 1995. 4/10
Gimly2017-07-17
★ 5/10
Ahead of its time. Unfortunately, the technology it uses was not. Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.