Phenomenon

1996
PG
2h 3m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

87K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:44

Drama Fantasy Romance Sci-Fi

An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

87K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,689

484

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 7 wins & 8 nominations total

Videos3

Trailer 2:44

Official Trailer

Clip 1:05

Phenomenon: 15th Anniversary Edition

Clip 1:05

Phenomenon: 15th Anniversary Edition

Clip 1:14

Phenomenon: 15th Anniversary Edition

Photos98

+ 94

User reviews163

6.586.9K

Featured reviews

9jhazelett72

An Inspiration!

An ex-girlfriend talked me into seeing this movie, and I am happy she did. In my opinion, John Travolta deserved at least a nomination for an Oscar here, if not the award itself. The story was decent, but the performances of Travolta, Forest Whitaker, Robert Duvall, and Kyra Sedgwick made me care about what was happening on the screen. By no means is this a romantic comedy. It's romantic, probably the most romantic film I have seen in a long time. The reason for that is simple...it's real. In most movies you see the main characters sleep together within a day at the most, which rarely happens with two people who are really in love. True love has to take time and effort, which is exactly what you see here. Travolta's George is patient, but not because he wants to be. If you're a romantic at heart you will understand and relate to him, and you will hope for his success as you would for your own. Without giving anything away, I will tell you that the ending is sad, but also heartwarming. George has his "experience" for no other reason than to suggest what we as humans can become. Phenomenon is a story about our potential, the good and bad things that can happen to us if we achieve it. We could only be so lucky, and watching the movie is a good start. I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

daghda_jim

More than it might seem to be

I think any movie that can be described as both (a) a Scientology recruiting pamphlet, and (b) an analogy to Jesus' life has to be a bit out of the ordinary. In some ways, this film reminds me of another seeming science fiction movie that really turned out to be about people's response to the unusual: `Charly' In both films an extraordinary increase in intelligence frightened the people around the main character; they just couldn't deal with it and feared him for it. The love story was a gem. Lacy had obviously been badly hurt by a past relationship, and simply didn't want to encourage George's love. But when he began to be hurt by the way some of his friends treated him, she warmed and opened her heart to him. The way George tried to describe how he looked at things differently and saw relationships that he'd never seen before reminded me of classical descriptions of the act of creativity in many fields. And it's a sad thing but true that we are all capable of concentrating harder and focusing on things to achieve more, but it's very difficult, and more often than not, we tend to take the easier road. Good thought-provoking flick.

7michaeltrivedi

Yep

Now John Travolta is one weird guy. Though I like his movies, and I like his characters. They are all so different than himself.

Here is a good one and an old one. A guy gets hit by an alien force, and becomes a genius with the power to move things with his mind.

It was very good actually. Not Oscar worthy or great or anything. Just a good movie worth watching. It's really got everything, and is a good time for the whole family.

Highly recommend

7 stars

10a16a16k

One of my all-time favorites.

This movie doesn't get the credit that it deserves. Travolta's speech at the end of the movie to the doctor is incredible. Rarely do I ever see a movie that acknowledges the value of a single human life like this movie does. Most movies glorify sacrifice. This movie glorifies life. I highly recommend it.

7=G=

Sometimes you just gotta go with it

"Phenomenon" is about a small town auto mechanic (Travolta) who experiences something he can only describe as being "light" and suddenly has peculiar powers such as being able to learn to speak Portuguese in 20 minutes or understanding Dianetics. At issue is, will these powers, which make him the object of fear and awe by the townsfolk, help of hurt his chances with his reluctant love interest (Sedgwick). An pleasant little folksy, Mayberry RFDish flick, "Phenomenon" sticks to the people story and doesn't go off into sci-fi-land as it conjures up the warm and fuzzies, takes a romantic turn with the best haircut & shave since "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway", and tries hard to deliver a message about what's important in life. Yes, the film gets a little sugary sweet but...okay, it gets a lot sugary sweet...but, if you go with it and don't fight it you'll be assured of a pleasant three star watch. Good stuff for sentimentalists. (B)

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Old town Auburn, California was used for the scenes in town. Most of the businesses are still in operation, and thrive off of the tourism generated by the movie to this day. Auburn is also the birthplace of Kane Hodder who played Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th movies.

Goofs
When George uses the tape recorder to record the Morse code signals, there's no tape in the recorder.

Quotes
Dr. Bob Niedorf: All right, I'll start the questions, and I'll be timing your responses, and we'll be recording. Any questions?
George Malley: What's your first name?
Dr. Bob Niedorf: Uh, my first name is Bob.
[George reaches across the wide table to shake hands]
George Malley: Shoot, Bob.
Dr. Bob Niedorf: Right. Name as many mammals as you can in 60 seconds. Ready? Go.
[Starts stopwatch]
George Malley: Hmm. 60 seconds. Well, how would you like that? How about alphabetical? Aardvark, baboon, caribou, dolphin, eohippus, fox, gorilla, hyena, ibex, jackal, kangaroo, lion, marmoset, Newfoundland, ocelot, panda, rat, sloth, tiger, unicorn, varmint, whale, yak, zebra. Now "varmint" is a stretch; so is "Newfoundland" (that's a dog breed); "unicorn" is mythical; "eohippus" is prehistoric. But you weren't being very specific, now, were you, Bob?
Dr. Bob Niedorf: [pauses, then stops watch and laughs] Well! Ahh, I'll, uh - I'll try to be more specific. You ready for the next one?
George Malley: Shoot.
Dr. Bob Niedorf: Answer as quickly as you can... how old is a person born in 1928?
[starts stopwatch]
George Malley: Man or a woman?
Dr. Bob Niedorf: [stops stopwatch and pauses] Why?
George Malley: Specifics, Bob.
Dr. Bob Niedorf: Okay, one more time. How old is a MAN born in 1928?
[starts stopwatch]
George Malley: Still alive?
Dr. Bob Niedorf: [stops watch, pauses, nods] If a man is born in 1928, and he's still alive, how old is he?
[starts stopwatch]
George Malley: What month?
Dr. Bob Niedorf: [stops stopwatch] If a man was born October 3rd, 1928, and he's still alive, how old is he?
[starts stopwatch]
George Malley: What time?
Dr. Bob Niedorf: [stops stopwatch] 10 o'clock... PM!
[starts stopwatch]
George Malley: Where?
Dr. Bob Niedorf: [stops stopwatch; now impatient] Anywhere!
George Malley: Well, let's get specific, Bob! I mean, if the guy's still alive, born in California, October 3rd, 1928, 10 PM, he's 67 years, 9 months, 22 days, 14 hours, and...
[takes Bob's hand to see his wristwatch]
George Malley: ... and 12 minutes. If he was born in New York, he's 3 hours older, now isn't he?

Alternate versions
ABC network television version features alternate/new footage not present in the theatrical and home video releases.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Striptease/Cold Fever/The Nutty Professor/A Perfect Candidate/Maybe, Maybe Not (1996)

Soundtracks
Love Child
Written by R. Dean Taylor (as R.D. Taylor), Frank Wilson (as F. Wilson), Pam Sawyer (as P. Sawyer) and Deke Richards (as D. Lussier)
Performed by Diana Ross & The Supremes
Courtesy of Motown Records Company, L.P.
By arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing