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Imagineer · 2011-03-09 16:18:56

Nine trippiest fake movie drugs

Okay, so the article above is a thinly-veiled plug for the new movie "Limitless" but fake drugs in movies are still entertaining to think about, and it seems like a good match for this crowd. The above article includes video clips for each drug+flick on its list, and blurbs about why they're notable (there be spoilers in the article, obviously), here's the list for the truly click-averse:

9. NZT - "Limitless"
8. GleeMONEX - "Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy"
7. The Ladder - "Jacob's Ladder"
6. Lot 6 - "Firestarter"
5. Jabroka - "Alien Nation"
4. Skele-Gro - "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
3. Ephemerol - "Scanners"
2. Milk-Plus (Drencrom) - "A Clockwork Orange"
1. Nuke - "Robocop 2"

Maybe it's just me, but some of these selections seem like filler. What do you think? Are there any notable fake drugs that they missed? What made-up drugs in movies do you find fascinating?

Years ago, I might have placed Nuke at the top of my list, just for its take on a designer drug that outdoes the stuff on the street -- better (safer?), cheaper, legal -- but I'm less enamored of it now. The reality of US drug policy, as I understood it from my shoddy research for a story, is that if something acts like a banned substance, it's basically a banned substance, if not automatically, by swift edict. Today, of the above, I think I'd put The Ladder at the top of my gritty list, and Ephemerol at the top of my twisted-fantasy list.

"Jacob's Ladder" makes me (and probably everyone else who saw it) think of "The Jacket." I don't think the drug was anything more than a device, and just part of the overall treatment, and I can't find the name with my five-minute Google-fu, but what a drug. I shant spoil its effects for you, but if you haven't seen "The Jacket" or "Jacob's Ladder" for that matter, I highly recommend them. Trippy, indeed.

A little off-topic, but I mention it because I really like the flick: the designer drug in "Deep Cover." Nothing special about it, just another "better/cheaper/legal" dragon to chase, but the flick is an engaging story about undercover, and not the sanitized TV version where cops use tricks to avoid ever taking drugs.

Last edited by Imagineer (2011-03-09 16:20:37)

nightsecho · 2011-03-09 18:04:41

4. Skele-Gro - "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
wasnt an illegal drug it was a medical potion given by a healer. not for a fun time it hurts you all night long

and while not a movie bliss from the captain planet cartoon

Storymaster69 · 2011-03-10 04:38:51

What about the drug the Umbrella Corporation is working on in "Resident Evil'?

Neitherspace · 2011-04-08 04:28:49

Promicin, from the 4400 it either gives you superpowers or kills you

Prozium, the emotional suppressant from Equilibrium that allowed a big brother government to hold onto power

Melange, from the Dune books/films increases life span and give precognitive abilities f consumed in great enough quantities but if you stop taking it regularly you die

SQUID clips from Strange days not technically a drug but treated as such as they are devices that allow the wearer to record and playback memories (not necessarily there own)

Imagineer · 2011-04-09 20:07:59

Strange Days -- one of my favorite movies. And yes, while the clips (on Sony MiniDisc! A product placement champion back in the 90s considering its domestic obscurity) aren't obviously a drug, they did facilitate some unhealthy behavior. Of course, we form fixations and obsessions on a lot of inputs that aren't strictly chemical. I liked that the movie stayed away from the possibility that the technology was corrupted, i.e. the input was assumed to be genuine. A different sci-fi take could be that the technology used to pump input to the brain is flawed and the input tainted, producing something more than reaction to the feed itself -- but Strange Days wasn't about the device, it was about the characters' genuine emotions, and that's why it works so well. Oh look, I'm rambling. Sorry.

I was bummed that Strange Days didn't do better business when it was released. It's a better movie than its cyber-contemporaries.

If you haven't seen the "making of" on the DVD, check it out. That movie was made before tiny handheld cameras, so all that POV stuff was done with real film cameras and rigs, when nobody was doing POV stuff because "it couldn't be done." Truly ahead of its time. Thank you, Ms. Bigelow.

Imagineer · 2011-04-14 16:31:16

PS, a review of "Strange Days" just popped up last week and I found it this morning. Years-later movie reviews are more like brief essays that place the flick in more context, at the expense of more spoilers, so read carefully.

http://www.switched.com/2011/04/06/over … ange-days/

The Pub Discussion Board

#1 2011-03-09 16:18:56

Trippiest fake movie drugs

#2 2011-03-09 18:04:41

Re: Trippiest fake movie drugs

#3 2011-03-10 04:38:51

Re: Trippiest fake movie drugs

#4 2011-04-08 04:28:49

Re: Trippiest fake movie drugs

#5 2011-04-09 20:07:59

Re: Trippiest fake movie drugs

#6 2011-04-14 16:31:16

Re: Trippiest fake movie drugs

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