Line #7 Film/TheLawnmowerMan


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5	[[caption-width-right:300:''[[{{Tagline}} God made him simple. Science made him a god.]]'']]
6	->''"This universe is mine! I am God here!"''
7	-->-- '''Jobe Smith'''
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9	''The Lawnmower Man'' is a 1992 ScienceFiction film starring Creator/PierceBrosnan and Creator/JeffFahey. It was directed by Brett Leonard who wrote the screenplay together with Gimel Everett. The film's title is taken from the Creator/StephenKing short story of the same name, but aside from a single scene that is (more or less) the same, [[InNameOnly the two works share absolutely no similarities]].
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11	Brosnan plays [[ReluctantMadScientist Dr. Lawrence Angelo]], who works for Virtual Space Industries developing a intellect-enhancing program known as Project 5, which increases the intelligence of chimpanzees using drugs and [[CyberSpace virtual reality]]. But when one of the chimps goes on a rampage through the lab with a gun, Angelo decides to quit the experiment and start a new life elsewhere. He soon meets Jobe Smith (played by Fahey), a mentally handicapped [[TitleDrop lawnmower man]], whose guardian is [[AbusiveParents an abusive]] [[SinisterMinister priest]] named Father [=McKeen=] ([[Film/TheDevilsBrigade Jeremy Slate]]). Jobe is also friends with Peter Parkette (Creator/AustinOBrien), Angelo's neighbors' young son. Angelo decides he would like to continue his studies of intelligence enhancement, but without needing to apply it for military purposes. He realizes that he needs a human subject, and that Jobe would be the perfect candidate.
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13	Angelo convinces Jobe to be the subject of his experiments, telling him it will make him smarter. The experiments are successful and Jobe's intelligence starts to grow as a result, and he even begins to exhibit powers of telepathy and telekinesis, being able manipulate objects with his mind, as well as hear the thoughts of others. Unfortunately, Angelo’s boss secretly swaps Angelo’s new serum for the original Project 5 formula, turning Jobe aggressive. With his newfound intelligence and powers, Jobe soon decides that it was about time he punished those who have wronged him throughout his life...
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15	Basically, think ''Literature/FlowersForAlgernon'' crossed with ''{{Film/Tron}}'' and a latter act with similarities to ''Manga/ElfenLied'', and you're somewhere on the right track.
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18	A sequel was greenlit called ''Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace'' in 1996. Almost none of the main actors reprise their roles (with the exception of Austin O'Brien, who plays Peter).
19	----
20	!!This film contains examples of the following tropes:
21	* NinetyPercentOfYourBrain: The explanation for Jobe's powers are essentially this explained as by Dr. Angelo. Jobe later speculates that the virtual reality, intelligence augmentation, and psychic powers were actually LostCommonKnowledge which Dr. Angelo has accidentally rediscovered through technology.
22	* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The movie is vaguely described as taking place at "the turn of the millennium", but beyond the advanced technology appears like any other 90s film. The sequel however, which is supposed to be set only six years afterwards, shows a ''very'' futuristic developed society more akin to ''Film/BladeRunner'' or ''Manga/{{Akira}}''.
23	* AbusiveParents: Peter's father. [=Father McKeen=] could fit this trope as well.
24	* ActorAllusion: Creator/MattFrewer (In the sequel film) playing someone in a TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture TheMeraverse? Granted, Jobe's much more villainous than Series/MaxHeadroom.
25	* AdaptationAmalgamation: A rather weird example, which was "adapted" from a short story by Stephen King using it as an InNameOnly stunt for an original screenplay. King sued the filmmakers to remove his name from the credits, and, especially the film's marketing. This is somewhat odd because a) King actually liked the film, b) it has a lot of his common themes in it, and c) the film actually featured a scene adapted straight from the short story and a dialogue between two policemen is taken line-to-line from it.
26	* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Timms]] has his molecules only partially scattered by Jobe, left in a helpless state where he repeatedly nearly comes back together before flying apart again.
27	* AntiVillain: Jobe in the theatrical cut of the first film, as he appears to genuinely believe that by uploading himself into the internet he'll be helping mankind enter a new era, and only kills people who've directly wronged him or his friends. Much less so in the DirectorsCut of the film, where he crosses the line into being outright evil when he [[spoiler:takes control of Dr. Angelo's wife and forces her to attack The Shop's agents, resulting in her being messily shot to death]]. Zig-zagged in the second film, where while he may be a CardCarryingVillain, it’s largely implied that it’s because the VR treatment used to rehabilitate him brought [=CyberJobe=] back as if it were a split personality (Jobe’s even terrified of it when the doctors tell him about it, to the point of removing the harness they’re trying to put on him, knowing what will happen). [[spoiler:When [=CyberJobe=] is defeated, Jobe returns to his old, pleasant self.]]
28	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Jobe at a certain point plans to do this, becoming PureEnergy by entering the mainframe during a VR trip. [[spoiler:And he succeeds. Though unlike most examples of the trope, his physical body withers instead of disappearing (one of the many things the sequel ignores)]].
29	* AssholeVictim: All of Jobe's victims fall under this trope, which is why nobody really feels bad [[PayEvilUntoEvil when Jobe kills them]]. [[JerkAss Jake]] (the only non-lethal example as he was submitted to a FateWorseThanDeath instead), [[SinisterMinister Father [=McKeen=]]], and ''especially'' [[AbusiveParents Harold Parkette]] qualify. [[spoiler:The sole exception being Marnie, though her MindRape isn't caused by Jobe but by VSI's director reverting the VR system to the original aggressive programming. It is implied that this is why that particular trip goes bad.]] Also [[spoiler: Caroline, Dr. Angelo's wife]] in the director's cut.
30	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Phones ringing at the end means Jobe wins...]] Or not, seeing how the second film retconned it.
31	* BeeAfraid: Jobe conjures a swarm of VR bees to attack the guards at the front gate.
32	* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Not the true cause of his StartOfDarkness, but Jobe being pushed around by others prior to his intelligence boost does play a part in his rampage. Also being subjected to the same aggressive programming as the PsychoPrototype KillerSpaceMonkey could have definitely played a role.
33	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Jobe breaks into Dr. Angelo's house and puts on the VR googles and then uses it to conjure a vision of himself back when he was mentally deficient and innocent. Later, he uses the googles to show Angelo a VR image of himself talking to Dr. Angelo as though he were still in that state (but obviously isn't). Why Jobe does this is never explained, other than him being creepy.
34	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Jobe mind-controls Caroline, Dr. Angelo's wife, and then sends her outside with a gun to confront the Shop's armed Mooks.
35	* BuyThemOff: Both Timms and Dr. Angelo promise to 'make a substantial contribution' to [=Father McKeen=]'s church if there are any problems concerning Jobe.
36	* CanonForeigner: Essentially everybody except for Harold Parkette, who's only a minor character here.
37	* ContinuitySnarl: One of the many gripes reviewers had with the sequel is regarding how many inconsistencies they have in following the original (for starters, Jobe apparently didn't enter cyberspace leaving a decaying body behind).
38	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: A variation in the first film, as the head of The Shop fills this role, but is technically a government employee. Jonathan Walker in the second film is an outright example.
39	* CyberPunk: The first film has some vaguely Cyber-Punkish elements, though is really more of a techno-thriller. The second film is more an outright example, to the extent where it often feels like ''Film/BladeRunner'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic''.
40	* DeadStarWalking: [[spoiler:Veteran actor Jeremy Slate, aka Canadian SergeantRock [[Film/TheDevilsBrigade Sgt. Patrick O'Neill]] dies an AssholeVictim.]]
41	* DeclarationOfPersonalIndependence: Jobe delivers one to the abusive [=Father McKeen=] when he tries to discipline him again. "You should knock before you come into somebody's house! This is my house. I pay the rent, I want to cash my checks now because I want to buy some new clothes. And I'm gonna buy some cowboy boots and I'm going to make this... place a ranch."
42	* DigitalAbomination: Jobe Smith undergoes VR and drug experiments which enhances his mind so much he gains telepathy, then telekinesis, followed by pyrokinesis, and finally the ability to cause people to disintegrate on the molecular level. Eventually he becomes a digital monstrosity by inserting his mind into cyberspace and plans to spread his mind across the Internet to obtain true godhood. His digital avatar only shows how much of a cyberspace eldritch creature Jobe has become by the end of the film.
43	* DigitalAvatar: People who use virtual reality in both films have these, with the users in the first films getting more stylized ones, and those in the second just looking like their real-life counterparts.
44	* DoNotAdjustYourSet: The Lawnmower Man's desired outcome. First the telephone network, then the world!
45	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Peter's mother dies sometime prior to the second movie.
46	* DumbassNoMore: As the brain simulation takes effect and he is encouraged to learn more, Jobe acts less and less like a ManChild and more like a functioning adult, gaining more confidence, assertiveness, and taking up new responsibilities, establishing better relationships, and setting new goals... and then he also starts developing the PsychicPowers, and it's all downhill from there...
47	* DumbIsGood: ...and smart is bad.
48	* EnlightenedAntagonist: Jobe sees virtual reality as utopia that will evolve humanity, and he will be the conduit to lead the species there.
49	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Terry and Peter to Jobe.
50	* EverythingIsOnline: When Jobe escapes into cyberspace he gains control over every phone in the world.
51	* EvilGenius: Jobe, after his intelligence enhancement.
52	* EvilSoundsDeep: Jobe has a deep menacing voice after he transfers himself into cyberspace. When he discovers that Peter, the boy he befriended, is inside the booby-trapped installation looking for him and Angelo, Jobe's voice briefly returns to normal as he releases Angelo so the latter can save Peter.
53	* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome: The film version embraces this trope as the CentralTheme.
54	* ForgotAboutHisPowers: For once, this happens ''literally'' in the second film; Jobe is left with amnesia as the result of being caught in the explosions at the end of the first film, meaning that while he may still be super-intelligent, he no longer knows how to use any of the other powers he had.
55	** When Jobe is frantically trying to escape from the mainframe computer, trapped because of Dr. Angelo's computer virus sealing him off from the outside, Jobe reads Dr Angelo's mind to find out about the planted explosives, but doesn't think to read his mind to also learn the access codes or a means to escape from the same man who created the virus that is now imprisoning him?
56	* FreakOut: Jobe after [[spoiler:Terry, one of the few people who was ever nice to him,]] is accidentally killed by guards targeting him.
57	** Also Cyberjobe's God-Form while trapped in the mainframe.
58	* FromNobodyToNightmare: Jobe goes from a push-over KindheartedSimpleton to a megalomaniacal EvilGenius with powers of telepathy and telekinesis.
59	* AGodAmI: The original title of the movie was Cyber God, before it was combined with the Creator/StephenKing short story, ''[[Literature/NightShift The Lawnmower Man]]''. The movie is best remembered for Jobe's line: "I am God here!"
60	* GeniusSerum: What the drugs and the VR mental simulation basically is.
61	* GoryDiscretionShot: We don't see the moment when Jobe messily kills [[spoiler:Peter's father]] with a telekinetically-controlled lawnmower. Averted later on however, as we get a fairly graphic shot of Jobe forcing the sniper who unwittingly killed [[spoiler:Terry]] to shoot himself through the head.
62	* HolographicTerminal: When in cyberspace.
63	* {{Hypocrite}}: Angelo convinces Jobe to go through with the initial experiment by arguing that the experiment could make Jobe smart enough that people could no longer take advantage of him, like Angelo is doing.
64	* HugeHolographicHead: Jobe is able to project himself as this at a certain point. [[GoldColoredSuperiority A yellow-tinted head]], no less.
65	* InNameOnly:
66	** This film and Stephen King's original short story are both called ''The Lawnmower Man'', and that's about it. You might think the identical titles are just a coincidence, but apparently not -- several promotional posters referred to the film as ''Stephen King's The Lawnmower Man'', at least until the author sued to distance himself from the film. The court explicitly forbade New Line Cinema from using Stephen King's name in conjunction with the film and required them to pay him 2.5 million dollars in damages. Not content with the ruling, New Line attempted to stealth market the film under the name "Stephen King's ''The Lawnmower Man''" in several major cities. New Line Cinemas was found to be in contempt of court and had to pay King $10,000 per day until they removed his name from all associated products. King did like the film, mind you. It just wasn't his story, which led to the suit. The film does have a short scene where [[spoiler:Peter's abusive father is butchered by a telekinetically steered lawnmower]] that's modeled after the short story, but, apart from both the movie and the short story having to do with lawnmowers, that's about it.
67	** Interestingly, the movie references ''[[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction The Shop]]'', [[Literature/FireStarter which comes straight out of another King novel]] and more or less has the same GovernmentConspiracy role.
68	** The sequel somehow manages to do this twice, having next to no continuity with either the short story ''or'' the first film.
69	* KillerSpaceMonkey: More like killer ''cyberspace'' monkey, as one of Angelo's VR-helmeted apes escapes and starts to gun down actual human guards. It's unclear if the chimpanzee truly realizes it's killing people or if it just can't tell actual thermographic footage of the facility's personnel apart from the video-game characters it's been trained to hunt down, ''Doom''-style.
70	* KindheartedSimpleton: Jobe, prior to gaining intelligence.
71	* KissMeImVirtual: Jobe and Marnie's sex scene, which unfortunately turns into MindRape.
72	* LateToTheTragedy: Dr. Angelo gets forced to meet with representatives of the Shop. While he's gone, Jobe passes the point of no return, killed several people. When Angelo returns, Jobe has already broken into his house, brainwashed his wife, and is putting the final steps of his evil plan in place.
73	* LowerClassLout: Jake, a hick redneck gas station attendant who belittles Jobe for his retardation on a regular basis.
74	* TheMetaverse: The second film depicts the Internet as having evolved into some sort of world-wide virtual reality network.
75	* MindRape: Besides the Jobe and [[spoiler:Marnie]] virtual sex scene that leaves her catatonic when it turns into rape due to Jobe's loss of control over his powers, there is also the scene when Jobe, who's now both more in control of his growing powers and becoming more villainous, psychically unleashes a "Lawnmower Man" inside the head of a bully, purposely rendering him catatonic as well. He also does this to [[spoiler:Caroline]] in the director's cut, turning her into a {{Brainwashed}} Stepford wife.
76	* MsFanservice: Jobe's neighbor and later affair Marnie, played by ''Film/NearDark'' 's Jenny Wright.
77	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
78	** Jobe is genuinely horrified when he discovers that [[spoiler:his cyber-sex with Marnie [[MindRape went too far]] and left her catatonic]].
79	** Dr. Angelo takes full responsibility for Jobe's situation (even after he discovers that Timms tampered with the experiment on the Director of The Shop's orders) to the point that [[spoiler:he sits fit to blow up the VSI headquarters and stop Jobe's plan himself]].
80	* NerdsAreSexy: It is only when Jobe starts gaining intellect and dressing differently, that Marnie, Jobe's neighbor and client, start taking a romantic interest in him.
81	* NotQuiteDead: In the sequel, [[spoiler:Walker, despite seemingly being shot to death by his own guards, shows up after Jobe is defeated to take the chip back at gunpoint.]]
82	* PapaWolf: Jobe doesn't take too kindly to seeing Peter being harmed, especially by his father, Harold. This is why Harold's death is the most gruesome of the bunch.
83	* ParentalSubstitute: Compared to the more abusive Father [=McKeen=], his brother Terry is much nicer to Jobe. Beyond putting Jobe to work doing the lawn-mowing job he loves, he also tries to help Jobe learn to drive and to stand up for himself against bullies, and even encourages him to go after Marnie. [[spoiler:Needless to say, Jobe is immensely distraught when Terry gets needlessly killed by a sniper who was targeting Jobe, and forces the gunman to pull [[BoomHeadshot quite the nasty revenge]] [[AteHisGun on himself]].]]
84	* PetTheDog: Even at the height of his power and insanity, Jobe briefly pauses his rambling when he hears Peter's voice. It is then that he releases Dr. Angelo and tells him to go save Peter from the bombs that Angelo planted earlier, saying "I don't want more death. Go. Save him!"
85	** Earlier in the movie, Jobe induces sleep in Peter and his mother so that they won't have to witness Peter's abusive dad get horrifically killed by the lawnmower.
86	* PsychicPowers: Jobe starts off by gaining {{telepathy}}, then telekinesis, followed by MindControl and pyrokinesis, and finally the ability to cause people to disintegrate on the molecular level.
87	* PsychoPrototype: Rosko 1138, the chimpanzee programmed to be a SuperSoldier by the same processes that are later used on Jobe.
88	* PunchPunchPunchUhOh: In the sequel, Dr. Benjamin Trace tries to knock out a security guard by repeatedly punching him in the face, except that he doesn't go down that easily.
89	* RealityWarper: Jobe's powers become so great that he gains the ability to apparently manifest virtual reality creations in the real world. He creates a swarm of virtual bees to attack the guards at the front gate.
90	* RestorationOfSanity: The sequel ends with [[spoiler:Jobe's intelligence being removed, and with it going his insane megalomania]].
91	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Once Jobe's powers and madness have both progressed enough, he begins going on a night spree taking vengeance against everyone who's wronged him throughout his life, ending with Mr. Parkette after he abuses his son and Jobe's friend Peter once again.
92	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Caroline gets fed up and leaves Dr. Angelo early in the film, and isn't heard from again, presumably saving herself from getting caught up in all the weirdness that follows. [[spoiler:Averted by the director's cut, which has Jobe MindRape Caroline into becoming a mindless, docile housewife for Dr. Angelo, much to the latter's horror.]]
93	* SinisterMinister: Father Francis [=McKeen=], a corrupt priest who submits Jobe to corporal punishment on a regular basis.
94	* SuperSpeedReading: Dr. Angelo switches out the direct mental stimulation to Jobe in favor of interactive learning software, starting with the subject of history. Jobe then adjusts the speed of the program (because normal speed was putting him to sleep), and then breezes his way through a 100 hours worth in only an hour or two, while retaining 100% of all the information that was presented to him.
95	* SuperSoldier: Project 5 was initially using the VR technology to make chimpanzees into this.
96	* StartOfDarkness: It probably starts during the first session Jobe has after the VR system is reverted to its original programming -- although the director's cut has him inadvertently destroying [[spoiler:Marnie]]'s mind, which is implied to be what starts Jobe's descent into outright villainy. But then by that point, the VR system had already been altered so both Jobe and Mernie would have been subjected to the same hostile programming...
97	* SurpassedTheTeacher: Jobe delivers a dark version of this to a terrified Dr. Angelo. "You realize, Dr. Angelo, that my intelligence has surpassed yours... And I can't allow your fear of what you don't understand to get in the way of this work."
98	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Dr. Benjamin Trace from the sequel is a clear stand-in for Dr. Angelo.
99	* TakeOverTheWorld: Ultimately Jobe's plan. "I'm going to help you, Dr. Angelo. I'm gonna help all of you cleanse this diseased planet." "You need to be led, just like everyone else."
100	* TheWorldIsNotReady: Dr. Angelo says such to Jobe once Jobe starts to really scare him. "You're moving too fast. Even with these new abilities, there are dangers. Man may evolve a thousandfold through this technology but the rush... must be tempered with wisdom."
101	* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: Jobe says this pretty much word-for-word in the first film's climax, after Angelo calls him a "freak."
102	* TimeBomb: Dr. Angelo had fifteen minutes to escape from the building before it blew up. Plenty of time, but then he went to talk to God Mode Jobe...
103	* TitleDrop: Several characters in the first film, especially the bullies at the gas station, call Jobe the "Lawnmower Man." Jobe himself later drops the title when he {{Mind Rape}}s one of said bullies, and tells him that "the Lawnmower Man's in your head now." It's dropped earlier in the director's cut as Jobe is telling Roscoe 1138 about himself, saying it's a nickname he got because he fixes machines and mows lawns better than anyone.
104	* TronLines: The VR suits used for the cyclotron at VSI by Angelo and Jobe have these, and they light up whenever Jobe uses his PsychicPowers while he's wearing it.
105	* VideoPhone: Video phone booths appear in the futuristic Los Angeles setting of the sequel.
106	* WeirdnessCensor: As Dr. Angelo is talking with two police officers about the gruesome murders that happened at the Parkette house and the church, the officers suddenly make eye contact with Jobe staring at them from across the block, and after a few seconds of blank looks change their tune and nonchalantly conclude that the incidents were just "accidents" and go about their way. Notably though, even before Jobe messes with their minds, one of the officers suggests that the case of Father [=McKeen=]'s ManOnFire death could be a case of "SpontaneousHumanCombustion" that he heard happens sometimes.
107	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: {{Subverted\|Trope}}. Jobe was handling his new powers of intelligence just fine, until the VR system is reverted back to the original Project 5 aggressive programming.
108	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: In the sequel, when Walker finds out that Jobe is going to double cross him, Jobe locks him out of his control room, then makes a call (as Walker) about some terrorists having been located in the building… right where Walker, Jennifer, and the head of security are. [[spoiler:No pouts for guessing how that turns out, although Walker does pull a NotQuiteDead.]]
109	* YourMindMakesItReal: Averted for the most part in the first film, where whatever happens to you in the virtual world can't affect you in reality unless something goes ''severely'' wrong. Played straight in the second, where dying for any reason in virtual reality can kill you in real-life.
110	** Played straight in one scene where Jobe tests a study that he read where lesions could appear on a test subject after being hypnotized. He tries it on himself, causing lesions to appear on his hand after concentrating.

Context Film / TheLawnmowerMan