Placing a dream sequence in a movie is a really great technique for storytelling. While not a new idea and done in different ways, dream sequences allow the audience to get closer to the characters. Often dreams are where you can learn a person’s deepest fears and desires and give you a deeper understanding of how they generally think and feel.
Dream sequences can also serve as a gateway to a character’s memories or perceptions of past events, and can sometimes even foreshadow things to come, or rather what they hope will happen. It’s typical for movies to have one, or maybe a series of dream sequences. However, there are also movies, such as The Wizard of Oz, where almost the entire movie is a dream. There are many options to choose from, but here are five of the coolest dream scenes in movies.
5/5 Commencement (2010)
Christopher Nolan’s Start was a box office hit when it premiered in 2010. It’s about a man (Leonardo DiCaprio) a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. The film features an ensemble cast that includes big names such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine and Ken Watanabe. Most of the film is spent building up the dream world that DiCaprio’s character enters so often, and many of the film’s best moments take place in those dreams, such as the iconic fight scene in the hallway. Start investigates deeply themes of reality and dreams generally in ways few movies have done before.
4/5 The Great Lebowski (1998)
This dark comedy from 1998 starring Jeff Bridges, Steve Buschemi, John Goodman and a number of other big stars is a great classic. It’s about Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski (Bridges), a notorious slacker and avid bowler who is beaten up for being mistaken for millionaire Jeff “The Big” Lebowski. After the confusion, The Big Lebowski’s wife is kidnapped, so he orders The Dude to deliver a ransom and get her back. Despite mixed reviews from critics, The Big Lebowski is a fun movie that has since become a cult favorite.
There is an extended, musical dream scene in the film where The Dude receives bowling shoes from Suddam Hussein, dances down a giant staircase and Maude (Julianne Moore) shows you how to throw a bowling ball the right way. The Big Lebowski itself touches on many philosophical themes such as absurdism and nihilism, with bowling and comedy moments constantly in the background, and The Dude’s dream is a culmination of all those things, delivered with a kind of psychedelic flair that really fits the film as a whole .
3/5 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Dreams are really the focal point of the A nightmare on Elm Street movies because the vicious Freddy Krueger only attacks while you sleep and dream. There are some iconic dream scenes from the classic 1984 slasher. There’s the gory scene where Glen (Johnny Depp) is pulled deep into his bed, or when Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) falls asleep in the bathtub and is pulled underwater by Kruger’s claw glove. The dream sequences in A nightmare on Elm Street were downright terrifying and made bedtime a scary time, and there’s a whole franchise full of them.
2/5 Fat (1978)
There are probably few people who haven’t seen the classic 1978 musical Fat, or at least know one of the movie’s signature songs. Although it’s only a small part of the movie, one of the best scenes comes from the dream sequence for the song “Beauty School Dropout.” In this scene, a pink-haired Frenchy (Didi Conn) is sung to by an angelic Frankie Avalon as her friends dance around in silver capes and hair rollers. It’s a fun scene with a memorable song and a totally different feel to the rest of the movie, but it fits in perfectly. For fans of the original movie, there is currently a TV series, Bold: Rise of The Pink Ladiesin production at Paramount+, which will serve as a prequel to the film.
1/5 Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Wizard of Oz is unique because almost the entire movie is a dream. In her dreams, Dorothy (Judy Garland) travels to the bright, whimsical Munchkin Land and meets Glinda the Good Witch, who sends her on a journey down the Yellow Brick Road to see the Wizard of Oz. During her trek, she encounters the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, all exaggerated dream versions of the people she knows from her Kansas reality.
From the Wicked Witch of the East and her flying monkeys to the talking evil trees that throw apples to the sleepy poppy fields and the splendor of the Emerald City and the horse of many colors. TheWizard of Oz is full of magic and brightly colored curiosities. You almost wish it wasn’t all a dream.