6 of the Most 'Dreamy' Movies About Dreams

Dreams follow us everywhere. They boost us to aspire to more in our careers, or in education, and can even guide us as we wade cautiously through murky personal lives. Dreams comfort, scare or motivate us to do more, try more and just be more. A recent film capitalizing on the all encompassing dream web is the sci-fi feature film Inception, directed by Chris Nolan, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It's one of the more successful dream movies, but definitely not the only one.

Inception (2010)

Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic) stars in one of the most epic movies dealing in the illusory world of dreams. Here though, the whole notion of dreams being more than just midnight fantasies, or insubstantial nightmares is examined. Can dreams influence more than our thoughts or personal actions? Could we actually somehow project ourselves into people's dreams to reap rewards, or even exact punishment? These are heady questions, and Chris Nolan's blockbuster movie deals with them intelligently and entertainingly.

Dreamscape (1984)

Dennis Quaid plays Alex Gardner, a former government hot shot psychic who squanders his dreamy gifts on personal gain. When a scientist (Max Von Sydow) recruits him into a dream research program, he meets beautiful researcher (Kate Capshaw), and soon the two mix psychic business with pleasure. There's a really effective dream like vibe to the whole movie. More serious aspects of psychic intrusion into our deepest, darkest secret dreams, is balanced by the light, even wildly comic scenes of the memorable plot.

What Dreams May Come (1998)

Robin Williams is usually a funny guy, but here he's mostly a dreamy guy - as in literally being heaven sent. After a devastating family tragedy takes his children's lives, his character dies, and he must then journey into hell itself to retrieve his recently deceased wife. The catch? Her suicide has damned her for all of eternity. The stirringly emotional movie snagged a well deserved Academy Award for truly stunning visual effects.

Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Freddy may have been re-imagined, but to most fans he'll always be Robert Englund in the vastly entertaining Elm Street horror movies. Here, Freddy's own turf is challenged by a group of youngsters who have gained Ninja like dream powers to become combatative dream warriors. Look for both a young Patricia Arquette (Medium) and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) playing a psychiatric patient and hospital orderly respectively.

Sweet Dreams (1985)

It's the only "real life" movie on the list, in that it's not dealing in fantasy or science fiction, but music superstar Patsy Cline led a short, though charmed, almost fantasy kind of life. Played with electric energy by Jessica Lange, the film follows Cline through an ambition climb up the country music charts, and throughout her stormy marriage to husband Charlie Dick played by Ed Harris. Lange snagged a Best Oscar nod for her performance, although all singing for the biopic was accomplished by the actress lip syncing to Patsy Cline's classic vocal dreamscapes.

Field Of Dreams (1989)

Kevin Costner may now be more known as the guy who helped the BP Oil spill clean-up, however he's still a Hollywood leading man. Here Costner plays Ray Kinsella, a man obsessed with the great American pastime of baseball. When whispered voices urge him to "build it and they will come." Kinsella obeys the disembodied voices to incredible consequences. The story really does have the best sort of a dream type feel to it. The wonderful supporting acting cast including heavy hitters James Earl Jones(Star Wars), Burt Lancaster and Ray Liotta lend a reality to this poetic filmed dream.

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