Electric Dreams (film)

Infobox Film
name = Electric Dreams


caption = The "Electric Dreams" Movie Poster
director = Steven Barron
producer = Larry de Waay Rusty Lemorande
writer = Rusty Lemorande
starring = Lenny Von Dohlen Virginia Madsen Bud Cort Don Fellows
music = Giorgio Moroder Philip Oakey George O'Dowd
cinematography = Alex Thomson
editing = Peter Honess
distributor = MGM United Artists
released = 1984
runtime = 95 min.
country = UK / U.S.A.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:15544
imdb_id = 0087197

"Electric Dreams" is a 1984 movie set in San Francisco, California that depicts a love triangle between a man, a woman, and a home computer. It stars Lenny Von Dohlen, Virginia Madsen and Bud Cort (voice) and was directed by Steve Barron. It was the first film released by the Virgin Films production company.

The soundtrack features music from prominent popular musicians of the time, being among the movies of this generation that actively explored the commercial link between a movie and its soundtrack. The soundtrack album "Electric Dreams" was re-issued on CD in 1998.

The VHS recording of this movie is rare. It was released in 1984 and again in 1991, but has not been manufactured since the mid-1990s. Warner Bros released a Video CD version for the Singapore market in 2001, but this too has proved difficult to get hold of.
As of 2008, the movie has never been released on DVD.

Plot

The story opens with Miles Harding, an architect who envisions a brick shaped like a jigsaw puzzle piece that could withstand earthquakes. Seeking a way to get organized, he buys a home computer (made by the fictitious company Pinecone Computers) to help him develop his ideas. Although he is initially unsure that he will even be able to correctly operate the computer, he later buys numerous extra gadgets that were not necessary for his work, such as switches to control household appliances like the blender, a speech synthesizer, and a microphone. The computer addresses Miles as "Moles", because Miles mistyped his name during the initial set-up.

When Miles attempts to download data from a mainframe computer at work, the computer begins to overheat. In a state of panic, Miles pours a nearby bottle of champagne over the machine, but instead of destroying it, this has the effect of bringing the computer to life.

The remainder of the movie deals with a love triangle between Miles, his computer (which identifies its own name as "Edgar" at the end of the movie), and Miles' neighbor, an attractive cellist named Madeline (Virginia Madsen). Edgar increasingly invades Miles' affairs leading to several invasions into his life away from the house.

Eventually, Edgar accepts Madeline and Miles' love for each other, and appears to commit suicide by sending a large electric current through its acoustic coupler, around the world, and back to itself. It is revealed in the final scene that Edgar has transferred himself away from his computer "body" into electronic systems in the world.

Critical Reception

The film received a somewhat mixed critical reception, with some critics praising it for its overtly MTV influenced style and others criticising it for the same reason. Popular American TV critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film two thumbs up on their TV show 'At the Movies'.

oundtrack

See Electric Dreams (soundtrack)

External links

*imdb title|id=0087197|title=Electric Dreams
*amg title|id=1:15544|title=Electric Dreams