Electric Dreams Information

Electric Dreams is a 1984 British-American science fiction romantic comedy-drama film 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 the voice of Bud Cort and was directed by Steve Barron. It was the first film released by the Virgin Films production company.

The film's credits dedicate it to the memory of UNIVAC I.

Plot

The story opens with Miles Harding, an architect who envisions a brick shaped like a jigsaw puzzle piece that could enable buildings to withstand earthquakes. Seeking a way to get organized, he buys a home computer (made by the fictitious 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, which then becomes sentient.

The remainder of the film deals with a love triangle between Miles, his computer (who later identifies his own name as "Edgar"), and Miles' neighbor, an attractive cellist named Madeline. Upon hearing her practicing a piece from Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach on her cello through an air vent connecting both apartments, Edgar promptly elaborates a parallel variation of the piece, leading to an improvised duet. Believing it was Miles who had engaged her in the duet, Madeline begins to fall in love with him in spite of her ongoing relationship with fellow musician Bill.

At Miles' request, Edgar composes a piece of music for Madeline. When their mutual love becomes evident, however, Edgar responds with jealousy, cancelling Miles' credit cards and registering him as an "armed and dangerous" criminal. Miles shoves the computer and tries to unplug it, getting an electric shock. Then the computer retaliates by harassing him with household electronics.

Eventually, Edgar accepts Madeline and Miles' love for each other, and appears to commit suicide by sending a large electric current through his acoustic coupler, around the world, and back to himself. In the final scene, a pop song written by Edgar (who has somehow survived his apparent destruction) as a tribute to Miles and Madeline plays on radio stations across California.

Cast

• Lenny Von Dohlen as Miles Harding
• Virginia Madsen as Madeline Robistat
• Maxwell Caulfield as Bill
• Bud Cort as Voice of Edgar
• Don Fellows as Mr. Ryley
• Miriam Margolyes as Ticket girl
• Giorgio Moroder as Record producer

Music

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 song "Together in Electric Dreams" was digitally remastered in 2003.

Reception

The film received a mixed critical reception, with some critics praising it for its overtly MTV-influenced style and others criticizing 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 with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 40% ("Rotten") based on 5 reviews.

It received a generally negative review in The New York Times, which said that the film failed to "blend and balance its ingredients properly," and that it lost plot elements and taxed credibility.

Home media

Electric Dreams was released in 1984 (VHS) and again in 1991 (VHS), but has not been manufactured since the mid-1990s. MGM Home Video released a Laserdisc in America in 1985, and Warner Bros. released a Video CD version for the Singapore market in 2001, but both are out of print. The film was released to Region 2 DVD on April 6, 2009. It has never been released on Blu-ray and there is only one publicly rent-able print of the original 35mm film available, as shown at the Prince Charles Cinema in London on 9 August 2012.