Electric Dreams (1984)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Steve Barron

Writer:

Rusty Lemorande (writer)

Release Date:

20 July 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Meet Edgar. He'll make you sing, make you dance, make you laugh, make you cry, make you jealous, make you nuts.

Plot:

An artificially intelligent PC and his human owner find themselves in a romantic rivalry over a woman.

Plot Keywords:

Computer | Architect | Cello | Drive In | Scanimate

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Lenny von Dohlen	...	Miles Harding
Virginia Madsen	...	Madeline Robistat
Maxwell Caulfield	...	Bill
Bud Cort	...	Edgar (voice)
Don Fellows	...	Mr. Ryley
Alan Polonsky	...	Frank, Co-Worker
Wendy Miller	...	Computer Clerk
Harry Rabinowitz	...	Conductor
Miriam Margolyes	...	Ticket Girl
Holly De Jong	...	Ryley's Receptionist
Stella Maris	...	Woman at Airport
Mary Doran	...	Millie
Diana Choy	...	Check-Out Girl
Jim Steck	...	Removal Man
Gary Pettinger	...	Removal Man

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:S | Sweden:7 | USA:PG | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Company:

Virgin

Trivia:

As the voice of the computer, Bud Cort had to deliver his entire performance from inside a box on the set; his co-stars were never allowed to see him during filming. The director was afraid that if the other performers associated a person to the voice, they would react to it as if they were talking to a human being instead of a computer and the difference in reaction would show on camera.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Miles tells Edgar that the phrase "A dream is a wish your heart makes" comes from Sleeping Beauty (1959), and starts to say the date as "nineteen sixty..." Edgar corrects him and says it's from Cinderella (1950), but states the date as 1949. (It's understandable that Miles gets both the movie and the year wrong, but it's less likely for a computer, unless Edgar is going by copyright date rather than release date.)

Quotes:

[Edgar is playing Jeff Lynne's "Let It Run" loudly from Miles' apartment]
Edgar: Yeah, we'll put your coats over there.
[In a neighboring apartment, an awakened couple argue]
Neighbor: It's *horrible*! That boy has no respect for anyone!
Neighbor: The music's not bad.
Neighbor: Oh, Howard!

Movie Connections:

Features The Love Bug (1968)

Soundtrack:

Electric Dreams

Absolutely Unbelievable.

There is nothing on this earth that pleases me more than something that is so bad that it's good...so how happy did "Electric Dreams" make me?

Well, let me simply say that I would describe the experience of watching it as "orgasmic."

From the spilled champagne creating life, to the romantic tryst at Alcatraz...from Virginia Madsen's single tear teaching the computer how to love, to the computer's last suicidal moments when he introduces himself as Edgar (Edgar?!?)...from the incoherence of the plot, to its complete and utter disregard for logic...ohhh, and most incredibly of all...the voice of Bud Cort as Edgar...why has no one else mentioned that this is one of most amazingly terrifying and campy pieces of voice-over work EVER???

I can't even begin to list all of the amazingly cheesy, campy, and/or crappy elements that added up to what is one of the most insane and wonderful films I have ever seen. After only one viewing, this has definitely become one of my all-time favorites...love IS love, and I'll always be together -- together in electric dreams.