Electric Dreams [1984]

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

Director: Steve Barron
Writer: Rusty Lemorande
Stars: Lenny von Dohlen, Virginia Madsen, Maxwell Caulfield
Plot : The story opens with Miles Harding (Von Dohlen), 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 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 (Cort) 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 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 (Madsen). Edgar composes a piece of music for Madeline after hearing her practicing through an air vent that connects the two apartments. She believes that Miles composed the piece and begins to fall in love with him. Edgar responds with jealousy, canceling 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 its acoustic coupler, around the world, and back to itself. In the final scene, a pop song (“Together in Electric Dreams”) written by Edgar as a tribute to Miles and Madeline plays on radio stations around the United States.

Love is Love – Electric Dreams Soundtrack

Electric Dreams [1984]

Recent Articles

I BUILT THIS WITH WORDPRESS

Related Stories

1 Comment

  1. […] “Electric Dreams“ is a 1984 British-American comedy/drama/romance/science fiction 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 Bud Cort and was directed by Steve Barron. It was the first film released by the Virgin Films production company. […]

Leave a Reply

Stay on op - Ge the daily news in your inbox