Electric Dreams

I saw this film many years ago as a young boy and remembered that it was very funny. So last year I made a vigil to make sure I saw it again, and I was not disappointed when I did. Considering the way computers are taking over our lives, this film is ingenious in the way we are shown how a computer can change your life and also help you become a better person. I wish I had a computer just like Edgar!

Miles Harding is what you might call a loser. He is an architect who is at the cross-roads of his job and the rest of his life is unorganised. However, when a friend tells Miles to get an electronic organiser to help put his life back into order, he gets something he didn't bargain for. Miles purchases a computer, that just happens to have artificial intelligence. To make things worse, he has a new neighbour, a beautiful young woman named Madeline. Things start to get heated when Miles and his computer ‘Edgar', both fall in love with Madeline. The sparks are sure to fly when things turn into an ‘Electric Dream'!

This is a priceless movie. Sure it was made in 1984 and it is a bit dated, but that takes nothing away from how great it is. The storyline is probably my favourite part of the film. The way the audience sees Miles and Edgar having a relationship, and then seeing Miles trying to counteract that with the beautiful Madeline, was just hilarious. Edgar really does steal the show, with his stubborn ways and funny antics, making it an hilarious experience to watch him. His character is for me similar to the TV show Knight Rider, where we see a man talking to a car, who has a similar personality to that of Edgar.

The cast of Electric Dreams was very very good. Miles was played by actor Lenny von Dohlen. He was great in his role and really does make the audience feel that ‘Edgar' is taking control of his life. Then you have the delightful Madeline, played by actress Virginia Madison. While her character knows nothing about Miles and his computer, she plays the part of Miles girlfriend extremely well. Virginia has been in some very big films. These include the Haunting alongside stars Catherine Zeta Jones and Liam Nelson, The Rainmaker and the steamy drama, After Sex. The voice of Edgar the computer belongs to actor Bud Cort, who did a brilliant job. His humour and voiceover talents were out of this world. He has had an impressive career, appearing in the TV comedy series MASH, with his other movies including Dogma and Coyote Ugly.

This movie had a great script and that was thanks to a man by the name of Rusty Lemorande. I feel he got it just right and that it had the right amount of humour with a dash of serious romance. Then take on board the great work by director Steve Barron, he put the film together with just the right amount of his touches. I believe he had a big impact on how the audience sees the funny and naughty side to Edgar.

This then takes me to the other great part of this film, the soundtrack. I will never forget the first attempt Edgar makes at trying to write a love song, it was hilarious. Then you have the real songs like Video by Jeff Lynne, Love is Love by Culture Club, Electric Dreams by P.P Arnold and the best song on the whole soundtrack, Together in a Electric Dreams by Human League with Philip Oakey. That song is very infectious and makes me happy everytime I hear it.

In conclusion, I loved everything about Electric Dreams. It is a funny look at how crazy love can be and that with a little patience everything can work out for the best. Edgar says something that I totally agree with `that love is about give and take', I stand by that rule. If you are in a relationship that is not abiding by that rule, then you should rethink about why you are in it. It is a two way street when two people commit to each other. Madeline's comments in the end of the film prove that. Though it is innocent, this film also proves how valuable a tool something like a computer or the internet can be, and how evil it can be, by taking over your life. A person recently asked me ‘how can a film score a perfect 10?' I say it is up to the individual's own opinion. I love this film immensely and can only recommend you get a bit of a shock by hiring Electric Dreams!

Rating: 5 stars or 10/10

This movie is rather funny and like some of the other viewers, the main song has stuck with me since the movie was first released. One point this movie tried to make is that there can never be enough montages. Without all the musical montages in this movie, the film would have lasted only thirty-minutes or so. Anyway, if your in the mood for a movie with a strange love triangle that doesn't involve questioning a characters sexuality, watch this.

This movie is about an architect living in San Francisco that buys a computer to help organize his life. Thanks to a unwanted computer overload and champagne spillage develops a mind of its own. This results in havoc between Miles and his neighbor Madeline who develop a relationship. Soon the three are involved in a love triangle between man, woman and machine.

This movie a great soundtrack with Culture Club and Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder0. The films style has a zippy pace and feels like watching a long music video. This aspect of the film hasn't dated, however some of the technology has which is fun to look back and view.

Overall, this is a lovable romantic computer fantasy and has a soft spot in my heart.

Electric Dreams is a quirky '80's film that has remained one of my favorites from that decade. The story of a boy, a girl, and a computer trying to find the meaning of love could have easily been a ridiculously campy movie, but instead is played out with a lighthearted sincerity. Lenny Von Dolen's portrayal of architect Miles Harding is done well, conveying the feelings of insecurity and wonder of falling in love for the first time, and Virginia Madsen's performance as would-be girlfriend Madeline equally shines. The movie is shot more like a music video (Director Steve Barron also worked on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" video), and while there have been plenty of films that have used similar "MTV-style" techniques in the '90's, this was an unpioneered format at the time, and it seems to work the best here. The set design is great, the scene pacing doesn't drag on, and the sentiment is in the right place so that viewers can laugh at the humorous parts and relate during the romantic scenes. The music soundtrack is also top-notch, with music from Culture Club, Jeff Lynne, Heaven 17 and Giorgio Moroder. The computer technology and the commercials set this movie firmly in the early '80's, which may make it seem a little dated, but the overall story still holds up well and is fun. Electric Dreams is an enjoyable romantic fantasy that a lot of people may have missed when it was first released (even more so since the film seems to be out of print), but for those wanting to see something a little different, this may be what you've been looking for.

When I first saw 'Being John Malkovich', I didn't really know much about - it was a while since I'd been to the cinema because of work and I went to see it on the strength of John Cusack. As I sat in that cinema full of bored teenagers, watching the story unfold, I was amazed at how similar an experience it actually was to the first film I really fell in love with, 'Electric Dreams'.

I've never been completely sure what I especially liked about the film. Virginia Madsen certainly has a big sister / first crush quality, with her woolly jumpers and body wrapped around a cello. Lenny Van Dollen is certainly as good an actor as anyone whose worked in this kind of film and offers work of quite subtle range. And the computer is heartbreaking. And the music is lovely. This is perhaps a film which is uncriticisable because it captures a time in life so beautifully.

Made in 1984, 'Dreams' has a plot similar in scope to 'Malkovich'. Miles subordinating of the newly sentient computer parallel's Craig Schwartz control of the film actor. As the computer operator uses Edger to woo the love of both their lives, so the puppeteer controls Malkovich to get into the panties of his 'business partner'.

There is no doubt the film has dated, although in its own way it uses visual techniques which at the time must have seemed as extreme as the flourishes of the latter film. Its use of pop video, in the sequences of high emotion, especially in the scene of where Miles is chased around the house, are at least echoed in the chase sequence at the heart of 'Malkovich'.

With all this in mind, its perhaps a time to re-assess this film as more than the fluff its previously been thought of as being.