Aaah, great memories last night courtesy of The Sci-Fi Channel, who showed 1984 "classic" Electric Dreams.
It's the implausible tale of a nerdy architect (mysteriously bereft of computer know-how) whose bulky home computer becomes sentient (after he spills champagne on it), and proceeds to fall in love with his neighhour, cello-player Madeline (the now-Oscar nominated Virginia Madsen, in her second ever film.)
Hollywood loves to try and make computing look sexy and high-tech, by avoiding the boring reality of text-based coding. No, everything's very visual, super-fast, and user-friendly in the movie world. Computers are essentially magical tools that take control your home appliances (if you put a special adaptor into all the wall sockets!) and come equipped with broadband internet speeds a few decades before the fact.
This was always a daft movie, even back in '84, but after 20 years the oddness of antiquated 80s home computing is even more amusing. There's a moment in a computer store, with shelves full of now-vintage home computers and games systems, that made me smile. Or the opening scene in an airport, where Miles finds the world swamped with technology – like, calculator watches and personal organizers! 2007 would blow Miles' mind...
Hindsight and nostalgia is always good fun, as you can't believe people ever put up with such old, slow technology. The new iPhone probably rivals anything NASA had in the mid-80s!
Electric Dreams does have a few memorable moments, as all cult classics should. The implausible champagne birth of artificial intelligence is good for a giggle, and a moment when the computer (who later calls himself Edgar) musically "duels" with Madeline's cello-playing is very entertaining.
Directed by Steve Barron, whose career didn't flounder as you might expect after seeing this, the film also has a good soundtrack. Barron directed music videos in the early days (most famously Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"), so Electric Dreams is pretty nifty musically. Like I said, the PC/cello duet is enjoyable, and songs by 80s new wave bands Culture Club and Heaven 17 feature.
And then there's the title track: "Electric Dreams" by Human League's Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder. The song is more famous than the film, and it's pure 80s pop at its best. When it kicks in for the film's climactic moment – played worldwide by Edgar, who has transmitted himself into all the planet's electrical systems – it really is quite uplifting, no matter how cheesy.
Throw in crush-worthy Virginia Madsen in her oversized jumpers (legs straddling her cello), the dumb moment when her tear splashes onto Edgar's microchips – making him understand the concept of love – and you have a silly, disposable, yet curiously charming 80s tosh.
It's the implausible tale of a nerdy architect (mysteriously bereft of computer know-how) whose bulky home computer becomes sentient (after he spills champagne on it), and proceeds to fall in love with his neighhour, cello-player Madeline (the now-Oscar nominated Virginia Madsen, in her second ever film.)
Hollywood loves to try and make computing look sexy and high-tech, by avoiding the boring reality of text-based coding. No, everything's very visual, super-fast, and user-friendly in the movie world. Computers are essentially magical tools that take control your home appliances (if you put a special adaptor into all the wall sockets!) and come equipped with broadband internet speeds a few decades before the fact.
This was always a daft movie, even back in '84, but after 20 years the oddness of antiquated 80s home computing is even more amusing. There's a moment in a computer store, with shelves full of now-vintage home computers and games systems, that made me smile. Or the opening scene in an airport, where Miles finds the world swamped with technology – like, calculator watches and personal organizers! 2007 would blow Miles' mind...
Hindsight and nostalgia is always good fun, as you can't believe people ever put up with such old, slow technology. The new iPhone probably rivals anything NASA had in the mid-80s!
Electric Dreams does have a few memorable moments, as all cult classics should. The implausible champagne birth of artificial intelligence is good for a giggle, and a moment when the computer (who later calls himself Edgar) musically "duels" with Madeline's cello-playing is very entertaining.
Directed by Steve Barron, whose career didn't flounder as you might expect after seeing this, the film also has a good soundtrack. Barron directed music videos in the early days (most famously Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"), so Electric Dreams is pretty nifty musically. Like I said, the PC/cello duet is enjoyable, and songs by 80s new wave bands Culture Club and Heaven 17 feature.
And then there's the title track: "Electric Dreams" by Human League's Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder. The song is more famous than the film, and it's pure 80s pop at its best. When it kicks in for the film's climactic moment – played worldwide by Edgar, who has transmitted himself into all the planet's electrical systems – it really is quite uplifting, no matter how cheesy.
Throw in crush-worthy Virginia Madsen in her oversized jumpers (legs straddling her cello), the dumb moment when her tear splashes onto Edgar's microchips – making him understand the concept of love – and you have a silly, disposable, yet curiously charming 80s tosh.
