Electric Dreams

Looking back at the 80's hit: Electric Dreams

Electric Dreams is a 1984 film directed by Steve Barron. It falls under the romantic comedy and science fiction genres. While the actors in Electric Dreams are not very popular, perhaps what the people will remember of this film is its original soundtrack, "Together in Electric Dreams". This song was a huge hit in the eighties, earning it a nomination for the Best Original Song from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts or BAFTA in 1985. The movie, Electric Dreams, was also nominated for the Grand Prize of the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival in the same year.

Electric Dreams is basically a love triangle story but the big difference is the love triangle involves a man, a woman and a power computer. The guy in the story is Miles, an architect, who wanted to become modern and so decided to buy a computer. Miles is not technically savvy. He just happened to get the most state-of-the-art computer. Once he had it in his home, different accidents happen on the computer like Miles spills champagne on it. The series of accidents eventually cause something amazing to happen - it brings the computer literally to life. It gains consciousness and forms its own thoughts and eventually, emotions. The computer then communicated with Miles and the two became friends.

The plot of Electric Dreams thickens when pretty Madeleine, a cello player, becomes Miles' neighbor. Miles is a shy guy but with the help of the clever computer, they start to plan how to make Madeleine fall in love with Miles. What happens next is that the computer and Madeleine begin to listen to music together and eventually, the computer falls in love with Madeleine, too. The computer and Miles fight over who will go out with the woman but the story ends with the computer realizing that Miles and Madeleine should be together. It wishes them happiness and before disappearing into the electrical world, it invades the computers at a local radio station and offers a musical tribute to the lovers.

Even if you are not a big fan of romance movies, you can still enjoy this movie. Its soundtrack alone is a winner. "Together in Electric Dreams" can still make many people today smile and maybe, dance a little. Electric Dreams is indeed one of most charming movies of the 80's and true to its tagline, it is indeed "the most unusual triangle in the history of love."