We'll Always Be Together: A Look Back at the 1984 Movie Electric Dreams (Spoilers!)

Image from Electric Dreams fan site

Do you remember your first personal computer? If you're a fellow Gen X-er and you were lucky enough that your parents could spring for the price tag, chances are you first powered up a Commodore 64 or Apple II in the comfort of your home—and were in awe of what it could do, primitive graphics and all. 

Many of us fooling around with floppy disks and trying to dodge dysentery on The Oregon Trail back then probably never dreamed of a day when computers could control so many aspects of our lives and households and even have conversations with us. Yet here we are in the 21st century and that is exactly what technology is capable of now. And as of this writing, we're also pondering just how far artificial intelligence will go. Over 40 years ago, a fine little movie which now has a cult following explored the idea of sentient technology and perhaps even warned us of the consequences. 

That movie is Electric Dreams, which was released in U.S. theaters in July 1984. If you haven't heard of it, you're not alone. It had the misfortune of competing at the box office with the year's summer blockbusters such as Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Purple Rain, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

A victim of poor timing, this is the kind of slower paced, thought-provoking film that recouped just under half its budget in ticket sales and would have fared better as a colder season release. A heavy cable run in the 1980s introduced Electric Dreams to a wider audience before it seemingly vanished into the pop culture stratosphere. 

I myself didn't even watch this movie for the first time until 2024, 40 years after its release. I was immediately struck by how much prescient foresight it showed, right from the opening scene where Miles, the lead character, finds himself surrounded by other airline passengers absorbed in technological devices while waiting to board their flight. ("You're still fat!" declares a weight loss gadget to a fellow passenger.) 

Who Plays on the Electric Dreams Soundtrack? 

The soundtrack for this film deserved better, too. Not only does it feature two excellent tracks by Culture Club ("Love Is Love" and "The Dream") and two killer Jeff Lynne rockers ("Let It Run" and "Video") but also original music by the father of disco himself, legendary Italian composer and music producer Giorgio Moroder. "The Duel" track, where the computer in the movie harmonizes with the main character's girlfriend as she practices Minuet in G major on her cello, is truly a thing of beauty, especially for anyone that still geeks out over those early video game sound effects and theme songs. 

Moroder also cowrote the title track "Together in Electric Dreams" with The Human League co-founder Philip Oakley, who sings it. The single became an international hit, faring better on the UK music charts than the States. Throw in some Helen Terry, P.P. Arnold, and Heaven 17, and anyone that's a fan of '80s music and movie soundtracks should have this one in their collection, no question. 

What is the Movie Electric Dreams About?

Electric Dreams usually gets categorized as a science fiction film, but I think it's more accurate to describe it as a dark romantic comedy. At its core, it's a modernized version of Cyrano de Bergerac, a love triangle about a boy, a girl, and the boy's computer that tries to come between them. (The opening credits explain that we're about to watch "A Fairytale for Computers".) 

Image from Electric Dreams fan site

Lenny Von Dohlen stars as our technophobe hero Miles Harding, a nerdy cute San Francisco architect who is chronically late for work. He could have easily played Ross on Friends; even his voice sounds like David Schwimmer's. 

A colleague suggests he invest in a Casio digital planner to help him get his schedule in order. The electronics store Miles visits is out of them, so the sales lady upsells him on a personal computer instead. In what may be a moment of foreshadowing, she drops the box (displaying the name Pinecone, a play on Apple) while trying to retrieve it from the shelf. Miles is reluctant to embrace this latest technology: "Listen, I don't know anything about computers" to which she replies, "Nobody does. But don't you want one for when you do find out?" 

Once Miles learns how to program the computer to brew coffee and set up a security system in his apartment using a few additional accessories, he decides that maybe his new purchase isn't so bad after all. He also uses it to design a jigsaw-shaped brick that he believes will revolutionize building design and protect structures from earthquake damage. 

Meanwhile, Miles (or Moles as he is known to the computer after inputting his name incorrectly) encounters a new neighbor, the lovely Madeline as played by Virginia Madsen, and is immediately smitten. She encapsulates the '80s girl next door: beautiful, personable, intelligent, long haired, and she plays the cello and wears leg warmers. 

Miles uses the computer to transmit the files of his earthquake-proof brick to his boss's computer, causing an overload. The computer is miraculously undamaged after Miles pours champagne onto its motherboard to prevent it from overheating. In a moment of '80s movie magic (because there is no other explanation for it) this fizzy champagne bath has instead awakened something inside of it. (Kids, don't try this one at home.) 

Image from Electric Dreams fan site

By the following morning the Pinecone has developed the ability to mimic music, sounds, and speech. When it hears Madeline practicing on the cello through the building's ventilation system, it harmonizes back. 

Eventually, its own voice (as played by Bud Cort) emerges and the computer (named Edgar, as we learn towards the end of the film) starts speaking back to Miles. Meanwhile, Madeline is enthralled with the computerized classical music she heard, convinced that Miles is the composer. Miles decides to use Edgar to his advantage and have the computer write a love song that will win her over. Edgar's first songwriting attempt is a juvenile bust, but the second attempt is Boy George singing "Love is Love". 

This is when Miles' life slowly gets turned upside down; just as his relationship with Madeline is blooming, Edgar—who is obsessed with wanting to understand what love is—becomes increasingly jealous and controlling and wants Madeline to himself. Miles has to sneak Madeline quietly down the stairs and out the building at one point only to discover later that evening that Edgar has ruined his credit, but not before throwing a raucous party for himself, irritating the neighbors. 

How Does Electric Dreams End? (Spoiler Alert!)

Things eventually come to a head in a man-versus-machine showdown that has Edgar taking advantage of his connectivity to the electrical devices in Miles' apartment while a sinister version of Pac-Man plays out on his screen. 

Can I just say I want that '80s kitchen? Image from Electric Dreams fan site

By the end of the movie, Edgar deduces that there's no room for him and his computerized self as a third wheel in a human relationship. He decides to self-implode—nearly destroying Miles' apartment in the process—but is he really "dead"? The final moments reveal that Edgar, in his computerized afterlife, has taken over the radio waves across the country so he can dedicate the song "Electric Dreams" to "the people I love", or Miles and Madeline while they're in transit to a weekend destination. 

What Inspired the Movie Electric Dreams?

Screenwriter Rusty Lemorande's tale was inspired by an incident he witnessed in public one day that involved E.T.'s favorite communication device, the Speak & Spell. 

In 1978 Lemorande was riding a Chicago subway train when he noticed a little boy so enthralled by the spelling machine that he was ignoring his mother.

"This seemed rather absurd to me at the time," he later recalled. "A device created to help a child communicate with other people, was instead blocking communication at the moment. That child on the subway stuck in my mind."

This pivotal moment is alluded to at the beginning of the film, where Miles, waiting to board his flight, notices he's surrounded by passengers absorbed in technology. The scene seems to eerily foreshadow where society was headed. 

Lemonade, who was also the new owner of his own personal computer at the time, admitted that he was spending way too much time with it versus his friends. 

Who is the Voice of the Computer in Electric Dreams?

Image from Electric Dreams fan site

Actor Bud Cort, best known for the quirky 1971 movie Harold and Maude, was chosen to voice Edgar in Electric Dreams. It should have been a dream role, but the gig really wasn't all that fun for him; director Steve Barron didn't want him interacting with any of the other actors in person because he felt it would keep their reactions to Edgar more authentic if they didn't associate the computer with a face. 

Cort later recalled how he had to act his part while isolated in a padded box on a sound stage. "It got a little lonely in there, I must admit," he said. "I kept waiting to meet the other actors, but nobody came to say hello." He did get to meet Boy George, who is a Harold and Maude fan and asked for Cort's autograph, and did eventually meet his castmates at the movie's premiere. 

Electric Dreams Inspires a Generation of Computer Fans

Electric Dreams probably could have scared a lot of people from embracing technology but actually had the opposite effect: it inspired many to pursue computer related careers. There are numerous comments on YouTube that said the film sparked a lifelong love of computers for them that were kids and teens when the movie was released. 

Part of the reason for this is that it's hard to dislike Edgar. The original movie poster artwork depicts the computer as a devil with horns, a tail, and a devious smile, but when Edgar acts up, it's more akin to a bratty teenager throwing a tantrum. His behavior towards Miles does escalate as the film progresses and he becomes increasingly threatening: when Miles slaps him, Edgar lets out a blood chilling shriek and warns his owner "Don't EVER do that again!"

And yet, there is a vulnerability and innocence about him that appeals to many fans. I feel that this movie could have been a lot darker (a 2023 episode of American Horror Stories called Daphne shows us what a jealous AI device could be capable of doing) but it never quite gets there. Which brings us to the following news... 

Is Electric Dreams Getting a Remake?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news for fans of this movie, but it seems the relevance to today's technology saturated world proved too good to resist. Variety announced in October 2023 that film executive Paul Davidson secured the rights to remake this cult classic. Lemorande is all for it, and issued a statement saying he hopes the remake will make Edgar as famous as Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

I hate the idea of giving this movie a remake. The story was quite original for 1984 and ever since then, the idea of sentient technology has already been explored in other films such as Her and AI. But who knows. Maybe a remake would take it in a darker direction and introduce viewers to the original movie. (There was also a 2017 series with the same name that has nothing to do with the 1984 film.) 

Electric Dreams also awakens the happy nostalgia in many of us that experienced that excitement of unboxing and setting up our first home computer in the 1980s, a decade which witnessed huge strides in technology. That kind of magic is tough to replicate.

In the meantime, you can (as of February 2025) watch Electric Dreams for free on Pluto TV and The Roku Channel, and the trailer (which really doesn't do the movie justice) below.