History Film / ElectricDreams

** Edgar also is the first emoticon user as well, making for some FunnyBackgroundEvents.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: The concert scene where Miles' beeper starts playing Bach (thanks to Edgar) much to the annoyance of the other patrons. He does not know how to shut it off and has to run to the men's room to flush it down the toilet. It almost foreshadows the annoyance that we currently have with people who would rather show off their fancy ringtones when common sense indicates that they should put their cellphones on vibrate. Not to mention the embarrassment caused when they can't seem to find the off or mute button.

* HeyItsThatGuy!: Miles is [[TwinPeaks Harold Smith]], [[Series/RedDwarf the Secret Policeman]], and [[ThePretender Mr. Cox]]; Madeline is [[Series/{{Highlander}} Louise Marcus]], [[Film/{{Candyman}} Helen Lyle]], and [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Kellin]]; Bill is [[{{Grease}} Michael Carrington]] and [[{{Dynasty}} Miles Colby]]; and Edgar is [[HaroldAndMaude Harold]] and [[JusticeLeague Toyman]].

* MyNameIsNotDurwood: As a result of Miles' having mistyped his name, Edgar refers to him as "Moles" throughout most of the movie.

Miles Harding (Lenny von Dohlen), an architect working for a large firm in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, having problems arriving at work on time, buys a computer to arrange his schedule and help him design his "earthquake brick" that will hold buildings together in seismic upheavals. Just moving in to his building is pretty cellist Madeline Robistat (Virginia Madsen), to whom Miles is intensely attracted. In order to facilitate work on his brick, Miles decides to patch his computer into his firm's immensely powerful super-computer; accidentally spilling champagne onto his motherboard, he is astounded when this produces a sentient computer [[hottip:*: This was before TVTropes was on the Internet]]. While he is at work, the computer (Bud Cort), hearing Madeline practicing a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqSAGwa49MM Bach minuet]], engages her in a [[DuetBonding musical duel]] -- she, naturally, attributes the music to Miles. When Miles realizes this, he decides to use the computer to [[PlayingCyrano woo Madeline for him]] -- with phenomenal ill-success, at first, as the computer cannot understand what Love is -- until Miles reminds it of how it felt when listening to Madeline's music. Unfortunately, this causes the computer to fall in love with her [[strike:himself]] itself, and thus begins an escalating rivalry between man and machine for a woman's heart...

* AsHimself: Winston T. Dog.

* CreditsGag: After the closing credits have run, a multicolored question mark appears in the lower right corner of the screen with a computer-like sound. After this, the line "[-ELECTRIC DREAMS FINISHED-]" appears in green at the upper left corner. The question mark is replaced by the line "no more?" Then the green text is replaced by "[-TIME TO DISCONNECT-]". Both then disappear, and multi-colored letters appear near the center of the screen reading "[-THE NED-]". The "[-N-]" is quickly deleted, the "[-E-]" moved over, and the "[-N-]" is reinserted properly to spell "[-THE END-]". As this disappears, Edgar's voice is heard laughing, and he says "H-hello? Hello? Good-goodbye."

* {{Expy}}: Edgar is a "Pinecone" computer. His branding and appearance, however, make him look a lot like an Apple.

* TheFaceless: Edgar. The director, Steve Barron, refused to let the rest of the cast members ever meet Bud Cort during filming, except as a voice coming out of a box, to preserve their sense of interacting with a non-human personality.

* ShoutOut: When Miles wishes Edgar, "Sweet dreams," Edgar queries, "What's a dream?" -- to which Miles sleepily replies, "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep... WaltDisney, ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', 1950,." Edgar replies, after a quick click sound (probably of him researching), "No, it was ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', 1949."

* BeamMeUpScotty: Mostly averted, as Miles correctly leaves out ''again'' when he uses lines from {{Casablanca}} to Edgar, although it's still not an exact quote

** The password to unlock the front door, in response to the prompt ''[[{{StarTrekTheOriginalSeries}} Science Officer Eyes Only]]'' is ''[[{{GeorgeTakei}} 1st Lieutenant Sulu]].''

* [[CoversAlwaysLie Posters Always Lie]]: That devil Edgar in the Trope Image appeared in the posters, making it seem like he was a villain. Not so, though Edgar does manage to fuck with Miles' life pretty good for a few minutes in the film.

** Miles tells Edgar "[[{{Casablanca}} If you could play for her, you can play it for me... Play it, Sam.]]" when asking to hear Edgar's first attempt at a love song.

Miles Harding (Lenny von Dohlen), an architect working for a large firm in SanFrancisco, having problems arriving at work on time, buys a computer to arrange his schedule and help him design his "earthquake brick" that will hold buildings together in seismic upheavals. Just moving in to his building is pretty cellist Madeline Robistat (Virginia Madsen), to whom Miles is intensely attracted. In order to facilitate work on his brick, Miles decides to patch his computer into his firm's immensely powerful super-computer; accidentally spilling champagne onto his motherboard, he is astounded when this produces a sentient computer [[hottip:*: This was before TVTropes was on the Internet]]. While he is at work, the computer (Bud Cort), hearing Madeline practicing a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqSAGwa49MM Bach minuet]], engages her in a [[DuetBonding musical duel]] -- she, naturally, attributes the music to Miles. When Miles realizes this, he decides to use the computer to [[PlayingCyrano woo Madeline for him]] -- with phenomenal ill-success, at first, as the computer cannot understand what Love is -- until Miles reminds it of how it felt when listening to Madeline's music. Unfortunately, this causes the computer to fall in love with her [[strike:himself]] itself, and thus begins an escalating rivalry between man and machine for a woman's heart...

* ShoutOut: When Miles wishes Edgar, "Sweet dreams," Edgar queries, "What's a dream?" -- to which Miles sleepily replies, "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep. ... ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', 1950,." Edgar replies, after a quick click sound (probably of him researching), "No, it was ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', 1949."

** Miles tells Edgar "[[{{Casablanca}} If you could play for her, you can play it for me...]]" when asking to hear Edgar's first attempt at a love song.

* [[HeHadAName I Had A Name]]: Edgar.

* ShoutOut: When Miles wishes Edgar, "Sweet dreams," Edgar queries, "What's a dream?" -- to which Miles sleepily replies, "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep. ... ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', 1950," to which Edgar replies, "No, it was ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', 1949."

* ComputerEqualsMonitor: Semi-averted in that Edgar becomes sentient when force-fed data from another computer ''and'' has champagne spilled on his motherboard (which is a whole other DidNotDoTheResearch[=/=]RuleOfCool altogether), but when Edgar commits suicide, his monitor explodes.

* ShoutOut: When Miles wishes Edgar, "Sweet dreams," Edgar queries, "What's a dream?" -- to which Miles sleepily replies, "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep. ... ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'', [[DidNotDoTheResearch 1950]]," to which Edgar [[hottip:*:who would obviously be a Troper if he were still around]] replies, "No, it was ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', [[DidNotDoTheResearch 1949]]."
** Other [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] are more associated with the song "Together in Electric Dreams" than with the film itself:

* CreditsGag: After the closing credits have run, a multicolored question mark appears in the lower right corner of the screen with a computer-like sound. After this, the line "[-ELECTRIC DREAMS FINISHED-]" appears in green at the upper left corner. The question mark is replaced by the line "no more?" Then the green text is replaced by "[-TIME TO DISCONNECT-]". Both then disappear, and multi-colored letters appear near the center of the screen reading "[-THE NED-]". The "[-N-]" is quickly deleted, the "[-E-]" moved over, and the "[-N-]" is reinserted properly to spell "[-THE END-]". As this disappears, Edgar's voice is heard laughing, and he says "H-hello? Hello? Good-goodbye."

* [[HeyItsThatGuy Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Miles is [[TwinPeaks Harold Smith]], [[Series/RedDwarf the Secret Policeman]], and [[ThePretender Mr. Cox]]; Madeline is [[Series/{{Highlander}} Louise Marcus]], [[Film/{{Candyman}} Helen Lyle]], and [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Kellin]]; Bill is [[{{Grease}} Michael Carrington]] and [[{{Dynasty}} Miles Colby]]; and Edgar is [[HaroldAndMaude Harold]] and [[JusticeLeague Toyman]].

* RomanticFalseLead: Bill. (1984 was a bad year for male cellists wooing their female counterparts; the same year Dana Barrett was stolen from one by [[{{Ghostbusters}} Dr. Peter Venkman]].)

*** It is played on the fictional radio station "Flash FM" in the VideoGame ''[[GrandTheftAutoViceCityStories Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories]]''.

* [[HeyItsThatGuy Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Miles is [[TwinPeaks Harold Smith]], [[Series/RedDwarf the Secret Policeman]], and [[ThePretender Mr. Cox]]; Madeline is [[Series/{{Highlander}} Louise Marcus]], [[Film/{{Candyman}} Helen Lyle]], and [[StarTrekVoyager Kellin]]; Bill is [[{{Grease}} Michael Carrington]] and [[{{Dynasty}} Miles Colby]]; and Edgar is [[HaroldAndMaude Harold]] and [[JusticeLeague Toyman]].