Viewed in
1989, 2007, 2010 (2)
Formats
VHS, DVD
Premise
Jeff Bridges stars in the classic about a computer programmer gets sucked into the digital world by a killer computer program bent on dominating the world.
Loved
The ground-breaking computer graphics, the score.
Thoughts
Despite being outdated, the charm and importance of the film still held up after all these years and multiple viewings.
Being too young to appreciate its significance, I could only imagine how earth-shattering it must have felt when this came out in 1982 with never seen before, free-flowing computer animation. Perhaps the closest for me was watching The Matrix for the first time. While I chuckled at the countable polygons nearly three decades later, I still greatly appreciate the visuals to this very day, like a Ray Harryhausen flick. Those Lightcycles will forever dance in my imagination.
Just as important was Wendy Carlos' classic score. It was an ambitious gamble to employ an avant-garde artist to create music that was a perfect fit and just as mind-blowing as the visuals, and it paid off brilliantly. For me, the fantastical animation and trippy electronic music go hand-in-hand.
Obviously, as a whole, the film clearly lacked in character and plot. While I enjoyed The Wizard of Oz aspect of characters and their digital avatars, they were not that interesting. As for plot, it was best to not bother with questions about how does a person physically survive as 0's and 1's, as well as the purpose of sexualized programs.
It may not be a complete film, but its pioneering computer graphics, memorable score, and cinematic significance greatly outweigh the flaws. Definitely worth seeing once in your lifetime. And no, you do not need to be stoned to enjoy it.
What I would change
Nothing.
