When viewing this film one must remember it was made in 1984. Starring Lenny von Dohlen, Virginia Madsen and a computer... it is barely palatable rainy-Saturday-afternoon fare. Its primary plus is that it was Virginia Madsen's first movie and she came across well as the central romantic interest.
We can't judge this movie by today's standards. With Jurassic Park still nine years away, CGI at that time was in very primitive stages. The computer used a CRT screen and telephone modem. That gives the viewer a hint of the era. As such, the movie has fairly advanced concepts: speech recognition, artificial intelligence, computer data exchange (the World Wide Net was still some time in the future)... so in those aspects the movie was "interesting".
While I can't say this movie was a "stinker" (there are certainly far worse movies out there)... it is a yawner. The somewhat predictable plot as well as the "any old ending will do" wrap-up makes this an hour and a half of time to spend cleaning one's house instead. Parents would want to be cautioned about a singular and brief repetitive line of offensive language as the computer is learning to "speak"-- as well as increased cursing near the end of the movie.
Bottom line there is better fare to watch. Aside from the historical aspect (Madisen's first real role and the concept of computers in 1984)... this is one that can be skipped with no loss. The character drama was cliché and over-the-top, the script juvenile, the music seemingly thrown in just to promote the songs and sell the soundtrack (common for the 80s)... and the story not all that entertaining. Not family fare... and not really all that appealing to adults either, this flick is a "watch it once" movie-- if you must. I doubt many will watch it a second time.
We can't judge this movie by today's standards. With Jurassic Park still nine years away, CGI at that time was in very primitive stages. The computer used a CRT screen and telephone modem. That gives the viewer a hint of the era. As such, the movie has fairly advanced concepts: speech recognition, artificial intelligence, computer data exchange (the World Wide Net was still some time in the future)... so in those aspects the movie was "interesting".
While I can't say this movie was a "stinker" (there are certainly far worse movies out there)... it is a yawner. The somewhat predictable plot as well as the "any old ending will do" wrap-up makes this an hour and a half of time to spend cleaning one's house instead. Parents would want to be cautioned about a singular and brief repetitive line of offensive language as the computer is learning to "speak"-- as well as increased cursing near the end of the movie.
Bottom line there is better fare to watch. Aside from the historical aspect (Madisen's first real role and the concept of computers in 1984)... this is one that can be skipped with no loss. The character drama was cliché and over-the-top, the script juvenile, the music seemingly thrown in just to promote the songs and sell the soundtrack (common for the 80s)... and the story not all that entertaining. Not family fare... and not really all that appealing to adults either, this flick is a "watch it once" movie-- if you must. I doubt many will watch it a second time.