Tag Archives: 1984

Dune

Dune is the film that arguably brought Virginia Madsen into the big league and without doubt the biggest film she had worked on up to that point in her career.

She took on the role of Princess Irulan, she wasn’t actually on screen that much but served as the narrator of the film and brought sense to the world of Dune with her opening monologue.
Dune is based upon a book of the same name, which would later become a series of books collectively called The Dune Chronicles by author Frank Herbert. The original novel was published in 1965, the last book of the series written by Frank Herbert would be released in 1985 – a year before his death.

For those that don’t know, yes, you in the back, Dune is a massively, visually ambitious sci-fi epic. It’s got political intrigue, space battles, giant sandworms and tells the tale of an intergalactic power struggle over a precious substance called “melange” or “spice,” which extends life and enables space travel.Princess Irulan is the daughter of the Emperor Shaddam IV (played by José Ferrer). In this version of the story mostly seen in the film’s opening narration, giving this dreamy, almost hypnotic exposition about the universe, the spice, and the conflict between House Atreides and House Harkonnen. In the book her role was much bigger. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of her on this version, but it is what it is.

The movie stars Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, the noble heir who discovers his destiny as the prophesied leader of the desert-dwelling Fremen. There’s a stacked supporting cast, including Patrick Stewart, Max von Sydow, and Sting (yes, Sting).

The book series continues to this day with prequels written by Herbert son and Kevin J. Anderson. Other books in the series have been written by various authors over the years.

David Lynch would take on the task of bringing the epic and complicated story to screen but would soon come to regret his decision for one reason or another. The troubles with the film started in post production when the studio took over editing duties and reduced the film from a 3 hour run time to 2 hours and 15. Quite the cut.
The movie was a commercial failure, the budget of $40/$42 million only managed to recoup $30/$37 million. It would however go on to find a new life in the home movie market and over time became a cult classic.

Much has been written about the highs and lows of the film over the years, I don’t need to rehash any of that here. Hell, there has been a literal book written about the whole debacle.

Virginia would come out of the movie relatively unscathed, some of the other cast and crew would have previously wide open doors shut on them. Perhaps it was because of her limited screen time that did her the most favours in this case. Certainly, when reading about the movie in the present day one of the things that people comment positively on is her opening introduction to the movie.

She was cast in the movie without an audition, a rarity both then and now. When asked about the movie in interviews she has mostly good things to say about the experience.

“It was very, very exciting because I got to watch all these extraordinary actors,I had a heartbreaking crush on Patrick Stewart, Sting was running around in a loincloth and Kyle MacLachlan was going through the book with me to help me understand the world I was in.”

It was also a great thrill for her to see herself in such a massive production on the big screen saying;

“It was kind of hard for me to recover from the fact that my face was 25 feet tall in the theatre. That was the coolest thing I could have ever dreamt of as a little girl. There it was. I might not have been Barbara Stanwyck, but there I was. To me, everything about the movie was perfect because I was so proud to be a part of something that big when I was such a sci-fi / fantasy/horror fan. It was very exciting and very beautiful. I wanted to see it again immediately.”

She loved working David Lynch and was allowed, along with the rest of the cast, to watch him edit the movie before it was taken away from him. I’d imagine that being quite the experience for such a new and inexperienced actress.

Availability:
Dune is widely available even today, there have been many releases of it over the years. There is no problem in getting hold of it on DVD or Blu-Ray. There are Special Editions and 4K versions galore.

Though you might have to fight your way past the versions of the newer film(s) to get to it.

Most commonly you can look for the standard version, and the extended version – These are easy to spot if they aren’t already noted by the films running time. And, the extended version is given the Directors credit to Alan Smithee, Mr Lynch apparently wanted nothing more to do with the film at this point even if he did oversee the cut.

Gallery:

Dune - Production Stills 7 images

Trailer:

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Electric Dreams

Ahhhhhhhh. Electric Dreams. I’ve such fond memories of this from when I was a kid, as I’d imagine many do. And, probably an early introduction to Virginia Madsen before I knew who Virginia Madsen was.

Electric Dreams is a film from 1984 about these new fangled things called “computers” and the horrors that can ensue by having them in your home, especially if you connect them up to the internet. And put out any literal fires they have by throwing alcoholic drinks on them.

The story of the film follows Miles Harding (Lenny Von Dohlen), an architect with a new idea on how buildings should be built to stop them being damaged in earthquakes. To help realise his vision he eventually succumbs to the idea of purchasing a computer to prove his model works. Clueless about computers (which to be fair, many where at the time) he ends up with all kinds of paraphernalia.

Around the same time Miles gets himself a new neighbour, an attractive young woman known as Madeline Robistat, played by Virginia Madsen herself. Madeline plays cello which we learn from her introduction, this of course isn’t without reason and something to hang a lantern on for later.Meanwhile Miles goes about setting up his new toy. He of course is pretty clueless about it all and even manages to spell his name wrong on the setup prompting the computer to think his name is “Moles”. It’s not long before the computer is all set up and ~~Moles~~, Miles wants to get to work and he sets about downloading his whole company’s database to his new computer. Which, of course, the computer doesn’t like – It throws a fit, sets on fire and the only thing close to hand to put the fire out is a bottle of champagne

And, well – After being doused in fire and champagne – This, for, reasons, causes the computer to become sentient.

The computer of course doesn’t let this be known and keeps its secrets for itself. The pesky little thing. It sets about learning all it can independently while nobody is looking, but of course it gets bored and frustrated and it eventually lets itself slip and Miles finds out about his new room mate.

Interestingly many of the features that the computer has, weren’t commonplace at the time of filming. Today, it’s a different story but I was almost constantly questioning my sanity when watching.
High tech hi-jinks ensue, the computer starts calling itself Edgar (Bud Cort) and tries its best to fit into the world. But, it can’t and so Edgar gets more frustrated and eventually mischief is the order of the day to an almost extreme level.

Being a technological film it’s obviously dated by its time now. You can pick holes in it all day long with even a basic understanding of computers. But, you know – For it’s time it doesn’t do a bad job.

Virginia Madsen is obviously a newbie in the movie, the acting isn’t going to win any awards. But, it doesn’t need to do. It’s not a film that takes itself too seriously, it’s feel good fluff and what it lacks in anything else it more than makes up for in charm. That being said, her character of Madeline is very likeable. Typical small town girl moving to the city kinda gal.

Virginia Madsen has spoken fondly of the film in interviews, in 2013 she’d speak to AVClub about the movie in its (now defunct) Random Roles series;

“Well, that was the beginning of everything… or, at least, it was my first leading role. And I was very spoiled on that movie, because it was such a lovefest that I now believe that every movie should be like that. We started out in San Francisco, and I had a mad, crazy crush on Lenny Von Dohlen. God, we were so… we were head-over-heels for each other. Nothing happened, and at this point, I admit it: I wanted it to happen. [Laughs.] But we both had other people in our lives. We were very young, so our pining for each other was great for the movie. And I’m still friends with Lenny to this day. He’s still one of my best friends.“

Of course, that was 2013. Sadly Lenny Von Dohlen would tragically lose his life in 2021 after a long illness. He was only 63 at the time.It’s hard to recommend a watch if you’ve no nostalgic value of the film to fall back on. To me it’s almost like a hug from an old friend, but would I recommend it to someone who hasn’t seen it before and wouldn’t understand it for what it is?

Probably not, regretfully – The film needs a real update to be taken seriously in this day and age by anyone new.

On that note, Virginia Madsen told Kevin Pollak in a 2011 interview that she had bought the remake rights to this film, but couldn’t get anybody else interested in doing it with her. And, that’s a shame – The film / concept could be taken to such another level now. Not every film has to have AI killing mankind and taking over the world. Why can’t it fall in love with a beautiful woman once in a while? Even if it does get a bit stalkery.Finally, I can’t end this without mentioning the title song to the movie. In my experience more people know the song than know the movie.

Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder would release “Together in Electric Dreams” which would become a bit of an anthem for a while. The song would spend 13 weeks in the UK Chart, peaking at number 3. In Australia it’d get to number 5, and in the USA it’d not quite do so well with it reaching number 20 at best.

In 2012 EDF Energy would use the song in advert for the UK which could bound the song back into the public’s conscience, and the charts. But, it’d only hit 46 this time around.

Availability:

Not bad actually for a film of its age. In 2017 Second Sight issued a re-release on Blu-Ray and DVD so it’s relatively easy to pick up a new copy of the film.

Older copies are also available on VHS and DVD, it’s not that unusual for Laser Disc copies to show up on eBay either.

It’s available on sites like Plex for free streaming. You can also buy it electronically on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. All the aforementioned options are depending on your location, or your VPN.

Gallery:

Electric Dreams - Promotional Shoot 17 images

Trailer:

Links:

Electric Dreams Fan Site

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Kenny Loggins – I’m Free (Heaven Helps The Man)

I’m Free (Heaven Helps The Man), henceforth referred to as just “I’m Free”, is a 1984 song by Kenny Loggins. The song is most notably known for its appearance in the original Footloose soundtrack for the movie of the same name by those of a certain age.

And, for those lucky enough not to be of a certain age then it would also appear in a little game called Grand Theft Auto V, if you’ve ever heard of it. The song would play as part of the Los Santos Rock Radio station playlist, which also featured Kenny as a DJ.

Although the song was featured on the Footloose soundtrack, the video for the song has very little to do with the film. Which is a bit weird, especially for songs of that time.

The video has Loggins breaking out of prison, he quickly acquires a car and is seen making his getaway with it while looking down at the picture of his (presumed) girlfriend. The lady in the picture is of course one of our very own Virginia Madsen. Or, “Woman” as she is named on the iMDB listing for the music video.

Some daftness occurs in a garage where he is seemingly looking for the object of his affection,the local gang seem to know her location but aren’t keen on giving her up. He finally learns of her location from a rather scrawny looking gentleman, your typical “80’s Geek” who looks somewhat out of place from the rest of the gang members.

Kenny finds the light of his life and we see him sneaking into her bedroom to watch her while he sleeps.Thankfully, on waking she seems happy to see old Kenny and gives him a quick hug before they flee from the police who have somehow managed to work out where he is.

And yeah, the young lovers do their thing – Running across bridges with the sunset behind them, through a town centre holding hands. They briefly pass a cinema which is playing the Footloose film. Kenny seems keen to enter. Virginia, not so much. Again, weird for a song from the soundtrack.

All the while the Prison guards have noticed his daring escape and chaos in the jail ensues. Parents look angry with their daughter, the Police get closer to catching them as they run through buildings onto rooftops. The “80’s Geek” is there again for some reason, people jump off rooftops and escapes are made.