Overdrawn at the Memory Bank Movie Review

Like The Lathe of Heaven, this shot-on-tape cerebral sf was done for Public Television and remains one of the better (and least-known) screen translations of cyberpunk. Complicated setup finds a nonconformist in the sterile future separated from his body due to a bureaucratic snafu. For safekeeping, his mind is stored inside the giant HX368 Novicorp computer that more or less runs the world; there he manipulates virtual reality to simulate his favorite flick Casablanca, and tries to access software controls to the outside to work some serious mischief. Raul Julia plays both the hacker hero and Humphrey Bogart, and the whole thing is a delicious lark even if you're scratching your head by the end. Based on a short story by John Varley.

1983 84m/C Raul Julia, Linda Griffiths; D: Douglas Williams. VHS, Beta VTR, NWV