About this Series

Going Electric: The Films of Tangerine Dream

April 25-27, 2025 at Balboa Theatre

Nerve-racking synths. Unregulated markets. Nuclear annihilation. Tom Cruise.

It was the sound of the 1980’s.

Unlike most of the iconic composers in movie history, Tangerine Dream aren’t remembered for their long term collaborations with specific directors. They aren’t remembered for a widespread genre. Hell, even in their most fruitful run of film scores they aren’t a constant group of artists as much an ever-changing collective of brilliant musicians who came and went from soundtrack to soundtrack (founder Edgar Froese being the only figure consistently involved).

What Tangerine Dream is remembered for is a sensation. Intense, propulsive synth beats building and building; often climaxing in moments of explosive and, sometimes even beautiful, catharsis. When a character is being soundtracked, their back is usually against the wall. They’re in a race against time; fighting a deadline that usually heralds their doom. There’s the police and gangsters pursuing James Caan (Thief). There’s the threat of a bomb in the truck Roy Scheider’s driving (Sorcerer), or the atomic one fated to fall from the sky in under an hour (Miracle Mile). If Tom Cruise fails, his dreams of ever joining the 1% will be shattered (Risky Business) and he’ll maybe even be consumed by satan himself (Legend). To live in the rhythm of a Tangerine Dream score is to experience a pit in your stomach deeper than anything that’s come before; a panic that is so overwhelming that even if you survive, you’ll never be able to get back to the person you used to be.

Their most successful run of American movies span from the late 1970’s to the late 1980’s. They traced the dejected cynicism of the Carter years to the capitalist decadence of the Reagan years. Most of the filmmakers who opted for their scores told stories that reflected a changing world. Its class anxieties, and wider fears of the outside world. More than any musician of this time period, Tangerine Dream is the true signifier of American cinema of the late twentieth century. Selected by a variety of its most cherished artists (Michael Mann, William Friedkin, Ridley Scott, etc.) for visions of its most hot button scenarios fueled by the ires and fantasies of a generation working against the clock, constantly thinking ahead at the personal/global threats looming on the horizon.

The box has been opened and we can’t re-close it. Welcome to an electric world.

Co-Presented by Amoeba SF