1984 (Apple commercial)

"1984." Ridley Scott, dir. and prod. Apple Coporation commercial for Macintosh computer, run nationally once: Super Bowl Sunday, 22 Jan. 1984. 60 seconds. Antholgized on Greatest Commercials Ever Made, CBS, shown in the Cincinnati area 15 March 1995.

Establishing shot of a grey world, with an illuminated tube (with people inside, barely visible). Cut to people walking through tube, single-file, but otherwise very much like the marching workers in METROPOLIS. Flash cut to woman athlete in bright color, carrying a John-Henry size, steel-driving sledge hammer. Back to close shot of marching male heads: shaved, one man wearing a gas mask. Flash cut to running police then back to marchers, shot from chest down, TV monitors in background. Voice-over: Big Brotherish politician, soon seen on huge TV screen. Cut to woman: white top, red shots, bright against grey doorway, running with cops gaining on her. Cut to rows of men (maybe some women) on benches watching TV screen. Intercuts: audience, TV screen, running woman (voice throughout this section: continuation of politician's speech). Climax: woman throws hammer, hammer-throw fashion, into TV screen as cops nearly upon her. Hammer hits screen when speaker has said "We shall prevail." Small explosion. Wind sweeps past audience (first two of whom are open-mouthed). VO of announcer, with titles: "On January 24th, / Apple Computer will introduce / Macintosh. / And you'll see why 1984 / won't be like '1984.'" Final shot: picture of Apple Corp.'s apple logo. See under Drama Criticism, L. M. Scott, "'For the Rest of Us': A Reader-Oriented Interpretation of Apple's '1984' Commercial," and J. Bergstrom, "Androids and Androgency," on Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER. (RDE, 16/03/95)