Calling All Nerds: Quintessential Technology Movies

[Chance]

I have become my department's de facto de-snowflaker in that I teach “Intro to Computer Science and Engineering,” which is presented to all of our incoming freshmen and transfer students. During a very informal survey of those sections (which collectively have 500 students), I discovered only a handful of students knew what the following image was.

20863

That bothered me for a number of reasons. Initially, I had an, “I’m getting too old for this shit” moment, which is depressing because I’m 33. But when I stopped to think about it, it struck me that newer generations of innovators can’t possibly understand the context of previous generations of innovators without being familiar with the contemporaneous science fiction that we (they) were exposed to.

How can you understand the development of AI without being familiar with HAL 9000? How can you understand the direction of modern UI having not seen “Minority Report” (which is 15 years old, by the way)? You’re going to work on virtual reality and you’ve never seen “The Matrix” (which is about 18 years old)?

So I’m curious, what would y’all say are quintessential “nerd movies”? They need to be something more than just amusing, they need to be directive.

[OlongJohnson]

Every answer I come up with has more to say about culture and the human condition than about technology. Guess I'm not that much of a nerd. Or you covered all the important ones.

[spinmove_]

Hackers
Anti-Trust
The Net
War Games
Real Genius

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head right now. I’m sure I can think of more later.


Sent from mah smertfone using tapathingy

[CompressionIgnition]

Keep in mind that the movie is one year away from being half a century old. That's two generations. It came out before many of your students' *parents* were born.

Having said that, films that haven't been mentioned yet that I think should be on the list are
- RoboCop (which, beneath the action stuff is excellent satire and provides food for thought here and there on the man/machine dichotomy)
- T2 (I think it is much better than the original)
- Gattaca
- Moon (2009 movie by Duncan Jones)
- The first Bladerunner movie, w/o the voiceover. (Haven't gone to see the new one yet)

[Totem Polar]

In addition to the matrix, T2, Gattaca, and blade runner...

Andromeda Strain
Logan’s Run
War games
Brazil
Sneakers
Handmaid’s tale
Contact
Total Recall
AI Artificial Intelligence
Ex-machina
The Machine
Aeon Flux
I, Robot
The 13th floor
Wall-E
Inception

I admit that Andromeda, Logan’s, Brazil, Handmaid’s and Aeon are more dystopian, but they still came to mind. The misses and i are sci-fi geeks.

[ReverendMeat]

Well, start with the play R.U.R. It only invented the term "robot."

[Joe in PNG]

Let's see:
-Forbidden Planet (seriously influneced Star Trek)
-2001
-Star Wars
-Blade Runner
-Terminator
-Alien & Aliens
-Gattica
-Ghost in the Shell

And there's a few TV shows to consider:
-Star Trek
-Mobile Suit Gundam
-Neon Genesis Evangelion

[JohnO]

If you want to go Hard Core (Ultra Nerd) read "The Cuckoo's Egg".

https://www.amazon.com/Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-Computer-Espionage/dp/1416507787

Before the Internet became widely known as a global tool for terrorists, one perceptive U.S. citizen recognized its ominous potential. Armed with clear evidence of computer espionage, he began a highly personal quest to expose a hidden network of spies that threatened national security. But would the authorities back him up? Cliff Stoll's dramatic firsthand account is "a computer-age detective story, instantly fascinating [and] astonishingly gripping" (Smithsonian).
Cliff Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab when a 75-cent accounting error alerted him to the presence of an unauthorized user on his system. The hacker's code name was "Hunter" -- a mysterious invader who managed to break into U.S. computer systems and steal sensitive military and security information. Stoll began a one-man hunt of his own: spying on the spy. It was a dangerous game of deception, broken codes, satellites, and missile bases -- a one-man sting operation that finally gained the attention of the CIA...and ultimately trapped an international spy ring fueled by cash, cocaine, and the KGB.

[Drang]

Is this intended as a survey of cultural milestones in the development of technology?

Add Metropolis.

Note how many are "dystopias", and BTW, what the hell does The Handmaids Tale have to do with development of technology and engineering? It's little more than a progressive polemic.


Well, start with the play R.U.R. It only invented the term "robot."

To be precise, it took the Czech word for slave and re-purposed it to mean "mechanical servant." I cannot understand why RUR has not been made into a modern movie.

Fun fact: At work one day a guy presented his ID, last name Capek, and yes, he was the great-nephew, or something, of the playwright.

[gtae07]

Every movie I can think of has been covered... but don't leave out books--you can often get more insight from them because the movies sometimes get dumbed-down or changed altogether for general audiences.

I, Robot is worth reading rather than watching because it gets deeper into the Three Laws and unintended consequences.

Neuromancer and Snow Crash would be more familiar to our generation. Ready Player One might be good, or just exposure to an old NES or something.


If you really want to see science fiction influencing technology and real life... www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewartactic.php


according to Rear Admiral Cal Laning, the idea for a command information center was taken "specifically, consciously, and directly" from the spaceship Directrix in the Lensman novels of E.E. Smith, Ph.D., and influenced by the works of his friend and collaborator Robert Heinlein

[Chance]

Is this intended as a survey of cultural milestones in the development of technology?

I'm primarily looking for things that introduced a concept / thing that resulted in someone going, "That's neat," and then making a working version of it.

"Forbidden Planet" is a great example. The reverse Turing test in "Ex Machina" is another great example. The voice interface in various iterations of Star Trek are another great example.

[Edster]

Interesting thread.

I would stay away from a lot of the "technology" moves that were more about cashing in on a trend - e.g. social media. Most movies involving cybersecurity are truly crap, as you probably already know.

Having said that, I thought "Jobs" (The Steve Jobs biography) actually did a pretty good job of capturing the feel of that era, the opportunities that were available, and a fairly accurate accounting of events. It is ancient history to college students today but the start-up culture and the garage-to-boardroom innovation from then is something the industry is still trying to recapture. It's interesting to me as a business class study as much as a technology movie.

Beyond that, the visionary "where is this going?" movies are great recommendations. I agree with "2001: A Space Odyssey", "War Games", and "The Matrix". You could add "The Terminator", and "I, Robot", too.

View "Tron" after "Jobs" and you get a pretty accurate portrayal of the feeling from the late-70s/early-80s microcomputer revolution. Follow with "War Games". The last two are notably heavy on the video games angle. That may be a bit laughable to a modern audience but the games were how a lot of people started to get comfortable with the technology.

Some of the cool software ideas for rules engines and simulations today are easily traceable to these ideas.

[Chance]

That may be a bit laughable to a modern audience....


It's bizarre to me that students today don't remember a time when we didn't carry around super computers in our pocket that gave us instant access to whole of human knowledge. Smart phones, tablets, et cetera are stunning achievements of technology that are totally blase to them.

It reminds me of that Louis C.K. bit, "Everything is amazing and nobody's happy."


https://youtu.be/q8LaT5Iiwo4

[Totem Polar]

I'm primarily looking for things that introduced a concept / thing that resulted in someone going, "That's neat," and then making a working version of it.

...in various iterations of Star Trek are another great example.

In that case, you have already identified one icon: the original Star Trek. Everything from flip phones, to siri, to tablets, to nespresso machines, to the Boberg xr9-s, to a black woman in a high ranking position; there is an argument to be made for the old Roddenberry concept as an idea incubator. JMO.

[Chance]

As a minor aside: now that I think about it, the movie that did the best job predicting the future was 'Network'. Depressing, but true.

[5pins]

I’m always joking about Sky Net to my son and then the other day I said: “remember that the Terminator could transport back because he was covered with a biologic skin”. Then he said to me “but dad you have never let me see it. I have no idea what you are talking about.

[beenalongtime]

The whole 3d thing/virtual reality, brought back lawnmower man to my mind. (virtual reality is an older concept, that seems to have always hit the roadblock of goggles, and those that need glasses)
Another example of that would be total recall and the recall chair. (and that would lead to a bioethics discussion)
Then you have examples of artificial intelligence, future weaponry, etc. with something as simple as Short Circuit. Between that and tech such as Metal Storm and Trackingpoint and you have the potential for our limited AI to be used in some very deadly ways, currently, verses a self contained one using a laser.
There was a book I read, years ago, I wish I remembered. It was about a society whose members were almost all hooked up to the net. There were a few that couldn't be and society was much harder to navigate (just getting into doors). The main character is a "deep diver" who mines this connectivity for information. When her gear breaks (mask), she starts to realize how she has been influenced by being connected. The end premise is an AI had developed from being connected with most everybody, and has improved life, but society is generally unaware.
Books are so much better though then the movies based on them. Cryptonomicon comes to mind as one I liked. Two that deal with where we are going are 1984 and Brave New World.
Another old movie that I don't find particularly good, but it may have some merit, is Demon Seed.

I am going to be trying to figure out this book all day now.

[gtae07]

There's a short story I read from a while back, where everyone carries around a "little brother" device that helps them out (read: runs their lives) with little hints, suggestions, directions on where to go, etc. One guy's little brother goes rogue and tries to get him to break out of the structured society. He starts freaking out, and gets caught. His little brother is taken away, he's issued a new one and all is right with his world. It's in one of the massive short story collections I bought for my Kindle, but I don't know if I'll be able to find it.

It sounds an awful lot like a smartphone...

[Stephanie B]

It's bizarre to me that students today don't remember a time when we didn't carry around super computers in our pocket that gave us instant access to whole of human knowledge. Smart phones, tablets, et cetera are stunning achievements of technology that are totally blase to them.

Hell, remember when people had ailments and the surgeons would slice them open, just so they could see what the problem was?

[gtae07]

There's a short story I read from a while back, where everyone carries around a "little brother" device that helps them out (read: runs their lives) with little hints, suggestions, directions on where to go, etc.

Apparently the story is "Codemus" by Tor Age Bringsvaerd.

[NEPAKevin]

... but don't leave out books--you can often get more insight from them because the movies sometimes get dumbed-down or changed altogether for general audiences.

I forget the source, but when I was a kid, I recall watching something that had a very similar subject to the OP (maybe science fiction predicting the future?) and the examples given were the works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.

[modrecoil]

I forget the source, but when I was a kid, I recall watching something that had a very similar subject to the OP (maybe science fiction predicting the future?) and the examples given were the works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.

It's already been implied but it's hard to "credit" a list of movies (most already listed) for being directive, predictive, etc. when they just restate ideas from source material like novels and short stories. And most often, the source material "borrows" or builds upon ideas present in earlier science fiction. There's fiction from the turn of the century and earlier that imagines modern emerging technologies. A few movies like Minority Report transcend the source material and add original insights but it's an exception. And with all due respect, director of I, Robot deserves capital punishment. :P

[Chance]

It's already been implied but it's hard to "credit" a list of movies (most already listed) for being directive, predictive, etc. when they just restate ideas from source material like novels and short stories.

I'm focusing on movies because students might actually watch them. Suggesting books to read isn't usually received well by exhausted engineering students.

[modrecoil]

I'm focusing on movies because students might actually watch them. Suggesting books to read isn't usually received well by exhausted engineering students.
Good point.

[Drang]

It's already been implied but it's hard to "credit" a list of movies (most already listed) for being directive, predictive, etc. when they just restate ideas from source material like novels and short stories. And most often, the source material "borrows" or builds upon ideas present in earlier science fiction. There's fiction from the turn of the century and earlier that imagines modern emerging technologies. A few movies like Minority Report transcend the source material and add original insights but it's an exception. And with all due respect, director of I, Robot deserves capital punishment. :P
Verhoeven first.

I'm focusing on movies because students might actually watch them. Suggesting books to read isn't usually received well by exhausted engineering students.
I had thought of modrecoil's point, and reached this conclusion.

Although, if you're going to simply provide a "recommended viewing" list there is no reason you couldn't either add a "recommended reading list" or combine the two.

Or, do a video mash-up or two of "things in SF movies that apparently predicted or inspired technology", just scenes, to satisfy copyright, and then pass out the full filmography and bibliography.

[BN]

I immediately thought of "Weird Science". heh, heh, heh!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elc6tB0-wgA

[Bobcat]

No one's mentioned Apollo 13.

[LtDave]

Colossus - The Forbin Project (1970)
Things to Come (1936)

[Baldanders]

Primer is an engineering-heavy film about two friends with a start-up who stumble upon time travel. It's a complex and disturbing movie.

[FrankinCA]

Colossus - The Forbin Project (1970)
Things to Come (1936)

Beat me to it. Also: Outer Limits, Automata, Demon Seed and THX 1138

[Chance]

So, I have asked students to list some sci-fi sources they drew inspiration from on a recent bonus assignment. A number of students referenced JARVIS from Iron Man, so I guess I'm going to have to watch those movies. Also mentioned:

Short Circuit, Pacific Rim, Ready Player One, Her, Mr. Robot, “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius”, Watch Dogs, Futurama, Steins;Gate, Gundam Wing, The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, The Time Machine (H.G. Wells version), Back to the Future, “Ed, Edd, and Eddy”, Portal, The Imitation Game, Ghost in the Shell (1995 anime version), Chappie, Borderlands, Hollow Knight, Star Wars, MegaMan NT Warrior, Doctor Who, Avatar, Cowboy Bebop, WALL.E, and Meet the Robinsons.

I guess I'm going to have to watch 'Mr. Robot,' because I keep hearing about it. 'Ready Player One' is being made into a movie I think. I have 'Watch Dogs' but I've never played it. Never heard of 'Legendary Moonlight Sculptor,' but the Internet says it's popular in Korea.