Really Stupid Computer-Related Movie Mistakes

One thing I really really hate while watching movies as geek is the factually incorrect sequences related to computers in most movies. After all, do they think that NOBODY in the movie going public is going to notice anything? :p Here are some really pathetic computer-related movie mistakes:

• I’ve got conclusive and solid proof that the reason why iPods are so popular is the fact that it’s based on alien technology. No, I’m not kidding. There’s a chance that Steve Jobs is an alien too, and might turn green and bleeping one day if he gets too angry. After all, in the movie Independence Day, Jeff Goldblum’s character creates a virus on his faithful old Mac, goes to those alien baddies’ mother ship, and infects their computers, thus bringing their defences down and leading to a human victory. My only problem is, how on EARTH (pun intended) can a bloody Mac virus affect an alien operating system! After all, even on earth we’ve hardly had more than concept viruses which are multi-OS. It’s only Microsucks that gets targetted, and those viruses are useless on other platforms. But since Hollywood is SO truthful about everything, I must say that even though Mac OS doesn’t have more than 2% market share on Earth, naturally it’s so much better than Microsucks Windows that it’s the operating system of choice even for aliens. Which brings up a very bright possibility that maybe the aliens gave Apple Inc the ‘revolutionary’ ideas and technologies behind the iPod in return for seem free / discounted CDs of Mac OS.
• I’ve pointed this out in my review of the movie The Departed, and I repeat it here again – doughnut dunking Boston Police cops working on Dell PCs don’t have enough brains to install Mac OS on them. In multiple scenes, Matt Damon is shown working on a Dell PC, but the interface is that of Mac OS.
• Here’s another Warner Bros movie apart from The Departed that’s guilty – one of the most boring, mind-numbing and senseless movies ever made on this planet, The Constant Gardener (apart from the pathetic name), has scenes were non-Mac laptops are shown running Mac OS. What’s the problem with Warner Bros! What’s next – Harry Potter using Mac OS?
• Lots of talk about Mac, let’s switch over to something else. For example, in my most favorite movie The Italian Job, notice carefully the scene where Shawn Fanning (the actual creator of Napster) makes a cameo appearance to steal the Napster program while Lyle (Seth Green) is sleeping. Just look at the screen then, it’s running Windows XP!!! That too in 1999, while XP was launched sometime in 2003! It’s a really small thing, and not many would notice it, but still, it mars an otherwise amazing plot. I just can’t wait for The Brazilian Job!
• What’s it with on-screen hackers and telephone companies. I mean, Lyle in The Italian Job, and that chap in The Core, both claim to have hacked into their phone companies.
• I hate most movies which show an unrealistic representation of how easy hacking is – it’s not. And also for movie writers, who when referring to a computer related topic throw in some nonsense hi-fi sounding mumbo-jumbo terms thinking audiences won’t notice it. THAT really puts me off. However, The Italian Job gets real high scores here, because they actually show Lyle failing to gain access to computer systems before succeeding. It’s much more realistic.
• As for my favorite movie related to computers, it’s The Net. For a movie made in 1995, showing use of cellphones, laptop toting computer professionals, online shopping et al, it was really really far ahead of its time. Again, it scores for realistic representation of computing scenarios, that too in a world when UNIX was the prevalent OS, not Windows. This movie is a must watch, and really thought-provoking, as to the sway computers hold in our lives, and how with sufficient planning, our identities could be stolen. It also warns us not to give up computer systems to a monopoly (you know which direction I’m pointing at here, and it includes more than just Microsoft), because that weakens us more. Really, you don’t need to be a geek to watch this, there are no techno babble dialogues.

And I know it doesn’t fit in here, but there’s one more MAJOR mistake I’d like to point out from another one of my all time favorite movies, Armageddon. In the scene where we see Ben Affleck’s space shuttle crash on the doomsday asteroid, you’ll see fire burning at the debris site! Now any person with an elementary knowledge of science knows you require oxygen for a fire, and there’s none in outer space, which is why they need to go around in goofy spacesuits. Since it’s shown in the movie that the spaceship is hit by space debris and depressurises, it’s a real big mistake, really really stupid to show fires at the crash site.