Author Topic: Movies with electronics related storyline  (Read 13063 times)

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Online RoGeorgeTopic starter

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Movies with electronics related storyline
« on: April 09, 2021, 02:37:46 pm »
It happened that I've watched again a film from when I was a kid, and found out it had a sequel I didn't know.  Thought might be nice to have a list of movies with plots close to electronic tinkering.

Short Circuit (1986)


Short Circuit 2 (1988)

 
Please add to the list if you know any titles.   :D

Offline DrG

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2021, 03:03:03 pm »
I claim PITV (Pandemic-Induced Television Viewing), but I recently watched the complete series of Sliders (1995-2000) https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Sliders .

What distinguished this show, IMO, was how great the potential they had and how horribly they failed. While not based on circuitry, the "Timer" was the single piece of equipment that allowed them to hop dimensions by opening a "vortex".

The original was a modified Motorola phone to which a few 7 segment LEDS were added (I didn't check but, apparently the prop department did add some circuitry to randomly light the segments).

see https://sliders.fandom.com/wiki/Timer


Of course, "fans" have rebuilt it:


Which somehow makes me feel a little better about every stupid circuit that I ever managed to cobble together for no good reason. :)
« Last Edit: April 09, 2021, 03:09:01 pm by DrG »
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Offline JohnnyMalaria

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2021, 03:05:22 pm »





« Last Edit: April 09, 2021, 03:08:22 pm by JohnnyMalaria »
 
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Offline DrG

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2021, 03:19:44 pm »



Yeah. his IMSAI 8080


and I read that a HP 9845C was used for the game graphic screens.

and the WOPR was based on some old pictures of tabulating machines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WarGames
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Online RoGeorgeTopic starter

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2021, 03:25:05 pm »
Apparently there also were some remakes/sequels for the "Electronic Dog" (that's how it was translated here back then, the original title was CHOMPS).

C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979)


Robo-Dog (2015)


Robo-Dog: Airborne (2017)

Offline DrG

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2021, 03:45:49 pm »
ok, sticking more strictly to the topic



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Offline voltsandjolts

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2021, 04:26:39 pm »
Electronics _is_ the storyline for this one:

 
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Offline Alex Eisenhut

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #7 on: April 09, 2021, 05:35:18 pm »
This Island Earth.
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Offline Sal Ammoniac

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #8 on: April 09, 2021, 06:07:37 pm »
"Spare Parts" is about a high school robotics team that competes in a competition against college teams.

Complexity is the number-one enemy of high-quality code.
 

Offline Sal Ammoniac

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2021, 06:09:57 pm »
Not a movie, but a TV series: "Halt and Catch Fire" is about the early days of the PC industry.
Complexity is the number-one enemy of high-quality code.
 

Offline coppercone2

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2021, 07:16:10 pm »
The re-release of Fail-Safe with George Cloony is really good

Then for electronics movies,
Runaway, it is about IC masks for a specific purpose, and killer robots, drones, etc (KGB assassination type shit), some hacking, bug finding, etc


Death Machine, campy killer robot movie.. more hollywood but the robotic systems are kind of interesting, they make this thing... fast.. which is a little unusual for the usual bad robot deal.


all the terminator movies, but they don't really tinker outside of a few repair jobs

ghost in the shell?
« Last Edit: April 09, 2021, 07:23:20 pm by coppercone2 »
 

Offline harerod

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #11 on: April 09, 2021, 08:29:01 pm »
I heard about that one bloke from Oz, who keeps cranking out video after video, presumably all being strongly electronics-themed. Whether he does full feature length as well, I couldn't say, though.
 

Offline JohnnyMalaria

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #12 on: April 09, 2021, 10:09:49 pm »
The re-release of Fail-Safe with George Cloony is really good

Hmmm, now I'm torn whether to invest the $2.99 on Amazon Prime to watch it. The scene in the original with Larry Hagman and Henry Fonda on the phone with the Soviet leader is so powerful.
 

Offline mariush

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #13 on: April 09, 2021, 10:18:59 pm »
My mind went to The Imitation game ... but it's not that much electronic ... still, good movie:



 

Online Nusa

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2021, 01:18:00 am »
Back To The Future, all of them.
 
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Offline coppercone2

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #15 on: April 10, 2021, 01:39:07 am »
The re-release of Fail-Safe with George Cloony is really good

Hmmm, now I'm torn whether to invest the $2.99 on Amazon Prime to watch it. The scene in the original with Larry Hagman and Henry Fonda on the phone with the Soviet leader is so powerful.

I would say you won't be disappointed for 3 dollars. I watched both, I thought george cloony might be a vampire for a second, it does not feel like a modern movie. Like if you went back in time, downgraded the quality and aired it on 1960's tv, people might buy that its from their time.
 

Offline JohnnyMalaria

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #16 on: April 10, 2021, 01:56:29 am »
The re-release of Fail-Safe with George Cloony is really good

Hmmm, now I'm torn whether to invest the $2.99 on Amazon Prime to watch it. The scene in the original with Larry Hagman and Henry Fonda on the phone with the Soviet leader is so powerful.

I would say you won't be disappointed for 3 dollars. I watched both, I thought george cloony might be a vampire for a second, it does not feel like a modern movie. Like if you went back in time, downgraded the quality and aired it on 1960's tv, people might buy that its from their time.

I just finished watching it and have to say it was as compelling and sobering as the film. I'm glad that they kept it set in the 60s and didn't try to modernize it.
 

Offline coppercone2

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #17 on: April 10, 2021, 02:12:06 am »
trying to imagine it modernized makes me brain malfunction

Maybe it can go as far as 1980, but after the collapse of the USSR... i feel like it would not be hard to convince a pilot to land anymore because the fanaticism is down

they would need to rewrite a good book and then base the movie on that, just a script writer trying to translate it would fail so hard, back then you had like.. real people involved with the issues easily available, you can't just shift that kind of rhetoric and politics and people 60 years easily for the same situation to occur. Not saying that something like that cannot happen anymore, but the idea of a script writer predicting it in such a plausible way that is believable is difficult (but the sequence of events now that would be required to happen would likely be hard to believe as they happened right now in the order that they would need to occur for this to happen), I almost feel as if you did have a nuclear war scenario right now, and you went back in time to make a movie, people would just not believe it.

That missile alert in hawai was the most relevant thing and thats not even mentioned anymore.

you would need to fit the fattest most jiggly ass possible into one of those air force skirts to get people into the theater ... then have them twerk  :palm:
« Last Edit: April 10, 2021, 02:22:51 am by coppercone2 »
 

Offline NiHaoMike

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #18 on: April 10, 2021, 02:13:54 am »
I remember some movie about a machine that makes wishes come true, I forgot the title.

Jurassic Park has a scene with the circuit breakers that's quite interesting in a way. Surprisingly, the part with having to "pump" the main breaker to turn it on is realistic, not sure about the smaller breakers that are turned on by pressing buttons but I suppose that's possible.

Then also in Jurassic Park, there's a scene with the girl and the UNIX computers that means a lot to me because one of my friends thinks of herself as like the real life version of that character.
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Offline Microdoser

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #19 on: April 10, 2021, 02:49:36 am »
Demon Seed

 

Offline cdev

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #20 on: April 10, 2021, 03:30:57 am »
Electronics _is_ the storyline for this one:



What's the synopsis I've 've seen too many of these kinds wind eyed dreamer employers.

They don't pay.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2021, 03:33:27 am by cdev »
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Offline David Hess

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #21 on: April 10, 2021, 03:33:27 am »
Brainstorm (1983) and In ascolto (2006) a.k.a. "The Listening" has as much electronics as any of the above.



 

Offline coppercone2

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #22 on: April 10, 2021, 04:17:13 am »
There is also the 90's


featuring a nice radio telescope

I love this one
 

Offline Ed.Kloonk

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #23 on: April 10, 2021, 05:01:41 am »
Not exactly on topic but I'm sure many of you might find it interesting..

The Proper People explore an abandoned movie theater c.2005




 :)
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Offline MK14

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Re: Movies with electronics related storyline
« Reply #24 on: April 10, 2021, 05:13:43 am »
EDIT: 2 of the following, are already mentioned before in this thread. (Part of the reason I messed up was ...) I originally had a much earlier version of this page, which didn't have as much as there is now. Because I was doing something else, and didn't update the page, until later. (Imitation game and Halt and catch fire, are the repeats).









« Last Edit: April 10, 2021, 05:19:15 am by MK14 »
 


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