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More Than 20 Years of the Web on the Big Screen

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the look-at-the-past dept.

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "WSJ.com has compiled clips from a dozen movies over the past 23 years that depict the internet, with varying degrees of accuracy. Among the selections: WarGames, Sneakers, .com for Murder, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The Matrix Reloaded used real Linux code, while Mission: Impossible had the improbable email addresses Job@Book of Job and Max@Job 3:14. In a related article, WSJ.com reviews some of the more-absurd Hollywood conventions when it comes to the web. Harry Knowles, of Ain't It Cool News, says, 'The thing that always gets me is watching people send emails. You click "send" and the entire document begins to fold into an envelope and disappear into the screen. I tend to send around 300 to 400 emails a day, and that would drive me insane.'"

6 of 536 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by koreaman · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't believe that list of inaccurate depictions left off Independence Day. No, you can't write a computer virus on your Mac and upload it to alien ships on the fly. And even if you could, it probably wouldn't show a pretty blue progress bar that said "uploading virus" while you did it.

    Honestly, that's the worst depiction of computers in film that I've ever seen

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    1. Re:Wow by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Funny
      No, you can't write a computer virus on your Mac and upload it to alien ships on the fly.

      Maybe you can't...

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    2. Re:Wow by mgblst · · Score: 5, Funny

      To be fair, the film screws up so badly in all areas, it would be weird if they got the computer stuff right.

      How did Jeff Goldblum's character figure out the alien signal?
      How did they know how to fly the alien ship?
      All of the characters in this film are stereotypical.
      The President of the United States of America flies a fighter plane against alien ships.
      The town drunk is a hero for no reason.
      I could come up with more, but like a child who had been molestered by her uncle, I don't like thinking about it too much.

      Possibly the most idiotic film of the past 30 years.

  2. Re:Accurate or not by amliebsch · · Score: 5, Funny
    Jason had some of the best lines

    For someone who claims to love the movie, I'd think you'd know it was Joshua, not Jason! Nerd card SUSPENDED!

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  3. not only the web by kunzy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh, this is a *Unix* system. I know all about this. --Jurassic Parc

  4. Re:Accurate or not by stunt_penguin · · Score: 5, Funny

    The main thing that they got wrong in that scene was the fact that he actually impressed an attactive young female with his hacking skills, rather than eliciting a blank stare, a yawn or a breakup.

    So unlike real life.

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