High technologies like artificial intelligence frighten and excite the minds of thousands of people. Most of these fears are from the realm of science fiction. However, even with today’s technology, both terrifying and great things can be done. While humanity exists peacefully, there are continuous wars in cyberspace, and the crazy ideas of novice programmers grow into world-famous projects. It is all the more interesting to devote at least one evening to a thematic feature or documentary film.
“Excellence” (Transcendence, 2014, 12+)
- Kinopoisk: 6.5.
- IMDb: 6.2.
The protagonist of the film is an outstanding high-tech scientist Will Custer, played by Johnny Depp. He is working to create a super-powerful computer that should surpass the human mind. However, the anti-tech group RIFT has other plans. They carry out a terrorist attack, destroying Will’s laboratory and mortally wounding him. Fortunately, Caster’s colleague managed to create an algorithm for digitizing the human mind.
Will’s wife successfully transfers her husband’s consciousness into a supercomputer, where he gains digital immortality. Later, he uploads himself to the Internet. He makes incredible discoveries in the field of nanoengineering. Gradually the whole world is connected to his network. Will’s colleague, who came to see him, comes to the conclusion that he is just an artificial intelligence that skillfully imitates a person. Sooner or later he will want to bring all organic life to “superiority.” I wonder if there will be a programmer in the future who can create something similar?
“Internet Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz” (The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, 2014, 18+)
- Kinopoisk: 7.8.
- IMDb: 8.0.
Aaron Schwartz is a famous programmer from America. He had a hand in creating the popular Reddit platform. However, he is famous not only for this. Aaron actively fought against censorship on the network. The online activist was not afraid to openly wage war against SOPA and PIPA. Schwartz was accused of hacking into the repository, stealing and intending to release data from the JSTOR library to the public. Threats from law enforcement agencies and not only rained down on him.
The guy was threatened with a term of about 30 years and fines for astronomical sums. However, the threats did not have time to become a reality. Aaron Schwartz committed suicide without even leaving a note. So says the official version of what happened. But there is an opinion that his death is the work of the authorities. The documentary film by Brian Knappenberger tells his story as authentically and in detail as possible. It’s impossible not to get into it.
“Intermediaries” (Middle Men, 2009, 18+)
- Kinopoisk: 6.9.
- IMDb: 6.8.
The main character of the picture is Jack. He has a wonderful family. He loves them very much and tries to provide them with the most comfortable life. But fate is an unpredictable thing. He is in serious financial trouble. Hoping to fix the situation, Jack travels to Los Angeles. An old friend invited him there. For him there is a position of manager of a nightclub.
A new friend named Wayne offers him a job in the porn industry. But not as an actor, but much higher. It would seem that everything is fine – money is flowing in streams, the site is becoming more and more popular, but not everything is so simple. Jack became interested in law enforcement and mafia bosses. What will be next? Actually, it is known. The film is based on the true story of Christopher Malick from the USA. An excellent movie that tells about the dark side of the Internet in a comedic way.
“Hacker” (Hacker, 2014, 17+)
- Kinopoisk: 6.0.
- IMDb: 6.1.
The film is based on the story of a real guy who went too far. His name is Alex. He emigrated from Ukraine to Canada with his family. Like many, they left in search of a better life. After some time, the family again has financial problems. Alex lights up with the idea of ​​revenge. He joins the DarkWeb. This is a criminal Internet organization specializing in fraud.
Having quickly mastered their methods, Alex takes revenge on the offenders: the bank from which his mother was fired, the corrupt bureaucrats involved in this. Naturally, along the way he earns a decent amount. However, the guy is too addicted. He doesn’t realize how far he’s gone. Alex becomes literally obsessed with it all. In the end, the police and big shots from DarkWeb became interested in the guy. A clear example of how a genius becomes a victim of his talent, as well as a source of inspiration for many programmers.
“Revolutionary OS” (Revolution OS, 2001)
- Kinopoisk: 7.2.
- IMDb: 7.3.
The directors do not deprive the world-famous IT companies and their founders of their attention. Their success stories, ups and downs, dirty secrets and conspiracy theories are regularly made into feature films and documentaries. Each such company is unique, but they all have a common denominator. Their development strategies are based on the monetization of innovations.
“Revolutionary OS” directed by J.T.S. Moore talks about developers with a diametrically opposed position. The creators of GNU and Linux followed the principle of availability, openness and free for every Internet user. What is it like to compete with mastodons like Microsoft and Apple? How have open source communities evolved? The film was created on the basis of interviews of the most famous programmers of the past.
“Social Network” (The Social Network, 2010, 12+)
- Kinopoisk: 7.7.
- IMDb: 7.8.
A biographical film about a man who was able to “make friends” with the whole world. We are talking about the creator of the world famous social network Mark Zuckerberg. As happens with many, after a breakup in a relationship, a lot of things change in life. In the case of a young talented Harvard student, it all started with a half-drunk idea and ended with a hugely popular project. He decided to create a site that allows you to rate the girls from the university according to the degree of attractiveness.
During the night, he prescribed the algorithm and immediately launched it into the network. His idea attracted everyone’s attention. Naturally, the university servers could not withstand the load. Later he was calculated. However, such abilities interested other Harvard figures. They wanted to create an intra-university network for communication. Mark and his friend Eduardo decide to develop this idea further and create a social network open to everyone. Sometimes even the most stupid idea turns into a large-scale and profitable project.
“Hackers” (Hackers, 1995, 12+)
- Kinopoisk: 7.1 .
- IMDb: 6.2.
Crime detective from American director Ian Softley. The main character is a guy named Dade. He is a true computer genius. At the age of 11, he provoked a panic on the stock exchange with a virus he created. Now he is 18. Together with his family, he moves to New York. There, Dade meets a group of hackers. Among them is a newcomer named Joey. To demonstrate his skills, the guy hacks into the Gibson supercomputer, which belongs to a large oil company.
For fun, Joey downloads a junk file from there. Later it turns out that it was a worm, which the chief computer scientist of the company planted there for his own selfish purposes. To hide this, he infects the system with the da Vinci virus. A supercomputer malfunction threatens an ecological catastrophe. Naturally, suspicions fall on the company of young hackers. Will they be able to uncover the villain’s intentions and rewrite the code of this story?
“Independent Game: Cinema” (Indie Game: The Movie, 2012, 12+)
- Kinopoisk: 7.8.
- IMDb: 7.6.
A documentary by directors James Swirsky and Lisanne Pageot about the development and success of three indie games. Four independent programmers talk about their creations: Edmund McMillen, Tommy Refenesa, Phil Fish and Jonathan Blow. They explain the difference between working on commercial projects and indie games. The former strive to reach the largest possible audience, please all sponsors and get the maximum amount of money.
The latter have the opportunity to create, like artists, who will be understood by few. Indie projects allow you to touch on topics that are taboo for commercial games. Over 300 hours of footage was shot to create this film. A lot had to be cut, but the resulting motion picture is exhaustive about the creation of indie games from the inside out at all stages of development.
“Cyber” (Blackhat, 2015, 16+)
- Kinopoisk: 5.4.
- IMDb: 5.4.
Spy detective thriller from American director Michael Mann. The protagonist is a previously convicted and now released computer genius named Nicholas Hathaway, played by the famous Chris Hemsworth. He was released early for a reason. A hacker has penetrated the systems of the largest US banks and threatens the country’s economy. In exchange for freedom, Nicholas will have to deal with him. However, no one suspected the scale of the problem they were waiting for.
After a while, Nick, along with his Chinese and American colleagues, is trying to resist the most powerful cyber attack in the history of mankind. A high-tech criminal cybernetwork stretches across half the globe and threatens the security of millions of people. Yes, now superheroes do not wear capes and do not fly over the city, but sit in front of monitors and protect the fragile system thanks to which the world continues to function.
“Dangerous Truth” (Antitrust, 2000, 12+)
- Kinopoisk: 6.8.
- IMDb: 6.1.
The story of a young and promising Stanford graduate Milo Hoffman played by Ryan Phillippe. The guy is hired by the prestigious corporation Never Underestimate Radical Vision, abbreviated as NURV. Together with his soulmate, he moves into the company’s headquarters in Portland. At first, everything goes just amazing. Milo has been assigned to work on an important and complex project. Doubts about the company’s methods began to creep in after one incident.
There was a hitch with his project, and the CEO personally presented Milo with the already written code – and he did not reveal its origin. After a while, Hoffman learns about the death of his programmer friend Chin. After conducting his own investigation, he realizes that the company is stealing data, and kills the programmers who wrote the code for this. Moreover, NURV has spread its nets everywhere, and even his girlfriend is their agent.
Source: Trash Box
Johanna Foster is an expert opinion writer with over 7 years of experience. She has a reputation for delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles on a variety of subjects. Her work can be found on some of the top online news websites, and she is currently lending her voice to the world stock market.
