One of my favorites was on tv tonight - Enemy of the State.
Does anyone here think it was subversive of ABC to schedule this movie during this time of arguments pitting national security against human rights?
Is it ever *subversive* to simply show a movie ! Maybe Jim would like to report ABC to the comittee for unAmerican activities ?
I'll vote for The Conversation btw.
Graham
Yes. One of my all time favorites. The final scene is simply a classic.
-- Regards, Bob Monsen "doing what little one can to increase the general stock of knowledge is as respectable an object of life, as one can in any likelihood pursue" -- Charles Darwin
Frankenstein.
I don't know what the proper word is for that kind of "film" but to me it is childish garbage. While channel roaming I caught the scene with Will Smith and Gene Hackman on the roof of a building, some idiotic dialogue, and the flash and dazzle of helicopters and control rooms- not one of Hackman's better roles. A waste of time watching that crap so I time multiplexed between 2x Law and Order's and a PBS special about endurance limit measurement of mountain climbers. That pos has nothing to do with electronics.
I don't think I have ever seen an electronics movie, Per Se. Or maybe I'm just forgetting?
Enemy of the State is more of a political/action comedy. The electronics and so forth is just a plot device.
--Mac
Unfortunately, any kind of electronics content in movies is usually most notable for the hilarity it invokes. Such as the movie that cut to a quick take of a computer screen- a PCB autorouter was operating. The dialog: "Amazing! A computer searching for a bomb!".
Or, take this dialog (please) from the original "sci-fi" Star Trek ("Court Martial"):
-- Ready, Mr. Spock? Affirmative, Captain. Gentlemen, this computer has an auditory sensor. It can, in effect, hear sounds. By installing a booster, we can increase that capability on the order of 1 to the 4th power. The computer should bring us every sound occurring on the ship. All personnel have left the ship as ordered, sir. Dr. McCoy? All right, Mr. Spock. [Loud Beating] Turn it down a little. [Volume Decreases] Gentlemen, that sound is caused by the heartbeats of all the people on board the ship. Dr. McCoy will use this white sound device to mask out each person\'s heartbeat ----- How do you design a booster with a gain of 1 to the 4th power anyway? Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
Doesn't sound so hard. And it will run on very little power. ;-)
Uh uh. Gotta be "YOUNG Frankenstein." Woof!
WRT the OP's question. Hadn't seen the flick before, just happened to surf by it and watched the rest (so I never did figure out what Will Smith's character did that started the whole mess).
I was rocking along with it okay until the part where (paraphrasing):
[team is looking at satellite images] agent 1: Dang, I wish we could see his face. agent 2: Dude! These are satellite photos from 150 miles up. They can only look straight down. agent 1: D'oh!Ooooookay ...
WRT the OP's question: not subversive at all. And besides, it's already too late. King George has (i) a "war" on an emotion that will last as long as he wants it to last, and (ii) claimed "authority as Commander In Chief" during time of "war" to ignore any laws that he chooses, irrespective of the legislature or the courts.
-- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
The best electronics bit in Star Trek is in the one with the evil alternate universe (Spock with the beard). They need to take some files from the computer and they put it on an orange 3.5" floppy disk. Where did the prop department get one of those in 1967? They were using punch cards back then.
Paul C
--Spoiler--
The Jon Voigt character arranged the murder of a Congressman who was opposed toa bill giving more power to NSA. The murder was captured on a motion-sensitive wildlife study camera. The biologist saw the tape, and then called a friend who published a left-wing paper. The NSA intercepted the call, and agents (on a Standard Training Op) chased him down. He dropped a copy of the tape on a flash card, hidden in a hand-held game, into Will Smith's shopping bag. The NSA then started chasing Smith, but he didn't know what they were after.
Well, earlier they were able to take the film from a store security camera and turn the image of a shopping back through 360° looking for suspicious bulges.
I thought it was a fun movie, something that could get the leftist weenie's panties all in a knot. Can't you just see Teddy (or Hillary) screaming, "See what they're doing?" ;-)
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
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It\'s what you learn, after you know it all, that counts.
I mean, it's not as if the US intel services would do anything illegal to their own citizens, is it?
-- Dirk The Consensus:- The political party for the new millenium http://www.theconsensus.org
I don't think that many people have seen this one, but my favorite is:
Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey
Here's the plot summary, from IMDB --
"A documentary about the amazing life of Leon Theremin, inventor of the theremin, the electronic musical instrument so beloved of 50s sci-fi movie music. Theremin amazed America with his instrument until his kidnapping by Soviet agents in the mid-30s. Upon his release from a labor camp, he worked on surveillance devices for the KGB. Almost 60 years later , he is brought back to America for a touching reunion with his friends and colleagues."
I love this movie. It also shows the talents of thereminist Clara Rockmore (Theremin's long-time girlfriend). She is amazing. As I recall, she was trained as a violinist. What an amazing talent. Leon's reunion with Clara may bring tears to your eyes.
Bob
My favorite Trek electronics: The City on the Edge of Forever, where Spock (back in 1930's era US) constructs a "crude mnemonic memory device" using "stone knives and bearskins" (actually a bunch of octal tubes on metal chassis and breadboards, and a Jacob's Ladder on the end too). I think this is also the episode where he and Kirk are working as janitors, and Spock makes some comment about only needing a cubic foot of platinum to complete his device :-)
Otherwise, like you note, the electronics tends to be random colored and shaped plastic blocks.
Dr. Strangelove has some realistic looking shots of mil-spec looking radio and encryption equipment. (Legend is that Kubrick's original props looked too much like the real thing, and the military made him change them.)
2001 has some electronics circuitry in the plot (the antenna module) and of course the innards of HAL.A Clockwork Orange (made in early 70's) has some CD-like music media (not quite, but close).
There was a Gene Hackman movie from the early 70's where he played a suveillance electronics expert. The electronics aren't really in touch with reality but the convention he goes to and some of his moral dilemnas still ring true.
Its kind of funny to watch the Bond movies from the early 70's and the electronics there. Ooh, 007 has a digital watch!
Three Days of the Condor has a PDP-8 doing literature analysis and some telephone switching equipment.
Tim.
I'd like to see someone interface to a USB port using 1930s tech. Would it be possible?
Electronics is getting more like that every day.
-- Dirk The Consensus:- The political party for the new millenium http://www.theconsensus.org
On 22/01/2006 the venerable Richard Henry etched in runes:
My favourite is "Dark Star". The story of a spaceship which is destroying dead planets with 'intelligent' bombs. Unfortunately for the crew, the last bomb develops a conscience and decides it doesn't want to self-destruct.
One in the eye for AI methinks.
-- John B Delete \'spam blocker\' to reply direct
Low-speed, maybe, if they can get enough tubes together to do the logic and memory.
Ahhh... got it. Thanks!
-- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
I suppose it cost about a cubic foot of platinum
-- Dirk The Consensus:- The political party for the new millenium http://www.theconsensus.org
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