Every programmer would love to see their profession from the perspective
of movies. We all know Hollywood is well known in showcasing programming
and Artificial Intelligence in the right ways. So, without any further
ado, here are the 10 best movies that every programmer must watch.
Sneakers
The Social Network
Office Space
The Internship
Hackers
The Matrix
Tron
Ex Machina
We Are Legion: The Story of The Hacktivists
Her
Takedown
Antitrust
Primer
Jobs
The Fifth Estate
1. Sneakers
Sneakers is one of the most beloved movies by
programmers, because it’s a classic action thriller that involves lots
of humor. The movie possibly even borders on being a comedy.
The premise of Sneakers is
simple: A team of hackers have to steal a secretive black box. But, the
team of hackers also have to deal with rogue NSA agents, a false murder
accusation, and plenty of other dilemmas. And best of all, Sneakers has some of the most realistic hacking sequences shown on big picture film.
2. The Social Network
The Social Network is a compelling movie that
tells the story of Harvard student and programming genius Mark
Zuckerberg, who would go on to create Facebook, and change the world
forever.
But, as you probably know, the story of
Facebook’s founding is full of dramatic interpersonal and legal
complications. The Social Network is believed to be based on true events
for the most part, although Zuckerberg has publicly disputed aspects of
the movie in real life.
3. Office Space
Office Space is one of the most well-known
comedies that depicts the fictional life of corporate programmer Peter
Gibbons and his co-workers.
Gibbons hates his job
at a software company, and resents dealing with excessive managerial
oversight and the everyday minutia of a soulless corporate gig.
4. The Internship
This is a movie about two adults Billy and Nick who lose their jobs and
then apply for Google’s competitive internship program. They both get
chosen to join the internship program at Google headquarters in Mountain
View California. Here, they have to compete with a young group of
people, who are tech geniuses. This would be a great movie for those who
think they are too old to learn the tech stuff.
5. Hackers
This movie got released back in 1995 when the internet was not very
popular. It shows a couple of high school students who used their
programming skills for corporate extortion. The movie was way ahead of
its time and is a masterpiece for programmers and security enthusiasts.
Hackers is a 90’s crime film about teenage hackers who break
into a major corporation’s computer network, discover evidence of an
embezzlement scheme, and must save themselves before they’re captured by
police.
6. The Matrix
The most famous science fiction movie of all time (except maybe Star Wars), The Matrix depicts a dystopian future involving a simulated reality created by sentient machines.
Neo,
who is a computer programmer by day, and a hacker by night, ultimately
discovers the truth about this simulated reality, and decides to wage
war against the machines.
7. Tron
Tron was released in 1982. The movie portrays how a programmer gets
sucked in the world of computers. Also, it shows how the protagonist
finds his way back into the normal world using his programming skills.
8. Ex Machina
The movie was released in 2015. It shows a lot about artificial
intelligence and its applications on the humankind to help people to
live a better life. It depicts the struggles of programmers in
developing software and also shows the harmful effects if not used in
the right way.
9. We Are Legion: The Story of The Hacktivists
We Are Legion is a documentary film about the beliefs and overall movement of the “hacktivist” group Anonymous.
The
documentary sheds light on the origination of Anonymous, turning points
in Anonymous’ history, and how the group comes together during times
when internet freedom or personal privacy is at risk.
10. Her
This is a movie about a man named “Theodore” who is going to get
separated from his wife and is very lonely. He purchases an operating
system with AI
that is designed to adapt and evolve like a human being. This would be
an amazing movie for programmers who have an interest in Artificial
Intelligence and its future.
11. Takedown
This 2000 movie portrays the story of a computer hacker, Kevin Mitnick
which took the plot from the book ‘Takedown’ written by John Markoff and
Tsutomu Shimomura. As he is the topmost hacker globally, programmers
would love to watch Takedown
to see how he uses or misuses the programming possibilities to
challenge the world. Skeet Ulrich and Russell Wong played key roles in
the movie and it was directed by Joe Chappelle.
12. Antitrust
This is a 2001 thriller film from the pen of Howard Franklin that tells the story of young idealistic programmers. The plot of Antitrust
is a large corporation which is a dream land for any programmer which
offers creative opportunities in an informal working environment. The
movie showcases how a young programmer found out some hidden truth
behind the organization and brought some anti-trust problems to
limelight.
13. Primer
This 2004 American movie portrays the unintentional discovery of time travel. The experts evaluate that the movie Primer is made exclusively for engineers and not for an average audience. That is why it holds a special position in the list of movies for programmers.
It runs an experimental plot structure which depicts the story of a
strong comeback of two hardware engineers into the pinnacle. The
inspiration from the movie is good enough for any apathetic engineer to
give it a try with the programming possibilities.
14. Jobs
This is an American biographical drama film which was released in the
year 2013 based on the life of Steve Jobs, the man who took Apple
company to next level. The movie Jobs
portrays important incidents in his life right from his college to the
finding of the Apple iPod. He is such an inspiration for the young
programmers and this movie can really do a lot in impressing the folks.
It was penned by Matt Whiteley and came under the direction of Joshua Michael Stern.
15. The Fifth Estate
This biographical thriller film hit the screens in the year 2013 under the direction of Bill Condon. The Fifth Estate
portrays the incidents and controversies that paved the way for
WikiLeaks. Programmers would be excited to know about how the internet
activists set a platform to misuse the programming possibilities to
anonymously leak important data from corporate crimes and government.
The movie inspired the plot from some famous books on wikileaks.
Top 15 Movies for Programmers
