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Which movies or series about programming would you recommend?

Andreas on December 05, 2019

I would like to know which movies/series you would recommend, where the plot and programming scenes are mostly technically correct (no hacking into NASA computers with some HTML scrolling across the screen 😅).

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Andreas

I really liked Halt and Catch Fire. Awesome character development during all 4 seasons and very moving personal stories about how it was in the 80's to be an entrepreneur, computer engineer or software developer.

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Paul ODell

Lived through those days. Fun to watch.

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Felix Wittmann • Edited

I really love this series. Very realistic how they present the technology side of the time.

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Andreas

This. And how failing in this business was that time.

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David Pereira

2 series that are totally awesome: silicon valley and MrRobot 😁😁

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Joseph Clark

I haven't seen it in years but I always liked Sneakers. A 1992 movie about a group of hackers (might be called "pentesters" in today's lingo). I don't remember if there was much code on screen, but regardless most of the movie was about cracking into a hardened system. Some huge names in the cast: Robert Redford, Ben Kingsley, James Earl Jones, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix...

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Robert Myers

I don't remember the coding, but the CS is waaaayyyy off base. Encryption and cracking encrypted data doesn't work that way.

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Joseph Clark

I mostly remember the human intelligence gathering, social engineering, etc.

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Robert Myers

The McGuffin that they were using all that for is completely unrealistic.

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Ghost

I think not many relate that movie with "hackers" because is too realistic; not like the mainstream picture of a "h4xor".

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joss

Super moment when mama calling ...

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Aidas Bendoraitis

The IT Crowd - not programming, but very realistic IT support :D

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Tom VanAntwerp

A non-zero number of plot points from IT Crowd have happened to me at work...

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MurrayVarey

Yup! Definitely the most realistic IT advice on TV -- "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

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jeikabu

Office Space

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Tom VanAntwerp

Anyone who works in an office must watch Office Space. Any interns or very young staff who haven't seen it, I offer to pay for them to rent it. Required viewing!

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Andreas

Thank you, never heard of this one! What do you like about it?

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Seanmclem

An absolute must watch

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Michel Renaud

It's a cult classic about office work that takes place around the time when lots of work was going on to fix Y2K problems before Jan. 1, 2000. It's hilarious.

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Andreas

Sounds fun, will put it onto my watch list ✔ Thanks again!

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sqlrob profile image
Robert Myers

If you like it, the same director/writer did Idiocracy. Wouldn't quite fit on this list, but a good watch.

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jeikabu

It’s more real than reality. It could be a documentary for past, present, and future.

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Celine

If you guys want to watch a really crazy documentary I would recommend The Great Hack! It’s about how Cambridge Analytica used social media to influence the US elections and others around the world. Good to learn that with great power comes great responsibility!

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omar-steam

Is it on Netflix?

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Celine

Yes it is!

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omar-steam

Thanks!!

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Andreas

Thank you for this suggestion!

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KennDim

I'll add "Person Of Interest" to this list

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JONATHAN CROWN

This is absolutely the best

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Santiago M.A.

In no particular order:

  • Mr.Robot
  • Silicon Valley (is also about Startups, but is funny ;P)
  • Halt and catch fire
  • The Social Network

Have a nice day!

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atomgupta

Silicon valley anyone?

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Ngacho

Can't wait for episode 7

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Krshn

sad how it end

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Anurag Sharma

The pirates of Silicon Valley

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Daniel Schulz

'War Games' is pretty much correct and features a multitude if real life 80s pentesting methods.

That and, obviously, 'Hackers' :)

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vinmay

This is one of my all time favorites. The newer one was okay but the one from 1983 is truly amazing !

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Erics Giovano

Black mirror and especially Black mirror: Bandersnatch, not to mention the sophistication required in producing the latter one by Netflix production and engineering team!

 
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Batbayar Sukhbaatar

Red or blue?

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David Dal Busco

Furthermore all these great movies and shows suggestions, two documentaries from a couple of years ago I really loved:

  • Indie Game: The Movie
  • The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
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Mikolaj Kubera

None, tbh. Tv series/movies (especially American, albeit hardly only) about programming/tech say as much about reality as movies/tv series say about artists. Documentaries is what I would recommend.

In this fashion, I would take "Citizenfour" over "Snowden" any time of the day :-) (Not to pick on Oliver Stone; he seems like a decent guy.)

My short list:

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Tommely

SSilicon Valley is my fav one

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Evan Plaice
  • Mr. Robot
  • Codebreaker (Alan Turing Bio)
  • Ghost in the Shell
  • Hackers
  • Sneakers
  • Wargames (1983 version)
  • Real Genius
  • Tron (Original)
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David Dal Busco

WarGames 👍

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Marvin Trilles

Anyone remembers the movie Antitrust ? Its where i got the phrase 'human knowledge belongs to the world' fitting for the open source community 😀

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Mangabo Kolawole

Mr Robot and Silicon Valley.😁

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Artur

I recently see this, it says all the things that we programmer know well but in a very nice way: imdb.com/title/tt11167964/

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Andreas

Thanks for sharing!

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10 Decors

You can watch The Social Network, Pirates of War Game, Virus and many more. I loved the social network and watched it 5 times.
In fact, my back pain started once I watched continuously. Recently got a budget-friendly massage chair to enjoy watching more movies without any pain.

Do you recommend any exercise for lower back pain?

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Thomas Bnt

Mr. Robot, one of best series on programming, hacking, society, anxiety, conflicts, trans-identity and homosexuality. And mooore

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Tom Hayes

Devs! Amazing miniseries by Alex Garland about some of life's big questions... Well worth a watch!

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Collins Ngetich🇰🇪

Silicon Valley is the best series to watch

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Solomon Ekrebe

Silicon Valley is a great watch.

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Adithya Sreyaj

Silicon Valley 🤩

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Andrew Harpin

Mr Robot S4 ep7 is one of the best bits of TV I've ever watched

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AhmadDeel

I like how silicon valley shows that the product of any startup is going through phases and how to build, develop, and maintain a team.
as well as things aren't going to be built overnight.

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AhmadDeel

and to be honest Mr. Robot is nice but it is over-saturated with sex and drugs and has a low-spirit to me !!!

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Mikolaj Kubera

Try Satoshi Kon's Paprika. Inception ripped it off.

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neoan

Wait, what do you mean by that? There are two ways of interpreting the ending, aren't there? Damn, now I have to watch it again.

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Jody Barford

Anyone remember a series based in Blackpool about VR murder game? Remember it being really good but can't think of the name of it.

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John Rees
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Peter Jausovec

VR murder game movie I remember is Brainscan.

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sur0g

hacking into NASA computers with some HTML scrolling across the screen

Challenge accepted 😂

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vikram sharma • Edited

i really like "I robot" & Blackhat movie

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Agustín Ventura Carrasco

Micro Men. It is a BBC film about ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro.

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Raphael Schweikert

I’ve long half-jokingly referred to Superman III as the best hacker movie ever. In all honesty though, it is rather realistic compared to some others (though that’s a low bar)…

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Morphman the Clown

Freedom Downtime was quite good. It was a response to the inaccuracies in Takedown.

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Mikolaj Kubera

The Prisoner, anyone? ;-)

 
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Batbayar Sukhbaatar

I mean it is a same thing, right? It doesn't matter what you choose.

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Dave Jensen

Although it's not "technically correct," I enjoy the cult classic Hackers (1995).