# Movies engineers like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093 "2017-05-20T17:32:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/1 "2017-05-20T17:32:53Z")
The best example I can think of is **Apollo 13**. Others? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/2 "2017-05-20T18:17:20Z")
I’m going to guess _The Martian_ is popular among engineers. They would identify with the “let’s break this problem down and solve it one step at a time” attitude. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/3 "2017-05-20T18:21:31Z")
_The Great Train Robbery Silver Streak The General_ ---
**Author:** ![bobo\_blesinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@bobo\_blesinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobo_blesinger)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/4 "2017-05-20T18:26:08Z")
I’m an engineer and I like Anchorman. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/5 "2017-05-20T18:55:17Z")
Someone here once described a genre of movies as “getting shit to work” films; those where the central conflict to be overcome is technical or mechanical rather than personal. That sounds like the sort of thing the OP might be looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/6 "2017-05-20T19:59:32Z")
**Flight of the Phoenix** , where they build an ultralight aircraft from a much larger plane which has crashed. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/7 "2017-05-20T20:04:47Z")
Well I’m an engineer and my favourite movie is Blade Runner. I also hold Star Trek II, Blue Velvet, and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in high regard. Also Auto Focus, Hard Boiled, Dune, and Excalibur. Not to mention O Brother Where Art Thou, The Cheap Detective, Ed Wood, and True Stories. It’s just a job. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/8 "2017-05-20T20:09:35Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > **Flight of the Phoenix** , where they build an ultralight aircraft from a much larger plane which has crashed. This. My mother told me that the Hardy Kruger character reminded her of me. I think that was intended as a compliment. 1865 version, of course. Not the 2004 remake. Other possibilities: \*\*The Man in the White Suit The Thing\*\* (either version – both have engineers trying to find practical solutions to the problem \*\*Destination Moon 2001: A Space Odyssey 2010 IT! The Terror from Beyond Space\*\* (Engineering solutions abound – much more than in the horror ripoff _Alien_ \*\*Robinson Crusoe on Mars The Martians\*\* ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/9 "2017-05-20T20:41:55Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This. My mother told me that the Hardy Kruger character reminded her of me. > > I think that was intended as a compliment. > > 1865 version, of course. Not the 2004 remake. Now _that’s_ some engineering! ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/10 "2017-05-20T20:49:59Z")
The Right Stuff Hidden Figures ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/11 "2017-05-20T20:59:47Z")
My favorite movies are things like the Terminator, Predator, Fargo, Pulp Fiction and No Country For Old Men. But movies that I like that contain engineering scenes are Mosquito Coast, The World’s Fastest Indian and Chain Reaction. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/12 "2017-05-20T21:08:18Z")
I’m surprised that I’m the first to mention _Iron Man_. In essence, Tony Stark’s superpower is that he’s the world’s greatest engineer. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/13 "2017-05-20T21:14:46Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > I’m surprised that I’m the first to mention _Iron Man_. In essence, Tony Stark’s superpower is that he’s the world’s greatest engineer. He’s an inventor–I’m not sure if that should be interchangeable with engineer. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/14 "2017-05-20T21:18:07Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > He’s an inventor–I’m not sure if that should be interchangeable with engineer. The two terms aren’t interchangeable, but they’re not mutually exclusive either. I’d say that Tony Stark is both. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/15 "2017-05-20T21:20:34Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _The Great Train Robbery > Silver Streak > The General_ Emperor Of The North ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/16 "2017-05-20T21:44:23Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > I’m surprised that I’m the first to mention _Iron Man_. In essence, Tony Stark’s superpower is that he’s the world’s greatest engineer. I like the Iron Man movies just fine but Stark doesn’t behave like an engineer, he is more like some sort of laws of physics -breaking technowizard. Or a spark from the Girl Genius IP. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/17 "2017-05-20T22:28:50Z")
One I like is October Sky. I like some of the more fantastical films, but especially like the few that avoid or minimize the amount of technobabble or making up shit. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/18 "2017-05-20T22:35:20Z")
One of our stress dept engineers was quite fond of _No Highway In The Sky_, perhaps the only movie to feature a stress engineer as the hero. I joked once that, if they remade it, they’d go full Hollywood and cast Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Then I thought about it, and basically, that’s how they did cast it! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/19 "2017-05-20T22:55:19Z")
My engineer Dad and everyone he worked with all loved, “Kelly’s Heroes,” including the women. _Especially_ the women. Is this an engineer thing? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093/20 "2017-05-20T23:54:20Z")
My first thought was the \*\*\*Alien \*\*\*movies, with all their bizarre spacecraft interiors: dangling chains, dripping water, rising steam, insanely complicated self-destruct mechanisms… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-engineers-like/787093.md?page=2)