# Ruin Old Film Plot By Adding Cell Phones To Story **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558 "2012-09-03T17:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/1 "2012-09-03T17:37:55Z")
Phones weren’t everywhere back in the old days - and this helped with many film plots. Let’s add cell phones and tell me how this will change the story. In the 1957 film **An Affair To Remember** , Nicky and Terry are supposed to meet on top of the Empire State Building six months later. Terry is in an accident and can’t make it but Nicky, alone and feeling abandoned while she waits, thinks he got married or didn’t want to meet her. So sad. But…voila! Add cell phones and he calls her, explains the situation, and all is good! End of film. What film(s) could you ruin by adding cell phones (and I don’t mean idiots in the audience watching the film…). * * * MODERATOR COMMENT: Please note this is a thread from 9-2012, revived on 7-28-2013 in page 3. – Dex ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/2 "2012-09-03T17:40:24Z")
Crocodile Dundee- The whole ending sequence could have been averted if he just called her. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/3 "2012-09-03T17:46:12Z")
**Star Wars** “Hi dad, it’s Leia. How are things on Alderaan? I’ve got the Death Star plans. I’ll send them as an attachment to an e-mail. Say ‘hi’ to mom. Love ya. Bye.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/4 "2012-09-03T17:59:39Z")
[Gallipoli/](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0082432/) The second wave of 150 Australians goes over, and Les is one of the first shot and killed. During the confusion, telephone lines to HQ are disrupted, so critical information cannot be relayed. Frank is sent running at top speed to tell HQ that the attack has failed, and that further assaults will be futile as well. But the arrogant and slightly insane Col. Robinson (acting on false information) believes that it has partially succeeded and he orders Frank to tell Barton that the attack continue at all costs… – from the synopsis ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/5 "2012-09-03T18:07:57Z")
I’d say The Amdromeda Strain, but how would they have gotten phones that small and what would the cells have used them for anyway? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/6 "2012-09-03T18:14:22Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > **Star Wars** > > “Hi dad, it’s Leia. How are things on Alderaan? I’ve got the Death Star plans. I’ll send them as an attachment to an e-mail. Say ‘hi’ to mom. Love ya. Bye.” Erm actually Leia couldn’t use the “internet” because it was controlled by the Empire, they would have known who sent it and who received it and everything in between. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/7 "2012-09-03T19:18:30Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Erm actually Leia couldn’t use the “internet” because it was controlled by the Empire, they would have known who sent it and who received it and everything in between. Aren’t you forgetting that bondi blue iMac in the back room of the cantina? The one that runs AnonymooseTorOnionTattoine? (If Silk Road isn’t located in Mos Eisley, I’ll eat a bantha!) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/8 "2012-09-03T21:10:33Z")
**Wrong Turn** - Eliza Dushku gets turn-by-turn directions from Google Maps and has an uneventful road trip. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/9 "2012-09-03T21:21:13Z")
An inversion of the OP: [24: The Unaired 1994 Pilot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMLH_QyPTYM) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/10 "2012-09-03T23:04:52Z")
The problem is of course that had those movies been made during the era of cell phones, they would have just included a scene to explain why the phone(s) was (were) dead, broken, lost or stolen, like they do in movies these days. ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/11 "2012-09-04T00:04:04Z")
_Assault on Precinct 13_ springs to mind - “hi, we’re being shot at by thugs, could you send help? Thanks.” _Die Hard_’s another one, a slightly odd example because (a) the main characters _should_ have had cellphones, because they were wealthy businessmen yuppies but (b) it was based on a novel from the pre-cellphone era. The hero has a walkie talkie, but he can only communicate with one person, whose superiors don’t believe him. On further reflection I’m not sure that the plot would have been all that different with cellphones, but the terrorists don’t seem to expect any when they take over the building. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/12 "2012-09-04T00:17:37Z")
_The Big Sleep_. Much of the plot revolves around characters not being able to communicate in a timely fashion. Actually, that is probably just as true for most noir films. On the flipside, the first movie I ever saw where the plot was \*enabled \*by cell phones was _Wicker Park_. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/13 "2012-09-04T00:30:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Die Hard’s another one, a slightly odd example because (a) the main characters should have had cellphones, because they were wealthy businessmen yuppies… Maybe, but would they have had them _on their persons_? Back in the day, folks called cell phones “car phones”, because they were too big and clunky to be practical outside of the car. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/14 "2012-09-04T00:44:43Z")
I recently re-watched Twin Peaks. Lynch did a really good job of making the whole thing timeless. Very rarely does something jump out that dates the story except for the lack of cell phones. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/15 "2012-09-04T01:16:54Z")
Rick: Here’s looking at you, kid. Ilsa: I’ve gotta take this. . . ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/16 "2012-09-04T01:52:00Z")
**The Wizard of Oz** “Dorothy! Git home quick, child. There’s a storm coming up!” ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/17 "2012-09-04T02:07:24Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > The problem is of course that had those movies been made during the era of cell phones, they would have just included a scene to explain why the phone(s) was (were) dead, broken, lost or stolen, like they do in movies these days. Yep, they have handled this [many](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIZVcRccCx0) times. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/18 "2012-09-04T02:22:13Z")
> [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > _Die Hard_… was based on a novel from the pre-cellphone era. Side note: SO many detective/thriller/murder stories rely on a lack of instantaneous communication. Sue Grafton decided to keep Kinsey Milhone (protagonist of “A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar… Z is for Zither”) in 1988, without a cell phone. So every book, even if it’s set “two years later” than the previous one, is set in the same year. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/19 "2012-09-04T02:24:22Z")
Rocky Horror Picture Show. Unless Brad (ASSHOLE) drops the cell phone in a puddle, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558/20 "2012-09-04T02:33:45Z")
Am I really the only person in the world who finds dead batteries and no service quite common? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruin-old-film-plot-by-adding-cell-phones-to-story/633558.md?page=2)