# Sci-fi/action movie tech that is worse than our current tech--and STUPID! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293 "2017-06-18T15:29:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/81 "2017-06-20T15:22:22Z")
Starship Troopers the movie. Basically, those were the stupidest and worst tactics fighting anything that wasn’t a troop of girl scouts, let alone bug like aliens that are super hard to kill and have spaceship tech. You don’t send unarmored and unsupported infantry into something like that and expect them to live. It was just a bad movie and really, really stupid tech that’s worse than our tech today. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/82 "2017-06-20T15:32:49Z")
Just about every futuristic war movie ignores artillery. Apparently the producers don’t think Our Heroes should be people who respond to their script cues with “WHAT?” 😛 ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/83 "2017-06-20T15:37:36Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > The lack of surveillance cameras seems to be a pretty prevalent trope in\* Star Wars\*, _Star Trek_ and just about every other sci fi movie or show. > > . Interesting thing – As I’ve mentioned in other threads, I recently obtained a copy of the 1964 Czech science fiction film **Ikarie XB-1** (released briefly in the US, ludicrously retitled **Voyage to the End of the Universe** , which is how I saw it as a kid). Their starship was outfitted with _lots_ of security cameras. IIRC, the Japanese-American 1968 film **The Green Slime** had security cameras, too (they watch the titular monster on one of them). And the space ship in **The Quatermass Xperiment** (released in the US as **The Creeping Unknown** ) had a camera recording the interior of the space capsule, too. so other countries didn’t seem to have a problem with cameras on their space ships and stations. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/84 "2017-06-20T16:08:45Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > We know there was at least one camera in the Enterprise engine room in _Wrath of Khan_, because they showed footage of Spock’s death from it in STIII. Multiple cameras from different angles, even. All neatly edited together in cinematic fashion with perfect sound & lighting. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/85 "2017-06-20T16:33:54Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > We know there was at least one camera in the Enterprise engine room in _Wrath of Khan_, because they showed footage of Spock’s death from it in STIII. Don’t forget Court Martial, where they had big brother level surveillance on the bridge, including “impossible” camera angles and closeups of the captain’s chair arm. (none of which we ever saw again) Don’t know if the entirety of the ship is covered that well, or just the important areas. I’d hate to work under full time high def recording. It fits with the Earth in ST’s time being the aftermath of WWIII, but the Commies won. 🙂 No one realizes there shouldn’t be that much monitoring. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/86 "2017-06-20T17:38:26Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Don’t forget Court Martial, where they had big brother level surveillance on the bridge, including “impossible” camera angles and closeups of the captain’s chair arm. Wouldn’t some kind holographic system allow such things? Apparently tricorders have this capacity too, since they can record and play back images from virtually any angle and distance. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/87 "2017-06-20T17:45:48Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Wouldn’t some kind holographic system allow such things? Apparently tricorders have this capacity too, since they can record and play back images from virtually any angle and distance. Hmm. That would actually make sense. Just one recording to spy them all. I’m predisposed to not accept such surveillance, after endless shows that have security camera footage that pans, tracks, and generally follows the person being watched. Or “security” footage that looks exactly like the scenes we saw earlier in the episode! And movies like Enemy of the State, where the spy satellite is not always looking at the correct angle, but can see the other side of the person being spied upon! ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/88 "2017-06-20T17:52:36Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The one that got me thinking about that is the original _Westworld_ (and Futureworld, and Medieval World). In this universe, you have computers that can realistically mimic humans so well that you can interact (and have sex with\*) with them and not know at a glance if they are human or not. The computers apparently have the ability to pass a Turing test. All well and good. > > But if such computer tech existed, it would be used _everywhere_. You think your smart phone is futuristic? Imagine one that can speak, and follow complex verbal commands. Imagine that tech in cars, airplanes. Entire homes could be computer controlled. Simpler versions of the computers would be just too useful to not use in practically anything. Plus, robot butlers! (that may or may not look like monkeys). The world outside of Delos wouldn’t be recognizable to us. I always wonder what is powering these humanoid robots in present-day (or near-future) movies. You never see them taking a break for recharging. If there was a small, self-contained energy source capable of keeping a robot going all day long, that would be the default power source for _everything_! The entire world would be completely different. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/89 "2017-06-20T19:43:42Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Does fantasy count? > > Because the magictech way of doing things in the potterverse is just ridiculous. Sending literal owls half way around the world with messages. Have they not heard of the telephone? As much as I like Harry Potter, the way technology is treated in universe is ridiculous. Basically Rowling decided to write a fantasy novel and everybody knows you can’t have technology in a fantasy novel.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/90 "2017-06-20T20:05:57Z")
There were an impressive number of cameras on Talos IV in “The Menagerie”, as well as on the Enterprise bridge. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/91 "2017-06-20T20:07:41Z")
> [@](#): > > I always wonder what is powering these humanoid robots in present-day (or near-future) movies. You never see them taking a break for recharging. If there was a small, self-contained energy source capable of keeping a robot going all day long, that would be the default power source for everything! The entire world would be completely different. The worst offender here is _AI_, where one of the selling points of robot children is that real children need continual expenditure of resources, while a robot never needs anything more than the resources needed to build it. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/92 "2017-06-20T20:51:53Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > I always wonder what is powering these humanoid robots in present-day (or near-future) movies. You never see them taking a break for recharging. If there was a small, self-contained energy source capable of keeping a robot going all day long, that would be the default power source for _everything_! The entire world would be completely different. Steve Austin’s (the $6MM, not the rassler) bionic limbs were supposed to have been powered by nuclear power packs. Theoretically, a decade or more of power. One could assume that he could have them because he was under government control, where an average Joe might be temped to sell them to the Libyans or something. But now you got me thinking - did they run a power cord up to his eyeball? (And Jamie Summers’ ears?) ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/93 "2017-06-20T21:40:32Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > As much as I like Harry Potter, the way technology is treated in universe is ridiculous. Basically Rowling decided to write a fantasy novel and everybody knows you can’t have technology in a fantasy novel.:rolleyes: In fairness, I believe there’s a canon handwave for this. As in the Dresdenverse, high concentrations of magic in the Potterverse tend to mess with a lot of modern tech, rendering it useless in places with lots of witches and wizards. (I believe it came up in connection with using non-magical surveillance–electronic bugs don’t work at Hogwarts.) The magical community’s self-imposed isolation tends to concentrate their population, meaning that any place we see witches and wizards generally has enough of them that tech is likely to be unreliable. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/94 "2017-06-20T23:00:49Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > In fairness, I believe there’s a canon handwave for this. As in the Dresdenverse, high concentrations of magic in the Potterverse tend to mess with a lot of modern tech, rendering it useless in places with lots of witches and wizards. (I believe it came up in connection with using non-magical surveillance–electronic bugs don’t work at Hogwarts.) The magical community’s self-imposed isolation tends to concentrate their population, meaning that any place we see witches and wizards generally has enough of them that tech is likely to be unreliable. While I appreciate that fantasy must make concessions for a good story, that is one sorry-ass wank. Electricity doesn’t flow near wizards? Radio waves don’t travel? Light doesn’t go through lenses? ---
**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:** [June 20, 2017, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/95 "2017-06-20T23:52:49Z")
Sure, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/96 "2017-06-20T23:53:32Z")
Magic, dude. Different rules. Vampires don’t reflect in mirrors: don’t even bother trying to make sense of it. It’s just the way the vampire-world works. If modern sophisticated electronics are “allergic” to magic, well, so it goes. It ain’t a wank; it’s world-building. More interesting are those situations where there are outright contradictions – and here, the Potterverse explanation still doesn’t work! Okay, a mage can’t use a telephone: why can’t he write a message on a piece of paper and give it to a (non-magical) clerk to be phoned for him? An answer to the problem exists within the rules of the universe. (There has got to be some way to capitalize on vampires’ non-reflectivity… Put a vampire between two facing mirrors, and you have just created a “dark bulb,” the opposite of a light-bulb…) ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/97 "2017-06-21T00:51:44Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > As much as I like Harry Potter, the way technology is treated in universe is ridiculous. Basically Rowling decided to write a fantasy novel and everybody knows you can’t have technology in a fantasy novel.:rolleyes: I’m not sure there is any actually reason for high tech in Harry Potter? Muggles have the standard muggle tech for 1992 Dudley has a playstation. What special tech might you envision? Magic which is some innate natural power does not exactly exude future tech. And since that community remains pretty cloistered, and has no real need for a lot of technological wonders, it is not terribly odd that they don’t have a lot of dealings with them. And keeping somewhat isolated as they are, they would be more inclined to hold on to tradition and such, look at the Amish and the like for a real life example. Why invent a better car for example, when you’ve no real use of a car at all. Great thing about magic is it requires no high tech, and actually tends to work better with out it. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/98 "2017-06-21T01:05:36Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > (There has got to be some way to capitalize on vampires’ non-reflectivity… Put a vampire between two facing mirrors, and you have just created a “dark bulb,” the opposite of a light-bulb…) Vampyres do not cast reflection because the light passes through them. Soul Schoul, ever see a can of soda with a soul? Now ignoring the part where that should render them totally invisible, i am not sure where to capitalize on it? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/99 "2017-06-21T01:54:04Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > The lack of surveillance cameras seems to be a pretty prevalent trope in\* Star Wars\*, _Star Trek_ and just about every other sci fi movie or show. > > I remember an episode of _Star Trek: DS9_ were one of the overseers helped prisoners escape and his superiors didn’t even mention looking at security cameras. (It was the episode wher Damar helped Worf and Ezri Dax escape a Cardassian detention block.) > > And they were numerous episodes where an enemy roaming the ship and no one ever mentions showing the security cameras on the viewscreen. So apparently they don’t exist on _Star Trek_ ships. Was it Cardassian or Jem’Hadar? Cardassians being a 1984 society would have cams everywhere. Jem’hadar (since they don’t even have view screens for whatever reason) would seem like the kind of society that wouldn’t have cameras. Again dont ask me why. Maybe Jem’hadar see monitors like an old camera saw TVs. Regardless, I would assume Damar had help or edited the tapes. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293/100 "2017-06-21T02:08:43Z")
I feel like starting in on Harry Potter will just be the end of this thread. I highly recommend the brilliant FanFic (don’t be put off by it being a FanFic, it’s an extraordinary work in its own right) _Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality_, which, among many other things, relatively-gently points out many of the absurdities of the way magic is set up in the Potterverse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-action-movie-tech-that-is-worse-than-our-current-tech-and-stupid/789293.md?page=6)