# Unintentionally funny scenes in old movies due to "cutting edge" technology **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025 "2004-04-14T20:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/101 "2004-04-19T10:40:45Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > Errr… I’m not sure. I mean, they have a computer system that btracks every call made in the US from one location, matter where it gets connecvted from and to, can reproduce a man’s face precisely based on space-based telescopes, and track down shotgun mikes within minutes. > And determine who’s talking on the phone by his voice, out of several million calls. > That’s way better than anything we’ve got now. Errm, is this Minority Report (Tom Cruise) you are referencing? I don’t remember space-based telescopes. Sounds more like Enemy of the State (Will Smith, Gene Hackman). ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/102 "2004-04-19T12:05:39Z")
Incidentally, [Communicators (the TNG version, not the TOS cell phone bricks)](http://www.trektoday.com/news/170404_03.shtml) are sort of being used now. Cool! ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/103 "2004-04-19T12:39:20Z")
After having read this thread, I have to side with baldwin. If I could drag you back in time to when a lot of these movies were made, I’d bet you’d have been hard pressed to guess what pieces of technology weren’t going to last. This is pure Monday-morning quarterbacking. Do you also laugh at Quest for Fire and say “oooh how quaint, rubbing sticks together for fire”? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/104 "2004-04-19T12:42:19Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > After having read this thread, I have to side with baldwin. > > If I could drag you back in time to when a lot of these movies were made, I’d bet you’d have been hard pressed to guess what pieces of technology weren’t going to last. This is pure Monday-morning quarterbacking. > > Do you also laugh at Quest for Fire and say “oooh how quaint, rubbing sticks together for fire”? Not the same concept, **BwanaBob**. If QfF was set in the future and the characters whipped out a Commodore 64 to tap into EINIAC, we’d laugh just as hard. And yes, of course this is Monday Morning Quaterbacking. Nothing inherently wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/105 "2004-04-19T12:53:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Errm, is this Minority Report (Tom Cruise) you are referencing? I don’t remember space-based telescopes. Sounds more like Enemy of the State (Will Smith, Gene Hackman). You are quite correct, as realized about 2 minutes before I read your post. :smack: However, the same holds true for Minority Report. I mean, scanners thta can accurately pick out your eyeballs from a distance of no less than 30 feet and identify you out of a database of at least a hundred million people instantly, auto-driving cars on vertical freeways, ordinary apartments 100 stories up, 3D video screens, and drugs that activate the memory centers of the brain, and a prison system that locks people into partial unconsciousness indefinitely? Who cares about the silly pulse gun? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/106 "2004-04-19T14:22:00Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Like what? The sliding automatic supermarket door? [exasperated sigh…] Read post #26 for the missing links. It’s on page 1 of this thread. Yes, Trek (and many others) had some goofy things. But, they also were very cutting edge in other things. See also: [“The Mote In God’s Eye” meets real life](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=142997) for other Sci-Fi hits. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/107 "2004-04-19T16:06:23Z")
> [@athelas](#): > > Incidentally, [Communicators (the TNG version, not the TOS cell phone bricks)](http://www.trektoday.com/news/170404_03.shtml) are sort of being used now. The [communicators](http://www2.masterreplicas.com/(vl5s5eyb32wjjk45lyq21255)/StarTrek/STProduct.aspx?sItemID=ST-101) on the original series were hardly brick size. They fit into the palm of the hand, no larger than a compact electric razor. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/108 "2004-04-19T16:12:16Z")
[Communicator in hand.](http://www.fave.ca/p/p247/p247s058StarTrek-communicator.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/109 "2004-04-19T19:03:18Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > The [communicators](http://www2.masterreplicas.com/(vl5s5eyb32wjjk45lyq21255)/StarTrek/STProduct.aspx?sItemID=ST-101) on the original series were hardly brick size. They fit into the palm of the hand, no larger than a compact electric razor. In fact, I’ve seen an outtake in which Kirk opens his communicator. Rather than the proper sound effect, there’s a kind of buzzing noise. After a second or two, he and the rest of the men begin using the comunicators to shave. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/110 "2004-04-19T21:36:05Z")
Let’s not forget the **Phaser Cutting Phasers** of TOS’ _Devil In The Dark_. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/111 "2004-04-19T21:59:58Z")
Sort of opposite to the OP, I got a kick out of the retro electronics in **Brazil** ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/112 "2004-04-19T22:05:44Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > Sort of opposite to the OP, I got a kick out of the retro electronics in **Brazil** For more of the same, see also _Max Headroom_. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/113 "2004-04-20T02:04:02Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Do you also laugh at Quest for Fire and say “oooh how quaint, rubbing sticks together for fire”? No, I say “Starting a fire with a stick and some dry grass? COOL! I wish I could do that!” I was in Boy Scouts but could never get a fire started without matches. I flunked both the bow drill and flint & steel methods. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/114 "2004-04-20T02:26:10Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > No, I say “Starting a fire with a stick and some dry grass? COOL! I wish I could do that!” I was in Boy Scouts but could never get a fire started without matches. I flunked both the bow drill and flint & steel methods. You have to be nude. Or nearly so. That _Apollo 13_ movie was hoot! Giant rockets! Monochrome CRTs! Plymouths! Hee! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/115 "2004-04-20T07:54:11Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > You have to be nude. Or nearly so. Which kind of suggests you use your pubes for tinder, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Elethiomel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Elethiomel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elethiomel)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/116 "2004-04-20T08:12:15Z")
They don’t even have to be old. Any movie/tv series ever that has any of these features: - Computers that make beeping noises every time the screen updates (i.e. Ronin’s map computer). - Spy/thief gadgets with _beeping sounds_ and _blinking lights_. Most of these movies ignore both the beeping and the blinking and allow the secret agent or thief to be stealthy while using said gadget. - Bombs _have_ to have the same features as said spy gadgets. For example in Alias, there’s a shack that’s raised a bit off the ground that’s laced underneath with explosives. Agents approach the shack very silently with night vision goggles on, but don’t hear the sound of the beeps nor see the light of the blinking LEDs before one of them bends down to look underneath the shack. Most of these would be hilarious if I wasn’t such a suspension of disbelief junkie. As it is, for me, it’s just irritating and annoying as it breaks said suspension of disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/117 "2004-04-20T11:04:18Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I remember an episode of Columbo (early 70s?) where the whole plot revolved around a murderer’s creating an alibi for himself by using that incredibly high-tech device, the telephone answering machine. Imagine, remotely triggering a pre-recorded telephone call! What I loved about this wasn’t so much the machine, but the outgoing message, IIRC. “THIS IS AN AUTOMATED TELEPHONE ANSWERING DEVICE.” ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025/118 "2004-04-20T11:41:13Z")
Theres a bit in Fled where Laurence Fishburne and whichever Baldwin brother it is are going back to check Baldwin’s computer. He’s really amped about telling LB he’s got a 5500/180 Mac with a 56k modem or something. I watched this when it came out on video in 96 or whenever and 5500s were about 3 years out of date then. Also, in Enemy of the State, Will Smith makes a call on a payphone, even though 2 minutes later Hackman makes him trash his cellphone, that at that point of the film he didnt know was bugged. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-funny-scenes-in-old-movies-due-to-cutting-edge-technology/240025.md?page=5)