For better or for worse, technology (computers, servers, CP, AI…) has played a vital role in the history of cinematography. However, given the needs of the script and the plot to be wrapped up in less than two hours, it was often mishandled and tasks as complex as systems administration or computer network hacking became a “game”. minimal training can be achieved in a few minutes.

When it comes to technology, Hollywood has also projected its great fears, showing intelligent algorithms that almost always aim to end humanity (or at least the protagonists of the film) or teenagers that will practically lead us to the extinction of the species with 3.5-. thumb disk and a virus programmed in Cobol.

In this article we will look at some of these films in a very non-exhaustive way.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

It is one of the most famous films in the history of cinema, loved by many and hated by many. Based on the story by Arthur C. Clarke, the film follows the development of humanity from its first steps to the distant future. And in it, as many will surely remember, he plays a role as prominent as it is ominous, HALL 9000 an intelligent supercomputer that controls the spaceship Discovery One on their mission to Jupiter.

As the plot develops, HAL begins to exhibit erratic behavior and behave suspiciously, eventually becoming a real threat to the lives of the crew.

In this sense, it is very interesting to think that 50 years before the development of algorithms like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, humanity considered the negative consequences of too much dependence on technology and in this case on AI without adequate human control.

Terminator 1 and 2 (1984, 1991)

In film history, the fear of a machine becoming aware of itself has often been explored. And it does this not to benefit humanity, but to become a threat to its existence.

If we talk about this threat, probably none was more terrible than Skynet. In the first film of the franchise, we discover in Skynet the AI ​​​​​​​​​​​responsible for the creation of the “Terminators” who are sent into the past to change the course of history.

In its second part, Skynet has a more prominent role and presents us with an alternative future where this artificial intelligence has been unleashed judgment Daya nuclear war that devastated much of humanity.

In this sense, Skynet represents the extreme of AI autonomywhich raises the ethical question of how far artificial intelligence should be allowed to go before it loses human control over it.

The Trap (1999)

Catherine Zeta Jones and Sean Connery signed one of the highest grossing films of 1999: “The Trap”. On the trail of a valuable piece of stolen art, insurance agent Gin Baker convinces her company allow him to stage a coup in collaboration with the prestigious and experienced thief Robert “Mac” MacDouglas.

Of course, the story couldn’t be that simple because, among other things, the plot tests their abilities to avoid advanced security systems (alarms, surveillance cameras, motion sensors…) and hacking.

In what has often been described as the most absurd hacking scene in film history, we see Gino and Mac break into a server room and use just a few cables to gain access to complex computer systems and steal millions of dollars.

The Matrix (1999)

“The Matrix” Undoubtedly, it is one of the science fiction films that had the greatest influence in proposing concepts such as metaversion, virtual reality or artificial intelligence, and its postulates were debated even in university departments.

Most curious of all, from today’s perspective, how perhaps the data center industry should stop looking for alternative energy sources. Because if “The Matrix” teaches us anything, it’s that human beings can be perfect battery. And that we somehow need to feed ourselves to create enough energy to support an organic CD on a planetary scale.

Thanks to all of this, the “machines” are able to recreate a perfect virtual simulation that keeps humanity in a state of induced coma. Who Said Apple Vision Pro?

Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

“Ocean’s Eleven” follows Danny Ocean, who, after being released from prison, plans to rob three Las Vegas casinos in one night. Assemble a team of experts in different fields, each with unique skills to pull off the heist flawlessly.

As in most turn-of-the-century heist films, the computer expert character is a “duty”. In his favor, which he represents on this occasion server room in an almost reliable way…And again against the fact that apparently the most sophisticated hacks in history again involve knowing how to plug the right cables into the right spaces and apparently… not doing anything else… because there has to be a virus that takes care of everything.

In the real world, we’re all hacking experts and can bypass high-end security systems with just a few keystrokes!

Jungle 4.0 (2007)

We love the adventures of NYPD detective John McLane (Bruce Willis). In “The Jungle 4.0” he faces a new challenge when a group of hackers led by a computer terrorist attempts to launch a large-scale cyber attack against the United States.

We love discovering how attackers can access a large number of critical systems from a single control panel… something completely unlikely and not just nowadays. Of course, the jargon used by terrorists is deceptive and has very little to do with reality, using terms like “mutant encryption algorithms”.

The most technical types will also be horrified to learn that all downloads of critical information from a country like the United States are done in a single backup data center with no redundant locations or a plan B in case something goes wrong. As if that wasn’t enough, the data center is located in a “basement” without any cooling or safeguards against potential disasters.

Skyfall (2012)

The twenty-third James Bond film follows the legendary secret agent as he faces his most personal adversary yet: a former MI6 agent turned terrorist. Raoul Silva.

Among the many action scenes in any James Bond film, the one that stands out here is Silva carries out a massive cyber attack against MI6penetrating their defenses and threatening the entire organization.

And while the scene is as unlikely as ever, it’s the first time we’ve seen a data center that could pass for any of the ones we find in the real world. So much so that the CEO of Compass Datacenters, Chris Crosbyassured that it was the film that best reflected what CPD is in the last decade.