How Accurate Is The Computer Code Shown In Hollywood Thrillers? This Tumblr Will Tell You
In the movies, a computer scientist is generally a handsome guy in thick-rimmed glasses who can hack into any computer system in a convenient camera-friendly minute.
But have you ever wondered if the code he’s cracking is actually valid? John Graham-Cumming’s new Tumblr Movie Code has taken on the task of analyzing the dummy text and code directors have used in movies and television over the years.
For instance, in David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Rooney Mara plays a computer hacker who aids a journalist in his search for a long-lost woman. How helpful was she? Graham-Cumming calls the character’s SQL (a special-purpose programming language, shown below) “legitimate” but questions her skills.
“Immediately moviegoers will notice that this can’t be Oracle SQL – obviously the AS keyword is not valid for table aliases,” we read on the critique site Graham-Cumming links to. “In fact as we pull back for a thrilling query results listing we see the mysql prompt and giveaway use [dbname] connect syntax and over-elaborate box drawing.”
LOL! What a screwup.
As for the script in Iron Man? Though the C code displayed in the character’s first boot-up sequence (and below) is “butchered,” Graham-Cumming notes that it’s actually pretty valid. “So valid, in fact, that I wondered where it came from.”
Since the site launched this month, it’s gained a loyal following of coders who have submitted their own findings as well. Check out the rest of them here. Entries range from Jurassic Park to Machete Kills.
You can even quiz yourself, if you so desire. Now, put on your Warby Parkers and get hacking.
