Phone Booth (2002)
The Movie: Colin Farrell speaks to his semi-mistress via a telephone box, which is targeted by a sniper intent on teaching him a lesson.
The Tech: Skype.
As disgusting a thought as it may be to the happily married, it’s probably never been easier to cheat on your loved one.
Farrell’s character could have simply used Skype from his work computer to speak to his other woman, thus avoiding dodgy phone bills and staying firmly out of the crosshairs of lunatic marksmen.
North By Northwest (1959)
The Movie: Cary Grant is chased across America by a shady organisation that mistakes him for another man.
The Tech: Google.
Where would we be without Google? The great settler of pub debates, it’s a search engine that can answer any question. It can certainly help identify people, thus preventing extended chasing of the wrong man.
Bill And Teds Excellent Adventure (1989)
The Movie: Two best friends travel through time in a phone box, in a quest to pass their history exams and safeguard the future of humanity.
The Tech: Mobile phones.
No matter which way you slice it, there just aren’t many phone boxes conveniently scattered around the place any more, thanks in no small part to mobile phones.
At the very least, Bill and Ted would have had to do some serious walking to find one, and even then it’s unlikely it would be fully enclosed, thus making a pretty poor time machine.
Alien (1979)
The Movie: The crew of an industrial space ship investigate a transmission from a desolate planet, and unwittingly take a nasty extra terrestrial back on board with them.
The Tech: CT Scan.
A little CT scan – you know, just to be on the safe side – would have revealed that Kane was full to bursting with an infant alien.
Ripley and co might not have been able to stop his demise, but they at least could have kept him from exploding all over the table and ruining everybody’s meal.
Withnail & I (1987)
The Movie: Two unemployed actors take an accidental holiday where they encounter scary poachers, hammered landlords and a sexually aggressive uncle.
The Tech: Internet shopping.
Once safely ensconced in their Cumbrian getaway, the pair could have ordered everything they desired direct to their door.
With service like that, they needn’t have left the house at all, although Monty would likely still have proved problematic.
Wayne's World (1992)
The Movie: A pair of metal-heads run a public access TV show from their basement.
The Tech: YouTube.
Wayne’s World would inevitably appear on today’s prime location for home-made content: YouTube.
Cue millions of views, worldwide adulation and Wayne and Garth being able to party on without the need for slimy TV execs.
Apocalypto (2006)
The Movie: A swift-footed tribesman narrowly escapes being sacrificed, and leads a band of killers on a merry chase through the south American jungle.
The Tech: 4X4.
Need to get away from a bunch of bloodthirsty Mayans in a hurry? Then what you really need is an off-roader that will let you out-pace your pursuers and deal with bumpy jungle conditions with ease.
The Three Amigos (1986)
The Movie: A trio of out of work actors are accidentally hired to take on a dangerous outlaw.
The Tech: IMDB.
A swift search on IMDB, and the real occupations (and career histories) of the fraudulent gunslingers would have been revealed.
Scream (1996)
The Movie: A masked murderer stalks the teens of a small town, primarily by making creepy phone calls.
The Tech: Caller ID.
That guy would have been caught before he could even make a second call today, thanks to caller ID that is built in to almost every telecommunications device on the market.
You’re welcome, easily murdered teens of the mid ‘90s.
One Hour Photo (2002)
The Movie: Robin Williams is a photo technician who becomes obsessed with his favourite customers.
The Tech: Digital photography.
Getting photos developed in an hour? Say it out loud, it sounds ridiculous.
Today, Williams’s creepy technician wouldn’t even have a job thanks to the digital cameras that pretty much every family in the western world owns.
