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The last day of school is a half day for us and it isn't one where my students are too engaged...

Last year I showed Hidden Figures and it went over pretty well. Many students were stunned by the lack of respect afforded to people of color in the '60s (and to this day).

Looking for suggestions for other school appropriate CS related movies (my classes are at high school level - US ages 14-18 more or less, but movies for any age range would be welcome).

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    $\begingroup$ I like the idea, and I'm sure that there are lots of good choices coming from Hollywood. Unfortunately, it's more of a poll, or listing, question, and has no "right" answer. Therefore, I'm suggesting that the question be closed. It's possible there may be some good discussion to be had in The Classroom, the sites dedicated chat room. $\endgroup$
    – Gypsy Spellweaver
    Jun 11, 2019 at 6:47
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    $\begingroup$ What age level? What educational level? $\endgroup$
    – Buffy
    Jun 11, 2019 at 10:26
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    $\begingroup$ @GypsySpellweaver - I'd like to make a counter argument. Ideas for teaching strategies can often be seen as a poll or listing - but that is the nature of teaching, different classes and teachers will need different strategies to communicate the lesson. I think a collection of movies that address CS content along with commentary on what the content is and how to approach it seems appropriate and useful. $\endgroup$
    – dlu
    Jun 17, 2019 at 20:04

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  • The Imitation Game: Alan Turing's life through the lens of his work on breaking the Enigma code at Bletchley Park during WWII and his later prosecution as a homosexual during the 1950s. It touches on computer science, World War 2, equality, women's role is CS and society, etc. The movie also casts Turing, inaccurately, as socially awkward and a loner. This provides an opening to explore the "lone programmer" stereotype and the role of teams in real projects.
  • The Social Network: Interesting look into silicon valley culture, and has a bit of CS content towards the beginning when Zuckerberg is hacking into the various Harvard photo troves. It can be fun to freeze frame at those moments and discuss what is going on. (Much of it isn't really that complicated!)
  • Inception: a total scifi fantasy, but it does illustrate recursion. — for more info on recursion see https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/a/5756/204
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Hackers

Hackers

The film follows a group of high school hackers and their involvement in a corporate extortion conspiracy. Made in the 1990s when the Internet was unfamiliar to the general public, it reflects the ideals laid out in the Hacker Manifesto quoted in the film: "This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch [...] We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals. [...] Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity." Despite receiving mixed-to-negative reviews and failing at the box office upon release, Hackers has since achieved cult classic status.

Bicentennial Man

Bicentennial Man

Bicentennial Man is a 1999 American science fiction comedy-drama film starring Robin Williams, Sam Neill, Embeth Davidtz (in a dual role), Wendy Crewson, and Oliver Platt. Based on the novel The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg (which is itself based on Asimov's original novella The Bicentennial Man), the plot explores issues of humanity, slavery, prejudice, maturity, intellectual freedom, conformity, sex, love, and mortality.

Indie Game: The Movie

Indie Game: The Movie

Indie Game: The Movie is a 2012 documentary film made by Canadian filmmakers James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot. The film is about the struggles of independent game developers Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes during the development of Super Meat Boy, Phil Fish during the development of Fez, and also Jonathan Blow, who reflects on the success of Braid.

Chappie

Chappie

The film, set and shot in Johannesburg, is about an artificially intelligent law enforcement robot captured and taught by gangsters, who nickname it Chappie.

Short Circuit

Short Circuit

The film's plot centers upon an experimental military robot that is struck by lightning and gains a more humanlike intelligence, with which it embarks to explore its new state.

WALL-E

WALL-E

It follows a solitary trash compactor robot on a future, uninhabitable, deserted Earth, left to clean up garbage. However, he is visited by a probe sent by the starship Axiom, whom he falls in love with and pursues across the galaxy.

The Matrix

The Matrix

It depicts a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside a simulated reality, the Matrix, created by thought-capable machines (artificial beings) to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source. When computer programmer Thomas Anderson, under the hacker alias "Neo", uncovers this truth, he "is drawn into a rebellion against the machines" along with other people who have been freed from the Matrix.

I, Robot

I, Robot

In the year 2035, humanoid robots serve humanity, which is protected by the Three Laws of Robotics.

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In no particular order:

Also, a website from one of our students: https://hackermovie.club/

Enjoy!

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    $\begingroup$ can we make this a wiki answer to build up the list? $\endgroup$
    – user8146
    Jun 14, 2019 at 20:41
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    $\begingroup$ Can we say something about each movie. $\endgroup$
    – ctrl-alt-delor
    Jun 16, 2019 at 13:35
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    $\begingroup$ @RudolfOlah fwiw, community wiki is kind of mostly deprecated. (Yes, I know that was an ungrammatical level of qualifiers.) $\endgroup$
    – auden
    Jun 17, 2019 at 19:02
  • $\begingroup$ @heather ah ok, didn't realize that! thx! $\endgroup$
    – user8146
    Jun 17, 2019 at 19:08
  • $\begingroup$ @RudolfOlah no problem =) $\endgroup$
    – auden
    Jun 17, 2019 at 19:24

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