Today, while chatting with the guys at the office, we came up with a list of movies that, as an IT guy, you absolutely have to watch.
Pirates of Silicon Valley
All the movies made about Steve Jobs suck compared to this one. This is the one, don’t miss it. It covers the beginnings of Apple and Microsoft up to the launch of the Macintosh.
Revolution OS
Do you like Linux, free software, open source, and startups? Then this movie is a must-watch. It tells the story of GNU, Linux, what open source is, what free software is, and much more. It’s an old documentary, but still very relevant today.
The Code: Story of Linux
A documentary about what Linux is and how it was expected to change the world (in 2001). You’ll see that many of the things mentioned actually happened.
Takedown
This one is about Kevin Mitnick, what he did, the trouble he caused, and how he was finally caught. A true classic.
Hackers
Okay, don’t laugh at this one. Hackers is one of those 90s movies that shows the cyberpunk culture of the time. With psychedelic computers and the typical “hacking feats” that normal people think IT folks do (but far from reality), this movie is pure entertainment.
And let’s not forget a young Angelina Jolie before her surgery related to cancer.
Antitrust
A great movie that brings to life Milo, a hacker who invents a mega compression platform and wants to make it open source, until Gary Winston (an evil representation of Bill Gates) hires him to work on Synapse, a global content distribution platform.
With an advanced script for its time, this movie is simply excellent. One standout quote:
“This business is binary, you’re either a one or a zero, alive or dead.”
Downloaded
A documentary about the history of Napster — simply brilliant. It tells how those guys started, their ideas, how they changed the music industry (and the world), and how they received millions in investments they didn’t know how to spend. Worth watching.
The Internet’s Own Boy
The story of Aaron Swartz, the brilliant kid who at just 15 helped define the RSS standard, founded Reddit, and worked tirelessly to defend internet freedom — until corporations pressured him so much that it led him to commit suicide (thanks for that, btw).
Atari: Game Over
Tells the story of Atari and how it went bankrupt. Fascinating to see how you can go from the top of the world to rock bottom in 30 seconds.
Code Rush
About the fall of Netscape during the tough browser wars and the rise of Mozilla.
IMDB | Full Film
Defcon 2013
Covers the world’s largest hacker conference, Defcon.
AFK
The story of the guys behind The Pirate Bay, how they started, and all the legal trouble they faced until becoming some of the most hunted by the FBI. This documentary was made before the most recent arrests (if I’m not mistaken).
WarGames
Shame on me for forgetting this gem. Set in 1983, with super old computers and phone line dial-up modems, it tells the story of a computer-obsessed teenager who, while searching for games online, connects to a military mainframe responsible for controlling nuclear missiles.
Without realizing it, he starts a simulation of a thermonuclear war, making U.S. authorities believe it’s real, nearly causing them to launch all missiles against Russia.
Note: This post was translated by ChatGPT on the migration from my previous blog