Science fiction is one of the most popular film genres in the world. It can be used to tell classic adventures like Star Wars or more horrifying tales like the recent Nope. No matter what the tone is, though, new technology in movies is usually par for the course, whether real or imagined. Just because it's new doesn't mean it's always well done, however.

It's been over half a century since science fiction's golden age of the '60s and '70s, and a lot of the movie technology that initially seemed advanced at the time now seems woefully out of date. Today's reality has surpassed what was once thought of as science fiction and Redditors have come together to discuss some of the examples they think are the most blatant.

Display Screens

Fire TV logo on TV screen in a living room

When asked about which movie technology was done better in reality, Reddit user Rondaru has to give it up to LCD screens. Obviously, older movies used older display monitors in science fiction settings. According to them, it was, "Always a giggle seeing all those CRT screens on the Nostromo or Discovery One."

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But despite its widespread use today, LCD monitor technology is actually fairly new. CRTs were the standard until the mid-aughts, but it was difficult to think of life without them for decades. As such, it's not surprising that old movies didn't foresee the technology shift.

Deepfake

Arnold Schawzenager in the Running Man

In the '80s action classic The Running Man, there's a scene in which footage is edited by Jesse Ventura's character. This edit completely changes the scene to show one character killing another. Redditor Bodymaster thought it was entirely fake as a kid. As they put it, though, "Of course now we have deep-fake technology that does exactly that, and we can do it on our phones. Still kind of blows my mind."

What the movie has is an early version of deepfake technology. While it's technically a "better" version than the technology we have today, most would argue today's technology is preferable. Today's deepdakes still have plenty of signs of alteration and are mainly used as a special effect rather than a manipulation tool. One shudders to think about what could happen if the technology gets this good.

Hacking & Cyber-Security

Masterminds cast - Owen Wilson, Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, and Jason Sudeikis

Hacking in Hollywood movies is well known for being unrealistic. It's something that takes a long time to do in real life and is usually not exciting. According to dihidral3, though, the movie Masterminds takes it to a new level. They say "Masterminds is hysterical. Dude has to play a mini-video game to hack into some game company server to leak a new release."

Obviously, in the real world, cybersecurity is much more advanced than that. The movie also has the audacity to have its hackers use floppy disks with circuit boards on them for hacking. It's a very big joke and very exaggerated.

User Interface

Apple's Find My user interface.

User interface is one of the most complicated fields in technology. They can often be visually striking, but they're chiefly made to be easily navigated. Movies don't really get this. As Redditor YZJay comments, UI shown in movies is "hilariously unusable in terms of design, low contrast, weak indicators of what are interactive, waaaay too much animations etc."

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UI in movies animate far too much to be useful, and they have too many transitions and sparkly effects. As mentioned, ease of navigation is the priority and the UI in movies is usually way too complicated or patience-testing to use. It makes one thankful for more basic, minimalist designs.

Spaceship Computers

Iconic shot from 2001 A Space Odyssey showing Keir Dullea as an astronaut inside a lit spaceship

BilliamBaggins comments that they love the look of retro-futurism. They say, "Oh man, I love old sci-fi books from like the 50's and 60's because of the antiquated visions of the future. Spaceship computers that still run on those big tapes and sh*t."

Redditor captainhaddock adds that that aesthetic is very common in '70s sci-fi movies and shows. 2001: A Space Odyssey is probably the biggest culprit of this, but plenty of classic science fiction movies do it. The technologically advanced spaceship from the turn of the century still operates with tape and nodes. There is a charm to bulky older technology used in science-fiction contexts, but most probably prefer today's sleeker designs.

Touchscreens

Hologram in Iron Man 3 and What If

Holograms are undoubtedly cool, and it's really neat to see people interact with them. The technology has become a major fixture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Tony Stark frequently uses them to make even cooler technology. Redditor Scotland83 asks a salient question, though: "How is that preferable to a solid screen?"

Touchscreen controls really only work because there's something to apply pressure to. Swiping in the air doesn't really provide any tactile feedback. Anyone who has played with Microsoft's Kinect knows how odd completely virtual menus can be. It seems like futuristic holographic touch screens will stay in movies.

The Internet

Nintendo Internet

Reddit user Batmanlover1 has a pretty salient point. Science fiction authors of the past speculated about tons of different things that could exist in the future. They point out that despite their visions of the future, something resembling the internet is usually lacking. They say there's "very little to research data except with the use of something hyperfuturistic like data sunglasses."

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There aren't a lot of information storage servers in past science fiction, and even when there are, like in Ender's Game, they're limited to forums. The images and instant communication are usually left out, making today's internet definitely superior to the past's vision of it.

Cars

A freeze frame of Henry blowing up cars in Goodfellas

Automobiles have had a rocky history of ups and downs. With today's cars being integrated with tons of smart devices, they probably are the most advanced as they've ever been. Throughout history, the car's development has not always been a straight line. What is easy to accept though is that reality's cars are better than cinema's cars.

Redditor ZorroMeansFox sums it up pretty well. They say, "Cars. In the real world, they're not as 'splody as in movies." Cars in the movies often ignite in big fiery balls of flame with little provocation. Even the most incendiary cars, in reality, couldn't match them. It's safe to say that everyone is safer with their car than those seen in the movies of the past.

Communication

B-Movie Cold Zone on the phone

When asked what areas humanity has advanced more in than movies, Redditor ronearc has the somewhat generic answer of "communication." They say, "near future sci-fi and far future sci-fi alike have a tendency to assume too many advances in military technology and too few advances in communications technology." It's true that most science fiction failed to predict advancements in the phone.

While super-advanced sci-fi weapons are usually commonplace, sometimes machines similar to fax machines are used for communication. The term "communication" can include the internet but also phones, mail, writing, and even more. The way people communicate has changed a lot in the modern age, and while video calls happen more or less like they're seen in movies, streaming was unpredicted entirely.

Voice Synthesis

hal 9000

Redditor king_of_the_nothing makes a pretty salient point about robots in movies. Their answer to what movies human technology has outpaced is "Movies where they have achieved high end AI / sentient computers, but still have crappy voice synthesis." The typical robot voice in movies is pretty famous -- it's tinny and monotone. In reality, we have far more advanced voice replication technology.

Anyone who has ever been on the phone with a robocall can testify to this. There is even deepfake technology exclusive to mimicking voices. Yet, the technology in movies seems stuck in the past. Robots in films sound like what audiences expect computers to sound like. In the modern age, though, technology has moved past movies to simulate a variety of convincing voices that sound indistinguishable to the human ear.

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