Initially I’d drafted this post up a few weeks ago and had put it off as it proved difficult to pick only five movies that aptly portray (for better or worse) the geek stereotype without wavering into Revenge of the Nerds territory.  However, after some reflection in between passing off on Infamous with Nicole, I believe I’ve finally arrived at what are my 5 favorite geek movies.  Notice, I didn’t say the 5 greatest or 5 best geek movies; I’m fully cognizant that just because I like a film in no way means it’s a good film.  Point in case I end up watching Daredevil at least a few times each year.  So, without further adieu, I give you my 5 favorite geek movies!

1. Hackers

I’m sure more than a few of you reading this are intimately familiar with the 1995 hacker/thriller/unintentional obsolesence comedy Hackers. For those uninitiated, it stars a young Johnny Lee Miller as a childhood prodigy turned prolific hacker who gets placed on probation until his 18th birthday after crashing 1507 computer systems.  After his parents split he re-locates with

his mother to New York where he ends up meeting a motley bunch of other like-minded hackers and subsequently finds himself in the middle of a corporate scandal involving a slimy network administrator who’s targeting- you guessed it-hackers.

Mind you, the film was a fun watch for its time and still enjoys a cult following today despite how desperately dated all of the technology is by today’s standards.  Honestly, hearing Angelina Jolie spout lines like, “Triple the speed of the Pentium!” doesn’t do much for the longevity of the movie.  For that matter, nor does the film’s digital antagonist, The Da Vinci virus which comes off looking like a technicolor Kenny G.

2. Wargames

I do loves me some Matthew Broderick, but generally only in Wargames and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Wargames came out in 1983 where a young Broderick plays David opposite Ally Sheedy as Jennifer, the obligatory girlfriend who grows to appreciate geeks.  David finds that rather than studying what his high school demands, it’s easier just to use his practical knowledge of computers (which, back then would’ve been commodore territory) to simply change his grades.  When he’s not social engineering his way into the school office, he spends his time at home war dialing. However, soon the young computer virtuoso nearly kick-starts World War 3 while playing what he thinks is a game after breaking into a U.S. Nuclear Weapon complex.  Oops.

Wargames is widely credited as one of the first films of its kind.  It was a smart and charming movie which was once cutting edge and probably immediately sent technophobes into a veritable seizure about how awful technology truly is. However, dig a little deeper and it’s easy to see the social commentary on the pointlessness of a nuclear arms race.  Generally I don’t like movies that try to shoehorn in social commentary, but I forgive Wargames for not beating me over the head with it. Besides, the prospect of a self-aware weapons system is completely badass, but it’s unlikely a government funded super-computer would name its most sensitive piece of software Global Thermonuclear War. For that matter it may as well have been named ‘dontrunmeorsomeseriouslybadshitwillhappen.exe’.

3. Pirates of Silicon Valley

This is the only movie on my list which was actually a made for tv movie, but that shouldn’t dissuade you. Whether you’re a Mac or a PC, just about anyone can appreciate the success stories of Apple and Microsoft.  It was the golden age of computing where the future of desktop computing was just starting out and nobody really knew what the future might hold.  You can probably check out documentaries on how these two future gazillionaires got things off the ground, but I assure you they’d be far less interesting than checking out Pirates of Silicon Valley.  Bill Gates is played by Anthony Michael Hall and Noah Wyle plays his nemesis, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple.  Pirates does the unthinkable and actually makes this origins tale incredibly fun to watch.  There are plenty of incredible moments in learning about how these two companies became the monoliths they are today that seemed to just, fatalistically (and often hilariously) fall into place. After doing a bit of research it also turns out that the film was surprisingly accurate in its portrayal, plus the performances were top-notch.  So well done, in fact, that Steve Jobs asked Noah Wyle to stand up and pretend to be him at the 1999 MacWorld.

4. Iron Man

I realize full well by posting this I’m depriving myself of what will surely be a ‘My 5 Favorite Superhero Movies’ entry, but I just can’t help myself.  Those familiar with the comics already know Tony Stark as the billionaire playboy who just so happens to be an engineering genius.  Moonlighting as the iron-clad hero, Iron Man, Tony typically wrestled with his own demons as much as super villains be it alcoholism or his womanizing nature.  So who better to play an arrogant, filthy rich, substance abusing, jerk?  Why Robert Downey Jr. of course!  All jokes aside, Downey didn’t just play Tony Stark, but flat-out became Tony Stark, perfectly capturing all of the eccentric nuances that made him such a lovable (albeit conflicted) character in the first place.  When he’s not hanging out with his AI assistant, Jarvis, while downing scotch and working on his armor, Tony also splits his days evenly between selling a range of heavy armaments to the U.S. Military and consistently banging every piece of supermodel tail he comes in contact with.  Simply put, there’s no other role model that a geek would rather be except for that one guy with the glasses from…

5. The Matrix

Look- you knew it was coming, I knew it was coming.  I simply couldn’t have done this list without The Matrix making the cut.  Now, I’m not going to sit here and make excuses for the other two films in the trilogy, but few would argue the cultural impact of the first film, not to mention its milestone presentation and genre-defining special effects.  While Luddites probably had a hard time following a lot of the techno babble and wrapping their heads around everything the Matrix represented, geeks the world over were salivating at the onscreen portrayal of what we can only hope the internet will one day become…minus the rick roll of course.

The Matrix isn’t one of my favorites on account of the wire-fu, special effects, or allegorical story-telling.  No, I initially enjoyed the movie for the same reason I’m sure many of you did- Neo was easy to identify with.  You’ve got this regular working stiff who’s a programmer by day, completely inundated with technology who spends his nights…inundated with technology.  Being a regular geek for all intents and purposes, his immersion only deepens upon learning that not only does he have the keen insight to subtly recognize his digital confines, but he also is enlightened to the degree that he is able to eventually bend the power of those confines to his will or circumvent them completely.  That alone makes Neo’s adventure a geek’s dream and was likely the reason your local Hot Topic upped its order for black trenchcoats.

So there you have it- my off-the-cuff favorite geek movies.  What about you?  What movies inspired you in your life as a geek?

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