4 ms·

This movie looks like is has a good chance of doing a better job than even The Imitation Game at ruining and fundamentally misrepresenting a topic I care about

by cmrx64 10y ago

This movie looks like is has a good chance of doing a better job than even The Imitation Game at ruining and fundamentally misrepresenting a topic I care about and a person I respect.

curiousgal 10y ago
The Imitation Game was bad?
- bigdubs 10y ago
  It was better than "Enigma" certainly but it still wasn't as high fidelity as it could have been.
- justratsinacoat 10y ago
  Well, it wasn't good. Turing's actual story is actually more interesting than the whole-cloth fantasy that The Imitation Game wound up being.
  - BookmarkSaver 10y ago
    I'm just surprised that they didn't depict one of the most dramatic moments of his life (his death). I mean, suicide by poisoned apple? Maybe they didn't show it because it isn't 100% confirmed, but that event could basically have been ripped from a movie script into real life.
    - Caprinicus 10y ago
      It isn't even confirmed that he killed himself, let alone by apple. He was using potassium cyanide to electroplate spoons and could have died by inhaling the fumes. The apple was not even tested for cyanide. I'm glad that they at least omitted that because we genuinely have no idea what happened.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
- notatoad 10y ago
  It was an entertaining movie. Just don't expect any actual history.
- jonnathanson 10y ago
  It gets a fair amount of hate on HN for taking narrative liberties with Turing's actual life story. I won't deny that it does, and anyone who's genuinely interested in Alan Turing would do better to read about him and his work. But the movie is a dramatization, not a documentary. Because of that, it got the general, non-CS-major public to care about Alan Turing. I'd say that's a pretty decent accomplishment. I actually had a conversation with my mom about Alan Turing after she saw the movie. That's saying something. She still needs help browsing the web beyond AOL. She thought computers were "unhealthy" and borderline "dangerous" until very recently. I'm pretty sure she thinks her router contains the entire Internet on it. These are the kinds of people who need to be exposed to Turing, and "Imitation Game" breaks through to them. Great. I'll take that as a net-positive.
  - linhchi 10y ago
    I don't know much abt Turing but watching the movie, i can see the dramatized in Cumberbatch's acting and the plot, and Knightley.. I agree w this comment that "if you like to see Cumberbatch and Knightly acting, you will enjoy it". Cumberbatch is too Cumberbatch and the plot is too Hollywood and stereotyped
  - Esau 10y ago
    If "narrative liberties" are an issue for you, than you should never watch a Hollywood movie that is "based on a true story".
- jewbacca 10y ago
  It basically took the stock 80s movie plot of the ragtag bunch of misfits saving their community center from being shut down by greedy real-estate developers, and dressed it up as a 40s period piece. Imagine if they told the story of the Normandy invasion as being a squad of GIs pulling one over on mean old man Eisenhower, saving the day by inventing the flat-bottom motorized landing craft. That said, the small amount of stuff set in the future about Turing's persecution was well done.
- hisham_hm 10y ago
  Besides all points presented in other replies, two other problems with the movie come to mind: * They presented Turing's characacter as the generic caricature of the pedantic genius, kind of like The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon. Other reports I read on Turing's personality didn't match that at all. * Holywood seems adamant to have a romantic man-and-woman relationship going along with the story, even if it had to be a platonic one since the lead character is famously gay.
- jonathankoren 10y ago
  I think the thing that pissed people off was the was naming the computer Christopher instead of Victory by inventing this idea that Turing had a childhood crush he never got over. I don't know though. I've never seen it. There's a whole section on Wikipedia if you care.
Mahn 10y ago
So basically like every modern movie loosely based on actual real life events. Then again, movies are almost always designed to entertain and munch popcorn, not so much to inform.
- h0p5c0tch 10y ago
  Based on a true story. Names, dates, and events have been changed...
rdiddly 10y ago
Yes thank God someone came along to shoehorn all this boring stuff into a product! Now that it can make money, it actually MEANS something!
ape4 10y ago
Both films have somebody finishing a test in an incredibly short time.

by cmrx64 10y ago

This movie looks like is has a good chance of doing a better job than even The Imitation Game at ruining and fundamentally misrepresenting a topic I care about and a person I respect.

curiousgal 10y ago

The Imitation Game was bad?

bigdubs 10y ago
It was better than "Enigma" certainly but it still wasn't as high fidelity as it could have been.
justratsinacoat 10y ago
Well, it wasn't good. Turing's actual story is actually more interesting than the whole-cloth fantasy that The Imitation Game wound up being.
- BookmarkSaver 10y ago
  I'm just surprised that they didn't depict one of the most dramatic moments of his life (his death). I mean, suicide by poisoned apple? Maybe they didn't show it because it isn't 100% confirmed, but that event could basically have been ripped from a movie script into real life.
  - Caprinicus 10y ago
    It isn't even confirmed that he killed himself, let alone by apple. He was using potassium cyanide to electroplate spoons and could have died by inhaling the fumes. The apple was not even tested for cyanide. I'm glad that they at least omitted that because we genuinely have no idea what happened.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
notatoad 10y ago
It was an entertaining movie. Just don't expect any actual history.
jonnathanson 10y ago
It gets a fair amount of hate on HN for taking narrative liberties with Turing's actual life story. I won't deny that it does, and anyone who's genuinely interested in Alan Turing would do better to read about him and his work. But the movie is a dramatization, not a documentary. Because of that, it got the general, non-CS-major public to care about Alan Turing. I'd say that's a pretty decent accomplishment. I actually had a conversation with my mom about Alan Turing after she saw the movie. That's saying something. She still needs help browsing the web beyond AOL. She thought computers were "unhealthy" and borderline "dangerous" until very recently. I'm pretty sure she thinks her router contains the entire Internet on it. These are the kinds of people who need to be exposed to Turing, and "Imitation Game" breaks through to them. Great. I'll take that as a net-positive.
- linhchi 10y ago
  I don't know much abt Turing but watching the movie, i can see the dramatized in Cumberbatch's acting and the plot, and Knightley.. I agree w this comment that "if you like to see Cumberbatch and Knightly acting, you will enjoy it". Cumberbatch is too Cumberbatch and the plot is too Hollywood and stereotyped
- Esau 10y ago
  If "narrative liberties" are an issue for you, than you should never watch a Hollywood movie that is "based on a true story".
jewbacca 10y ago
It basically took the stock 80s movie plot of the ragtag bunch of misfits saving their community center from being shut down by greedy real-estate developers, and dressed it up as a 40s period piece. Imagine if they told the story of the Normandy invasion as being a squad of GIs pulling one over on mean old man Eisenhower, saving the day by inventing the flat-bottom motorized landing craft. That said, the small amount of stuff set in the future about Turing's persecution was well done.
hisham_hm 10y ago
Besides all points presented in other replies, two other problems with the movie come to mind: * They presented Turing's characacter as the generic caricature of the pedantic genius, kind of like The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon. Other reports I read on Turing's personality didn't match that at all. * Holywood seems adamant to have a romantic man-and-woman relationship going along with the story, even if it had to be a platonic one since the lead character is famously gay.
jonathankoren 10y ago
I think the thing that pissed people off was the was naming the computer Christopher instead of Victory by inventing this idea that Turing had a childhood crush he never got over. I don't know though. I've never seen it. There's a whole section on Wikipedia if you care.

Mahn 10y ago

So basically like every modern movie loosely based on actual real life events. Then again, movies are almost always designed to entertain and munch popcorn, not so much to inform.

h0p5c0tch 10y ago
Based on a true story. Names, dates, and events have been changed...

rdiddly 10y ago

Yes thank God someone came along to shoehorn all this boring stuff into a product! Now that it can make money, it actually MEANS something!

ape4 10y ago

Both films have somebody finishing a test in an incredibly short time.