4 ms·

The Imitation Game was bad?

bigdubs 11y ago
It was better than "Enigma" certainly but it still wasn't as high fidelity as it could have been.
justratsinacoat 11y 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 11y 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 11y 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 11y ago
      [deleted]
notatoad 11y ago
It was an entertaining movie. Just don't expect any actual history.
jonnathanson 11y 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 11y 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 11y 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 11y 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 11y 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 11y 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.

It was better than "Enigma" certainly but it still wasn't as high fidelity as it could have been.

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 11y 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 11y 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 11y ago
    [deleted]

notatoad 11y ago

It was an entertaining movie. Just don't expect any actual history.

jonnathanson 11y 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 11y 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 11y 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 11y 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 11y 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 11y 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.