Imagine John McLane slipping behind the wheels of a Tesla Cybertruck, going “yippee ki-yay”. He expects vehicular mayhem, a carnage of nuts and bolts as hundreds of cars get destroyed. But no, this film will never get made as automatic emergency braking and Autopilot, an advanced driver-assistance system, will come into play. Say goodbye to another instalment of Die Hard if it were to be made today with all the Tesla cars featured. But this is not the only film that would get killed by technology.
Forrest Gump : Killed by Google Maps
Forrest decides to go on a walk, which turns into a run that lasts three years, two months, 14 days, and 16 hours, taking him across the US before he decides to go home again. Cute. But in 2024, all the running has to stop because Google Maps would have asked Forrest to take the road home.
Psycho : Killed by TripAdvisor reviews
Marion Crane is driving through a downpour somewhere in California when she comes across Bates Motel. She draws her iPhone out of the bag like a pistol to crawl through reviews on TripAdvisor: “Pillars of the hotel are showing cracks and there is a good chance of the roof falling shortly. There is a shortage of room service people and the hotel looks as bleak as the wastelands. No Wi-Fi… it’s as if death is lurking around the corner.” That should be enough to stop Marion from checking in and Psycho not becoming a classic.
You’ve Got Mail : Killed by Google-stalking
Kathleen Kelly, the owner of an independent bookstore called The Shop Around the Corner, and Joe Fox, the big bad wolf of the bookstore world, are dating through their chat avatars Shopgirl and NY152. In real life, they hate each other and have only mean things to say. But Shopgirl and NY152 want to meet, so they go about verifying digital identities. Bam! “Mr Fox, stay away from me,” decides Kelly.
Say Anything… : Killed by music streaming
What do you remember most about the plot about the overachieving student Diane Court, falling for aspiring kickboxer Lloyd Dobler? The classic boombox scene, of course. Lloyd holds a giant radio-stereo over his head while Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes blares out to let Diane know he wasn’t giving up on love. Now, replace the boombox with Spotify streaming on Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Pfft!
127 Hours : Killed by iPhone’s Emergency SOS
In 2003, Aron Ralston, an extreme sports enthusiast, went hiking in the remote Blue John Canyon in Utah. He didn’t inform anyone where he was going. Had he taken a mobile phone back then, there would have been no network anyway. A dangerous climb begins and his arm gets jammed, immovably, under a colossal boulder. He is trapped. Food and water are running out. Cut to 2024: There is an iPhone in his bag that can contact emergency services in remote regions without cellular service. Emergency SOS via Satellite, which Apple announced in 2022, has been critical for helping people stranded reach emergency services without a phone signal. Last year, it helped a couple trapped in their car during the wildfires in Maui.
Play Misty for Me : Killed by no-call list
This is the story of a California disk jockey Dave Garver, who one night meets Evelyn Draper, a “devoted” listener who has always called to ask that he play Erroll Garner’s Misty for her. It begins as a short-term casual affair without complications but then the psychopath in her leaps out. She has a violent streak, an obstinate possessiveness when she is happy and a homicidal mania when she is not. Today she wouldn’t have got a chance to hurt Dave because he would have put her on the no-call list. Maybe she would have called another DJ, like….
12 Angry Men: Killed by home-security camera
Here’s the classic plot of 12 jurors deciding the verdict of a murder trial. A boy from a rough inner-city neighbourhood is accused of murdering his abusive father. We hear the judge remind the jurors that if they bring in a guilty verdict, a death sentence is mandatory. But the judge also reminds them that if there is reasonable doubt, the jurors must return a verdict of “not guilty”. What is one of the best cinema plots ever could have been snuffed out now as the case could have been solved in a few minutes since footage from a home security camera would have been presented. The jurors would have to look at the footage, and they would have known whether to vote “guilty” or “not guilty”.
The Apartment: Killed by Airbnb
Billy Wilder’s 1960 classic has “Bud Baxter”, an insurance clerk, being taken advantage of by his bosses who want to use his apartment for their extramarital affairs. He is fed up. Of course, these days he could have asked the bigwigs to use a service like Airbnb, allowing him to reclaim his apartment.
Catch Me If You Can: Killed by surveillance systems and cashless transactions
Steven Spielberg’s film tells the amazing story of Frank Abagnale Jr., a young man who successfully conned his way to bag millions of dollars by creating various fake identities. He even manages to get access to a pilot’s uniform and access to his “salary” by forging signatures on cheques. Pan Am pilot? Today, he couldn’t have even made it into the airport with all the surveillance systems in place and his salary is transferred wirelessly. All the new technology would have made the film far less entertaining, even if you continue to root for Frank.
Home Alone: Killed by the smartphone
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, so revisiting the Home Alone films wouldn’t be out of place. The 1990 story of Kevin McAllister, an eight-year-old who is accidentally left behind in his Chicago home when his family flies to Paris for the holidays, is about how he protects his home from the Wet Bandits or serial burglars who are targeting the McAllister House. All the problems would have been solved if Apple CEO Tim Cook had used his famous line on Kevin back then: “Buy your mom an iPhone.” Of course, Steve Jobs would have had to first come up with the iPhone.