Category: Techtoday
The ex-Spider-Man comic book artist and Image creator Todd McFarlane eviscerated the movie "Speed" in an editorial in "Spawn" almost two decades ago as a ludicrous and insensible movie. Sure, the huge fail with the flying bus over the unfinished highway was a pathetic display of movie physics but all in all I actually liked "Speed" when it came out in 1994. Keanu Reeves, despite improving very little a an actor from his then fairly recent role as Bill in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (1989), made a convincing action hero. His performance foreshadowed his eventual iconic role as Neo in "The Matrix." A young Sandra Bullock was also surprisingly cute and tomboyish in one of the few roles where she didn't overact.
While watching the 1994 flick on my Lenovo Z360, I couldn't help but think that Jack Traven (Keanu) and Mr. Bomber Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) could've benefited a lot from today's technology. Like many movies in the 90's and 80's, a standard $199.00 smartphone could've resolved the plot within an hour or so.
Ok, the vest with all those screwdrivers looks cool but not as useful as a single smartphone.
Today, everyone is a computer or tech geek and benefits from even basic laptop or smartphone applications. If Jack and Howard had access to even basic Linux, Android, Windows, or Mac hardware or software, Jack could've prevented the movie from even happening or Mr. Bomber could have escaped with his ransom money.
1. Jack's partner Harry ("Dumb and Dumber" 's Jeff Daniels) or Jack could've searched on Google, posted on LinkedIn, Tech-exchange or bombs-r-us, and could've received a million responses on how to defuse the bomb. Heck, while Jack was at it, he could've asked how to solve the whole bomb scenario online and he would get replies from a million experts all over the world. He'd probably order a bomb-defusing kit from Amazon, Newegg, or Fry's at a discounted price, too. FedEx or UPS would've delivered his order to the runaway bus for an extra xx dollars.
2. If Annie or Jack had a jailbroken iPad or iPhone or rooted Android tablet, they could've used their Linux or App skills to stop any sort of detonation from happening. In the same logic, Dennis Hopper could've controlled several bombs (including one on the roof of the bus) using a jailbroken Nook. GPS, a Wifi-Sniffer, or any app-based wireless deterrent/utility could've helped all throughout the movie.
3. Bing Maps, Google Street or Google Maps could have given all the characters a detailed look at where they were going and certainly would've prevented that dumb police captain from overlooking that unfinished highway (and would've avoided that silly flying bus scene). The police captain actually pulled out a darn PAPER MAP from his pocket (that turned out to be outdated)!
Wow! A map on a computer! That's super high-tech on a desktop!
4. An Android or iPhone would've been handy all throughout the movie. Keanu had to get the cellphone from the driver of the Jaguar just to call his police captain. The people in the elevator at the beginning of the movie were extra helpless without a phone.
5. The bomber was using televisions and a closed-circuit camera to monitor the bus. The camera was glaringly stuck in plain sight that even Keanu noticed it. Mini-webcams, flipcams, and portable
webcams could've been a great help to Mr. Bomber. Plus, a quick addition of any other dozen MP3 devices would've added audio (which Mr. Bomber didn't have access to thereby allowing Keanu to trick him).
Well duh. Way obvious Mr. Bomber.
6. No one would ever ask a pop quiz if this movie happened today. After all, anyone can just pull out a phone, access Wikipedia.org and you got your answer.
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