Top 15 Must-Watch Movies For Every For Programmer/Developer

Sometimes movies can be the ultimate gateway to establishing your long-cherished dream. And if you are a programmer or developer, there are some potential must-watch movies for you. Today in this exciting blog, we will talk about the top 15 must-watch movies for programmers/developers.

Why Should You Watch Programming Movies?

Programming movies aren’t only for programmers. Let’s ignore that common assumption.

Software testing is currently regarded as one of the essential components of development, and coding skills are required.

The point is that programming movies may inspire or entertain the coder in you.

If you have any doubts, read this article to find out the must-watch movies based on programming and watch them as soon as possible. 

1. The Social Network

The programming process throughout the entire film is a little short, but because it is based on a true story, all programming sequences in the film are spot on. The film The Social Network is about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, who finds himself in legal difficulties for intellectual property theft & copyright violations. The entire film is about how Facebook evolved as a business and the different ups and downs it encountered.

In one instance, Mark’s friend Gordo creates an algorithm that compares students to farm animals. They utilized it to launch a little game that quickly grew in popularity. As a result, the  University servers had to be taken down at midnight. This film is directed by David Fincher, one of the acclaimed icons of Hollywood and it is on the list of must-watch movies for any programmer. 

2. Pirates Of Silicon Valley

Pirates Of The Silicon Valley is based on Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine’s book “Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer”. Set between 1971 and 1997, the film follows Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as they usher in a new digital era with the creation of the personal computer. The film depicts the mindset and approach that each of them employed to construct their top-of-the-line computers. The film is highly recommended for tech savvies. This movie is in the same boat as other must-watch movies for programmers. 

3. Takedown

This film is based on a novel of the same name. Takedown depicts how a hacker named Kevin Mitnick employs or misapplies his programming talents to evade an F.B.I. investigation.  Tsutomu Shimomura and John Markoff wrote the book. All of the events that occurred throughout the course of the film were quite realistic.  This movie can be easily included in a list of must-watch movies for all programmers because it encourages you to question your notions about programming.

4. The Imitation Game

Alan Turing, the pioneer of modern computing, is credited with deciphering the codes generated by Germany’s ‘unbreakable’ Enigma machine, which had 159 million million million unique configurations. The Imitation Game depicts Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain’s top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park during the darkest days of World War II in a nail-biting race against time. 

The diverse mix of linguists, chess champions, and intelligence officials had a powerful supporter in Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who authorized the provision of whatever resource they requested.

Morten Tyldum directed and Graham Moore wrote this masterpiece and it is in the list of must-watch movies ranking for any computer science lovers. 

5. The Fifth Estate

Who hasn’t heard of Wikileaks? Julian Assange is the creator of Wikileaks, which has resulted in the release of sensitive documents pertaining to the world’s governments and armies.

Julian Assange established Wikileaks in 2006 as a journalistic platform for whistleblowers to disclose evidence of unlawful or corrupt conduct.

They were able to release secret material to the press without unintentionally identifying anonymous whistleblowers. The Fifth Estate depicts the events that led to the creation of Wikileaks and how it became so popular. Director Bill Condon had to study numerous books on Wikileaks in order to construct the narrative and accurately depict all of the characters in the film. 

6. Jobs

“JOBS” highlights the pivotal events and defining characters that affected Steve Jobs on a daily basis from 1971 to 2000. JOBS is a must-watch movie that delves into the depths of his character, resulting in an intense dialogue-driven drama that is both a grandiose blockbuster and an intensely personal depiction of Steve Jobs’ life.

The recreation of the iPod debut moment will give you shivers, and Ashton Kutcher’s portrayal of Steve Jobs is outstanding. This movie is among the list of must-watch movies for programmers and Apple aficionados.

7. Hackers

When the hacker and his mother travel across the nation and settle in New York City, the young hacking genius meets other youngsters his age. When Jonny Lee Miller discovers a bunch of misfits and privileged teenagers who hack into computer networks for fun, the high school takes on a new purpose. After one of their gang is unexpectedly jailed, the others join together to take on a corporate hacker dressed as a security officer and seek to disrupt his nefarious and wicked schemes.

Because the number of programmers was quite modest at the time, Hackers remained mostly unnoticed. Today, however, this criminal picture is strongly suggested for testers and programmers since they will totally recognize it. Recently IMDB listed this movie in their must-watch movies list for the thriller and programming category. 

8. Tron

Tron does an excellent job of portraying a coder. The film was released in 1982 and focused on a programmer who became engrossed in the realm of computers. Given that the film was released in 1982, the visual effects are incredible. To find his way back into the world, the protagonist employs some incredible programming abilities. This is an excellent film for programmers and testers. Tron & Tron Legacy both are must-watch movies for science fiction action lovers. 

9. Untraceable

The plot of Untraceable revolves around a serial killer who implements devices that murder his victims dependent on the number of visits generated by a website (“www.killwithme.com”) that shows a live streaming video of the victim. Millions of individuals log on, hastening the brutal deaths of the victims. Lane portrays the heroine, Jennifer Marsh, a cybercop who solves the mystery at tremendous cost to herself and her family.

In this film, the serial killer made a server code that performs in a fascinating way. Whenever his server is taken down a new mirror server automatically opens up. This movie can be easily included in the must-watch movies list for any coding geeks.  

10. The Matrix

By day, Thomas A. Anderson is an ordinary programmer, and by night, Neo is a hacker. When the authorities discover that Morpheus, a computer hacker labeled as a terrorist, has approached Neo, they begin to hunt him down. To put an end to the revolt, Neo must combat the supercomputer.

Most of you have probably watched this film several times. The loop and recursion concepts illustrated in Matrix are extremely useful for programmers. The Wachowski Brothers did an outstanding job with the picture. This blockbuster is on anyone’s must-watch movies list for time paradox and action scenes. 

11. War Games

Wargames centers around a young hacker who accidentally obtains War Operation Plan Response (WOPR). The child mistook it for a game and began playing with it. This led to some unforeseen international developments. The concealed message was to the parents that they should keep an eye on what their children are up to in order to avoid programming abuse. This movie always stays high on the list of must-watch movies due to its wonderful blending of artificial intelligence and simulation. 

12. Source Code

Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) of the United States Army, last seen on a mission in Afghanistan, awakens at 7:40 a.m. on a Metra commuter train to Chicago. To the rest of the world, including his traveling companion Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) and the bathroom mirror, he seems to be Sean Fentress, a schoolteacher. The train explodes as he comes to terms with this realization, killing everyone on board.

Source Code is probably the best film for simulation and modeling students. You can see the world from a different perspective. This movie is on the list of must-watch movies for real-life simulation lovers in Rotten Tomato.  

13. Office Space

Peter Gibbons is a computer programmer who despises his work at Initech and even more so his obnoxious employer, Bill Lumbergh. Michael Bolton and Samir Nagheenanajar, his employees and pals, both despise their jobs, but they will be let off shortly as part of the company’s restructuring. 

To exact vengeance on Initech, the trio inserts a virus into the company’s financial system, gradually siphoning money into Peter’s bank account. However, when a bug in the virus code enables a big quantity of money to be transferred to their account quickly, the three must figure out how to repair the problem without going to jail.

This is a funny yet must-watch movie for someone who owns a software firm. Office Space was a big hit in the 90s software community. 

14. Ex Machina

Caleb is a talented young computer programmer at Blue Book, a search engine business controlled by a reclusive CEO named Nathan. Caleb is picked to participate in a one-week visit to see Nathan at his remote estate one day while sitting at his computer. 

Nathan is astonished to discover that he lives alone and has a gruff, careless, and egotistical attitude after being helicoptered into the property. Nathan informs Caleb that he is working on developing artificial intelligence, especially a robot named Ava that is designed to pass the Turing test, which determines if a robot can pass for a human.

Ex Machina shows us what Artificial Intelligence can achieve if given enough freedom. This movie is among the most highly ranked on the must-watch movies list for sci-fi lovers. 

15. Snowden

Snowden’s journey begins in 2004 when he enlists in the United States Army Reserve in retaliation to 9/11. He’s a conservative who loves his country and wants to defend it, and he’s devastated when an accident renders him unable to serve. Given his intelligence, Edward applies to the CIA, where he is recruited by Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans), a tough recruiter who hires Snowden because he is a great computer scientist.

This is a true story-inspired film that depicts the life of Edward Snowden, a former NSA employee who exposed papers to the public, shedding light on the immoral manner of monitoring individuals. And he achieved it all using data mining. On any software developer and programmer’s list of must-watch movies, it is always higher. 

Watch These Incredible Movies To Inspire The Programmer In You

So these are the top 15 must-watch movies if you are a programmer and developer. Each of them focuses on different things and perspectives. You can learn many things like basic coding, ethical hacking, artificial intelligence, simulation, etc from these movies. 

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