Starring the Computer is a website dedicated to the use of computers in film and television. Each appearance is catalogued and rated on its importance (ie. how important it is to the plot), realism (how close its appearance and capabilities are to the real thing) and visibility (how good a look does one get of it). Fictional computers don't count (unless they are built out of bits of real computer), so no HAL9000 - sorry.

Please let me know if you spot any mistakes, or have any tips about films not mentioned here that feature computers.

James Carter <james@starringthecomputer.com>

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News

2010-07-24 19:57 Apple Outbreak

Outbreak features a number of Apple computers including Macintosh IIs and Starring-the-Computer newcomers Macintosh IIxcs, as well and a Compaq LTE laptop. The Wedding Planner also offers an Apple, with another appearance for an iMac.

2010-07-19 22:51 Flatliners NeXT?

This is a pretty dodgy one. I have been told that there is a NeXTcube in Flatliners. I see a monitor and a printer that are definitely NeXT, and if the machine were a NeXTstation then you'd expect to see it under the monitor, but I'm not convinced that I can actually see the Cube at all. Normally this would disqualify this appearance from Starring-the-Computer but, mostly because I'd love to have a NeXT machine in the database, I'm going to allow it. Feel free to moan about my inconsistency!

2010-07-17 01:06 Apple Camp

A couple of Apple computers make brief appearances in Camp Nowhere, a Powerbook 1XX and a IIGS.

2010-07-15 22:41 Exported Beebs

There is a very rare (unique?) appearance of Acorn BBC Micros in an American feature — they appear fleetingly in Supergirl.

2010-07-10 21:12 Quantum of Solace

There's another appearance of a Sony Vaio UX in the latest James Bond film Quantum of Solace.

2010-06-20 13:19 Honeywell is Easy

Murder is Easy features Starring-the-Computer's first Honeywell 6000 Level 66 computer. This will be the last update (and comment approval) for two weeks as I'm away on holiday.

2010-06-12 00:36 Sony Vaio UX

The Sony Vaio UX makes its debut on Starring-the-Computer with appearances in two films: Paul Blart - Mall Cop and The Pink Panther 2.

2010-06-04 23:02 Cool Surfer

Be Cool has another role for a Panasonic Toughbook 29, and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer has some good shots of a Nokia 770.

2010-05-26 00:22 Some of these computers are Primeval

The fourth episode of the first season of Primeval has a couple of classics, a Commodore 64 and a Sinclair ZX81, alongside a newcomer — an HP iPAQ rz1700 in an important role.

2010-05-17 22:02 Cloaked Fame

Cloak and Dagger features a fairly prominent Atari 800 and an episode of Fame provides Starring-the-Computer with its first Tandy 1000SX.