News

2008-11-14 21:58 What Waits Below

There are some nice shots of a Commodore VIC-20 in the British science-fiction adventure What Waits Below.

2008-11-13 17:53 You've Got Mail

Having watched it absolutely ages ago, I've finally found time to add You've Got Mail to the database with its Apple and IBM laptops playing important roles.

2008-10-31 21:11 Friday the 13th on October the 31st

Rather appropriately for Halloween, I suppose, I've just added Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter to the database as it includes a brief appearance from a TRS-80 Color Computer.

2008-10-23 19:14 A View IIc a Kill

There's an Apple IIc in the Bond film A View to a Kill.

2008-10-14 23:11 The Peacemaker

The Peacemaker has large numbers of SGI machines: Indys all over the place and, a Starring-the-Computer first, a few Indigo2s as well. There's also a little DEC notebook in there too.

2008-10-13 23:17 Time Traveling B205

The 1964 B-movie The Time Travelers (I want to type Travellers, but it is Travelers) has lots of lovely shots of the Burroughs B205 standing in as the time machine.

2008-10-06 13:44 Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller's Day Off includes an IBM PC XT.

2008-10-02 21:15 Hogan's Heroes

The Burroughs B205 make the most fleeting of appearances in a Hogan's Heroes episode.

2008-09-25 14:00 The Machattan Project

These titles keep getting sillier! The Manhattan Project has minor roles for an Apple Mac and a, Starring-the-Computer newcomer, DEC PDP-11/40.

2008-09-24 14:00 Get Smart, Amiga!

Get Smart, Again! adds the first Commodore Amiga 1000 to the Starring-the-Computer database, along with an IBM AN/FSQ-7. We've had a recent glut of the IBMs, not through any design on my part, but simply because of the order the rental company has sent the DVDs to me. It maybe because I added them all to the rental list at once after discovering Mike Lowen's excellent web page The AN/FSQ-7 on TV and in the Movies. As you can see from that page, we still have a fair few AN/FSQ-7 appearances to go!

2008-09-20 11:58 Stand By XT

An IBM PC XT makes a brief appearance in the 1986 film Stand By Me.

2008-09-19 20:55 23 Nichts ist so wie es scheint

23 is Starring-the-Computer's first foreign language film, but it was certainly worth bearing with the subtitles. As well being a very good "computery" movie, it also adds loads of new computers to the database: Commodore's 64C and SX64 as well as an Atari ST and a very chunky Ericsson Portable PC. A veritable smorgasbord of 1980s computing!

2008-09-16 14:00 Tom Selleck reaches his Zenith

Well, he might well have reached his nadir, actually, but nonetheless Tom Selleck stars in Her Alibi along with a Zenith Supersport laptop. Oh, and another SAGE appearance, this time in Spaceballs.

2008-09-09 21:58 The Tandy Kid

The Heavenly Kid has very minor roles for two TRS-80 computers: a Model 4 and a Color Computer.

2008-09-09 13:59 Big Fat Update 3

Dodgeball, Tomb Raider, Accepted, Electric Dreams and an episode of Knight Rider have all been added to the database. Three computers make their first Starring-the-Computer appearance: the Apple Powerbook G4, the Tandy MC-10 and (almost unbelievable that it's taken this long to find one) a Commodore 64.

2008-09-07 16:23 Another SAGE pair

Another couple of appearances of the IBM AN/FSQ-7: Airplane! and The Swarm (which also features another Starring-the-Computer veteran the Burroughs B205 tape drive.)

2008-08-28 18:07 A SAGE pair

The IBM AN/FSQ-7 (SAGE) appears in both sci-fi prequel Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and sixties spy-comedy The President's Analyst.

2008-08-19 12:05 Debbie and Damon

Damon and Debbie, despite being an obscure soap spinoff, is to me an exciting addition to the site. It features new computers - a Toshiba HX-10 and a Sun 3/50 (I don't believe it's taken this long to get a Sun machine in the database), and well a few Beebs, but the main point of interest is that it takes place at my place of work - the Computer Science Department at the University of York. Also, it's just possible that I might own that particular Sun 3/50 (or its motherboard, at least). Thanks to an anonymous colleague for rescuing this from a mouldy betamax tape!

2008-07-25 22:18 Buckaroo Banzai

It was on my list for an Apple II, which wasn't visible at all, but Buckaroo Banzai does have a DEC Rainbow and another machine that looks like an S-100 system. I couldn't identify it. Can you?

2008-07-23 22:56 First success of the help page!

A big thanks to Velibor who spotted the TRS-80 from The Royal Tenenbaums on the help page.

2008-07-23 13:42 Dr. Goldfoot and the Burroughs Machine

The Burroughs B205 (or its tape drive, at least) appears in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, making it joint equal with the Commodore PET as the mostly popular computer on Starring-the-Computer!

2008-07-21 22:31 Zoolander

An iMac plays a moderately important role in the film Zoolander. Not my kind of film at all, but I suppose it provides Starring-the-Computer with its first "Z" entry...

2008-07-18 23:38 Big Fat Update 2

xXx, Lost in Space, Sliders and Alien vs Predator have all been added to the database. New machines: a Motorola Accompli and a PDP-11/03. That's certainly helped clear the backlog that was building up!

2008-07-18 00:11 Applenapping

Ransom proves to be another coup for Apple's marketing department. At least this time as well as the inevitable dull PowerBook, there's a more interesting Messagepad.

2008-07-16 23:40 Help!

I've added a new help section to the website, where you can help me improve starringthecomputer.com. Please have a look and get in touch if you have any relevant information.

2008-07-14 12:43 Elliott 903

The 1974 film Phase IV features the first, and quite probably only, appearance of an Elliott Automation computer (the 903) in a movie.

2008-07-09 08:17 Differential Analyser vs the Flying Saucers

The classic cold-war sci-fi flick Earth vs the Flying Saucers features some nice shots of the GE Differential Analyser doing impossible things.

2008-06-30 22:44 Fantastic Voyage

A Fantastic Voyage into the world of 1950s computers is now logged in the database with appearances by a Burroughs B205 and an IBM AN/FSQ-7 (SAGE).

2008-06-13 07:50 Indy Maguire

The Toshiba Satellite actually plays a fairly important role in the plot of Jerry Maguire, but I was watching it for the SGI Indys.

2008-06-11 08:58 The Saint

The Saint features more Apple laptops (yawn), and a more interesting Nokia Communicator.

2008-06-11 08:31 Naploleon Dynamite

The TRS-80 Model 4 make its first appearance on Starring-the-Computer (albeit a very fleeting one) in the film Napoleon Dynamite.

2008-05-30 07:35 Legally iBlonde

Yet more Apple product placement is in evidence in Legally Blonde: a Clamshell iBook.

2008-05-14 07:11 Palm Breach

Breach, the true story of American FBI agent Robert Hanssen who spied for the Soviet government, features the historically accurate Palm III.

2008-04-25 00:03 Dark Season

The BBC children's series Dark Season is notable for being an early work of Russel T. "Dr Who" Davis, and an early role for Kate Winslet. It also stars an Acorn Archimedes and a Toshiba T1000 laptop.

2008-04-23 09:20 The Rachel Papers

This poor rendition of a Martin Amis novel is slightly redeemed by the inclusion of a Commodore Amiga 500 playing Battle Chess.

2008-04-22 23:00 Angry Red Planet

Of its many cinematic appearances, this must be the Burroughs B205's finest hour, being on screen for a very significant part of The Angry Red Planet.

2008-04-19 18:29 Turn that Coco up to 11!

The Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer makes a fleeting appearance in This is Spinal Tap, something that I'd not spotted in the many times I've seen it.

2008-04-18 09:03 The Philadelphia Experiment

This could be an early Commodore 64, but in the absence of other evidence I'm going to say that The Philadelphia Experiment features a Commodore VIC-20. Also, for the first time, a computer makes a meta-appearance: a DEC Rainbow appears in a TV advert in the film.

2008-04-14 09:34 Look Around Your Beeb

The first series of Look Around You features a BBC Micro in its title sequence, and the "Maths" episode has a Pet.

2008-04-08 14:00 More Angels, in the Outfield this time.

The 1994 remake of the 1951 film Angels in the Outfield features something the original could not: an Apple Messagepad.

2008-03-31 08:39 Charlie's Angels

The Sony-owned Columbia pictures film Charlies Angel's features a Sony Vaio C1.

2008-03-11 23:36 Big Fat Update 1

Assassins has Powerbooks everywhere, When Worlds Collide goes old-school with a Differential Analyzer, and Ghostbusters has a bevy of eighties favourites: a Cromemco System I, a DEC Rainbow 100 and a Franklin Ace 1000.

2008-02-24 13:15 Evilspeak

This horror film was banned in the UK as a so-called "video nasty", although it feels more comic than horrific these days. It does star an Apple II in a pretty central role, though.

2008-02-22 08:43 Nothing sucks like Seven VAXen!

Seven provides Starring-the-Computer with its first VAX.

2008-02-19 23:39 Arresting Groove

The Arrested development episode Family Ties has a brief glimpse of a Pet and nice shots of a Kaypro 10. There are very fleeting glimpses of an iMac, a Palm III, and IBM PC XTs in Groove.

2008-02-08 09:03 Independence Day

In one of cinema's less plausible plot lines, Jeff Goldblum infects alien technology with a computer virus he writes on his Apple Powerbook in Independence Day.

2008-02-07 23:46 Reptilian aliens use Sony Computers

At least they do in V: The Final Battle - an SMC-70 in fact.

2008-02-06 09:33 Terminator 3

A Commodore Pet is one of the computers in the disused bunker at the end of Terminator 3.

2008-01-31 18:00 The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes

Added this 1969 original to the database. It contains the tape drive of a B205.

2008-01-22 22:23 Die Hard Nokia Fan

It's been ages since the last update - not because I haven't been trying, but simply because Blockbuster haven't sent me any of the Starring-the-Computer DVDs from my list. Anyway, Nokia have their claws well embedded in Live Free or Die Hard (also known as Die Hard 4.0), with appearances from the 9300 and 770. There are also some other PDAs and Alienware machines that I can't positively identify. Ideas, anyone?

2007-11-22 09:41 The Secret of AT&T's Success

AT&T's product placement department was working overtime for The Secret of My Success, with a bevy of AT&T computers (a number of 6300s and a 7300) on display.

2007-11-20 13:36 Street Hawk

A small collection of home computers appear in the 1980s Knight Rider ripoff Street Hawk.

2007-10-25 14:19 Honeywell 200 looks a Billion Dollars

The Billion Dollar Brain has sumptuous images of the Honeywell 200 computer.

2007-10-18 23:24 Jewel of the Nile

Just added The Jewel of the Nile to the database because of a very brief view of a collection of Commodore CBM-II machines.

2007-10-15 08:20 Love the Strange IBM, Doctor

I've just added Doctor Strangelove to the database. It features some lovely shots of an IBM 7090.

2007-09-30 17:46 Holy IT Crowd, Batman!

Two more additions to the database: the 1966 TV spinoff Batman - The Move features an ancient Burroughs machine, and season one of the IT Crowd has a bevy of old home computers (a Beeb, a Pet and a ZX81).

2007-09-24 07:58 2010

Dr Heywood Floyd uses the, by then, 26-year-old Apple IIc in 2001. Technology has improved, though, because it can run without a power supply!

2007-09-19 09:06 Another Acorn

Acorn computers are having a bit of a run now. I've just added Clockwise to the database which has a nice little cameo by a BBC Micro, complete with its user manual!

2007-09-18 09:37 Rajah 1200

An Acorn Master Compact makes a guest appearance in Only Fools and Horses, disguised as the Rajah 1200.

2007-09-18 09:07 How to Make a Monster

I had heard that How to Make a Monster contained SGI equipment, and whilst it has plenty of SGI flat-screen monitors there are no visible boxes. A Plam PDA and a Compaq laptop make a pretty poor substitute.

2007-09-10 08:22 Three more films added

A PET makes a suprise appearance in Star Trek II, there's a library full of Televideo TS-803s in Pretty in Pink, and, in common with many other feature-film adaptions of Michael Crichton novels, Congo has a load of SGI kit on display.

2007-09-04 09:20 The Royal Apples

I've just added The Royal Tenenbaums to the database, features Apple computers old and new. I've been told that there's a TRS-80 in there somewhere too, although I've been unable to spot it.

2007-08-06 13:17 First Commodore

I can't believe we got 35 computers in before Commodore made an appearance, but here it is: an A500 playing a rather important part in the Costa-Gavras movie Betrayed.

2007-08-03 17:56 Yet more Apples

House of Sand and Fog, has a fleeting glimpse of an old Mac SE.

2007-08-02 15:30 Tandy makes an entrance

I've just added Revenge of the Nerds to the database starring a Coco - the first Tandy to make it to starringthecomputer.com.

2007-07-20 20:04 Another early PDA

This time it's a Psion playing a vital part in Executive Decision. All that, and Hercules Poirot is the bad guy!

2007-07-18 06:16 First Newton

Apple's revolutionary Newton appears in Under Siege 2, which I've just added to the site - the first Newton to appear here (but not the last). This film also features the much less interesting Toshiba T4600C laptop.

2007-07-12 09:39 SGIs in Disclosure

There are Indys all over the place in the Michael Douglas Thriller Disclosure, which I have just added to the database.

2007-07-11 09:24 Brainstorm

Brainstorm joins Colossus: The Forbin Project in rolling the IBM 1620 out of retirement.

2007-07-09 15:42 Batman and Robin

Added Batman and Robin, with more Apple product placement.

2007-07-07 17:26 Early PCs

I've just added Real Genius and Beverly Hills Cop which both feature non-IBM standard PCs: the HP 150 and DEC Rainbow respectively.

2007-07-07 14:21 Added the news feature.

Here it is! In fact I've found a few hours to pull the web site together a bit, so it should look a bit better now.