Best 10 VR Films for Coders (Programmers)

As technology advances, Virtual Reality (VR) is gaining more relevance beyond video gaming. It is being adopted in almost every industry to help people enjoy new experiences.  Virtual reality has been depicted in different ways by scriptwriters and Movie directors to help us know what may be possible in the nearest future. With the advent of the metaverse, massive research, and development into the virtual world; we may see some of these movie ideas materialize sooner than we expected.

Programmers can learn a great deal from the ideas portrayed in some of these movies as it helps to spark ideas on what may be possible and generally enjoyable as you can understand many of the technical ideas and terms used in the movies. We have outlined 10 virtual reality movies every programmer must watch. What’s more? These movies can also be watched using VR headsets to get an exciting and engaging experience.

1. Ready Player One

Based on Ernest Cline’s novel “Ready Player One”, it is a movie set in 2045 that shows virtual reality as an alternative to escaping the real world. James Halliday, the designer of the virtual reality known as the OASIS hides the key to owning the VR for a worthy player to find it after his death. The movie depicts how a teenager named Wade tries to find the keys to this Halliday’s fortune. The movie’s depiction of virtual reality is one of the best and most recommended for programmers.

2. The Matrix

Released in 1999, The Matrix is one of the oldest movies to depict virtual reality in a captivating manner. The movie is about a computer programmer named Anderson who discovers that humanity has unknowingly been trapped in a virtual reality known as the Matrix. This simulated reality was created by intelligent machines that exploit human bodies as an energy source. Anderson leads a rebellion against the machines in order to expose the truth and free humanity.

3. Total Recall

Total Recall 2012 has its background rooted in the short story We can remember it for you wholesale by Philip Dick. The movie was first produced in 1990 and reproduced with the same name in 2012. The 2012 version depicts virtual reality in one of the best twists seen in sci-fiction movies. In the movie, Douglas is tormented by frequent “dreams” where there is a secret agent. His attempt to plant fake memories in his brain leads to a series of interesting events.

4. Tron: Legacy

The movie is a sequel to the 1982 blockbuster Tron. A Stephen Lisberger movie, the renowned movie director who directed Tron and produced the sequel. The sequel features a character called Sam who responds to a message from his missing father and intelligent virtual world designer. This response begins Sam’s journey into a virtual reality created by his father called the Grid. Clu, a malevolent program plans to invade the real world and Sam who has now reunited with his father must stop this invasion. The film is definitely one of the best VR films in recent times.

5. Hackers

Staged in the 1990s when the internet just began to open up to the world. The film is a story about a teenager called Dade who was banned from using a computer till he was 18. Dade grows to become a bigger hacker alongside his friends who use their knowledge to fight against an evil plan to unleash a lethal virus. It’s popularly known for the famous catchphrase “…Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity”. The movie has achieved cult classic status and is a must-watch for programmers.

6. Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace

The 1996 Science fiction action film is a sequel to the movie Lawnmower Man. It depicts a malevolent program known as a Jobe in a virtual world that wants to hack every computer in the world. Jobe seeks the help of Peter however Peter discovers Jobe’s evil intent and tries to thwart Jobe’s plan. He does this by involving Benjamin, a young and brilliant programmer and together they fight Jobe in what spans the cyberspace and real world as well.

7. Virtual Revolution

The movie is set in Neo Paris 2047 where humanity is said to have completely embraced virtual reality. Terrorists exploit the possibilities of the virtual world to kill gamers. The story revolves around Nash, a shadow agent who spends his time killing terrorists online and offline. The film depicts what the future of virtual reality may look like in years to come.

8. Extracted

The science fiction film explores the possibility of experiencing other people’s memory. Sasha Roiz who developed this technology becomes consciously trapped in the mind of a heroin addict and murder suspect. The movie reveals events, twists and consequences of the scientist’s daring experiments.

9. The Imitation Game

Based on the 1983 biography Alan Turing: The Enigma written by Andrew Hodges, the movie quotes the name of the game proposed to answer his research question “Can Machines Think”? in his 1950 seminal paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence“.

The main character Alan Turing is a British mathematician who joins the cryptography team. With other colleagues, he builds a machine to crack the German enigma code. Programmers will find this movie interesting, extremely engaging and phenomenal. 

10. Antitrust

The 2001 thriller is one of the best programming movies of all time. It portrays the story of a young programmer who gets employed in a large organization with what seems to be the perfect dream job of every young engineer. The young programmer named Milo uses his programming skills to uncover some hidden and dark secrets about the multi-billion dollar company. Milo soon understands that all he sees in the well structured, phenomenal organization is not all there is. The movie reveals how a phenomenal technology corporation could be quietly structured with dark truths and the role of the young programmer in what has now become a twist of fate.

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