Top 10 Fictional Technology

04.02.2017 , James , Drifting Clouds Cinema Blog

Apologies for my dreadful slowness in posting this list, but the Distracted production has been somewhat dominating proceedings recently.

Anyway, here it is. Each piece of technology has been selected for it’s intrinsic absurdity, and that of the film in which it features. Thanks again to those who took the time to suggest titles.

The Excessive Machine in Barbarella (Vadim, 1964). A torture chamber which pleasures it’s victim to death.
Nominated by @Heero99.

Nifty breakfast-making machine in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Ken Hughes, 1968).
@Bakerdave76 suggested this one.

The ‘Time Helmet’ in Buster Keaton’s episode of The Twilight Zone, Once Upon A Time, which transports his grumpy janitor from the 1890s to the 1960s. We don’t usually do television here, but Keaton is exceptional.
Thanks to @Romantikkurbaa for this one.

Airplane II: The Sequel (Ken Finkleman, 1982). One of the great spoofs, deconstructing the disaster movie genre. Choc-full of absurd technology and double-meaning dialogue. William Shatner delivers a delightful send-up of his Star Trek persona too.
And again thanks to @Romantikkurbaa.

Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967). “Those weird huge machine things” according to @CaveFilm, are among the modernity in Tati’s film.
Nominated by @CaveFilm

Man and industrialisation; The Eating Machine in Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936).
This was @3bziz’s pick.

The Swiss Army Shoe in another of the great spoofs, this time The Naked Gun (David Zucker, 1988), deconstructing the detective genre.

The Cone of Silence in Get Smart; apparently it is “designed for secret conversations but makes it impossible for those inside the device – and easy for those outside the device – to hear the conversation. The end result being neither secret nor communication.” Beautiful.
@AnaOrsatti picked this.

Paul Newman’s avant-garde artist invents a painting machine in What A Way To Go (J Lee Thompson, 1964). The machine converts sound into paint on canvas, making Newman a fortune before devouring him….
Suggested by @SkotArmstrong and @Rnfrw.