Quillen
Kennel Enthusiast
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Do you have any of your own?
I must admit... I LOVED the Hoverboard from Back to the Future... and the Ghostbusters Proton packs...
Lightsabers are a moral also...
http://smallbusiness.smh.com.au/starting/technology/the-10-best-movie-inventions-619593139.html
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Helen Westerman | June 12, 2009 - 11:30AM
As a child I fervently wished I could buy Willy Wonka's gob-stoppers - the idea of a lolly that never melted away to nothing on your tongue seemed pure heaven.
If you were an aspiring inventor, would you go to the cinema for inspiration? No, of course you wouldn't - because it is MAKE-BELIEVE, people!
Or is it? What are some the best inventions seen in movies we wish existed - and which ones that in fact do? And if we had them, what would we do with them?
Here's our top 10 list of great movie inventions - as well as some handy hints for the home.
1) The hoverboard
Movie: Back to the Future 2 and 3. Michael J Fox made the hearts of every teenage boy beat faster and every parent gasp with horror by performing dangerous stunts sans helmet, knee pads or any form of body protection. Seeing him in this more safety-conscious age is a bit like watching Britney Spears drive her sons around on her lap.
Does it exist? No, but such was the fervour around the hoverboard there were persistent rumours it was real, shamelessly fanned by director Robert Zemeckis. One popular schoolboy theory at the time was it couldn't be released because someone had died riding it.
2) Noiseless velcro
Movie: Garden State. Zach Braff plays Largeman, a struggling actor who has to return home after his mother dies. One of his friends, Jesse has made a vast fortune by inventing silent velcro and has bought a big mansion but no furniture.
Everyday uses: To be used in exactly the same way as normal velcro, but for people with really sensitive ears and really sensitive psyches - who get really, really enraged at that funny ripping noise, who can't stand it, the type who would get worked up over little everyday things that other more normal people don't even notice.
Does it exist? Wikipedia claims there is a silent, secret version used on the US military's uniforms so they adjust their fly without giving away their position to the enemy.
3) Invisibility cloak
Movie: Harry Potter.Designed to shield the wearer from the gaze of Death, but has other mundane attributes - like invisibility.
Everyday uses: So obvious and myriad they surely don't have to be explained. Worried where the boyfriend goes with the boys after footy? Just asked the 'curvy' lady in the office how many months to go? Forgotten a birthday?
Does it exist? According to reports, several groups of scientists claim to have invented versions of the invisibility cloak, although they appear only to work in 2D, or if you are standing against a silver backdrop wearing a silver hoodie. Guys, you're not fooling anyone.
4) Proton packs
Movie: Ghostbusters. Four paranormal investigators dressed as cleaners attempt to tidy up a few ghosts; three want to avert Judgment Day and one just wants to get laid.
Everyday uses: A lot like Dyson vacuum cleaner, but one powered by nuclear accelerative technology that sucks up ghostly ectoplasm as well as bowling balls. Talk about constant suction.
5) Androids
Movies: Blade Runner and Artificial Intelligence. Who could forget Pris the 'basic pleasure model' (played by Darryl Hannah) putting the gymnastic death moves on Harrison Ford by trying to strangle him with her thighs - before he brutally kills her. In Artificial Intelligence, Haley Joel Osment plays an android with the ability to love, with tragic results.
Do they exist? Yes. Androids are already among us - husbands, bosses, gen-Y waiters, Kevin Rudd. Anyone who claims Two and a Half Men is funny.
6) The neuraliser
Movie: Men in Black. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones expunge incriminating memories of things it's best we don't know about (like refugee policy under the former Liberal government) as they try to keep a planet of intergalactic freaks under control.
Everyday uses: The idea of whipping out a little gadget that clicks, whines and wipes your mind is immensely appealing, particularly if you have accidentally just watched Ten Years Younger in Ten Days.
Does it exist? In the wrong hands the results could be devastating, where a society collectively fails to learn the lessons of the past and is condemned to repeat them. Oh. Damn.
7) Light sabre
Movies: Star Wars (all of them). Obvious inclusion in any list, if only to be able to say: "I am your father''.
Everyday uses: The light sabre would mean day surgery would never be the same, and it would also be pretty handy for the barbecue, too.
8) Teleporters
Movies: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Star Trek.
Everyday uses: None. But was anyone else creeped out by Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka? Channelling Michael Jackson much? And just to clear up this common misunderstanding, Captain Kirk never actually said "Beam me up Scotty'': the line was "Scotty, beam us up''. Okay, okay - getting to work on time, space-travelling and satisfying that late-night chocolate craving.
9) Time machine
Movie: The Time Machine (2005). I bet Guy Pearce wishes he had one, he'd probably pop back to the moment before he signed up for this flopped remake of the 1960s classic.
Everyday uses: See above.
10) Flubber
Movie: Flubber (1997). Robin Williams invents flying rubber, or flubber, in order to win back his girlfriend and save the college she runs from financial ruin.
Does it exist? There is already a thing called flubber - Wikipedia says it is a "visco-plastic material'' which can be made for children to play with, using a recipe of glue, borax, water and food colouring. Notes to parents: don't let kiddies fool around with borax unsupervised.
Honourable mentions:
The excessive machine in Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda. Kills by "excessive pleasure'', if you know what I mean.
Iris recognition - Minority Report, with Tom Cruise. Coming to an airport near you.
Any of the innumerable gadgets dreamed up by Q in the James Bond films.
Sting the sword, Lord of the Rings. Before there was Ben Stiller's Night in the Museum's glow-in-the-dark torch, there was Sting, an elvish sword which handily glows blue in the presence of Orcs. Perfect for dark corners at the end-of-year office party.
I must admit... I LOVED the Hoverboard from Back to the Future... and the Ghostbusters Proton packs...
Lightsabers are a moral also...
http://smallbusiness.smh.com.au/starting/technology/the-10-best-movie-inventions-619593139.html
___________________________________
Helen Westerman | June 12, 2009 - 11:30AM
As a child I fervently wished I could buy Willy Wonka's gob-stoppers - the idea of a lolly that never melted away to nothing on your tongue seemed pure heaven.
If you were an aspiring inventor, would you go to the cinema for inspiration? No, of course you wouldn't - because it is MAKE-BELIEVE, people!
Or is it? What are some the best inventions seen in movies we wish existed - and which ones that in fact do? And if we had them, what would we do with them?
Here's our top 10 list of great movie inventions - as well as some handy hints for the home.
1) The hoverboard
Movie: Back to the Future 2 and 3. Michael J Fox made the hearts of every teenage boy beat faster and every parent gasp with horror by performing dangerous stunts sans helmet, knee pads or any form of body protection. Seeing him in this more safety-conscious age is a bit like watching Britney Spears drive her sons around on her lap.
Does it exist? No, but such was the fervour around the hoverboard there were persistent rumours it was real, shamelessly fanned by director Robert Zemeckis. One popular schoolboy theory at the time was it couldn't be released because someone had died riding it.
2) Noiseless velcro
Movie: Garden State. Zach Braff plays Largeman, a struggling actor who has to return home after his mother dies. One of his friends, Jesse has made a vast fortune by inventing silent velcro and has bought a big mansion but no furniture.
Everyday uses: To be used in exactly the same way as normal velcro, but for people with really sensitive ears and really sensitive psyches - who get really, really enraged at that funny ripping noise, who can't stand it, the type who would get worked up over little everyday things that other more normal people don't even notice.
Does it exist? Wikipedia claims there is a silent, secret version used on the US military's uniforms so they adjust their fly without giving away their position to the enemy.
3) Invisibility cloak
Movie: Harry Potter.Designed to shield the wearer from the gaze of Death, but has other mundane attributes - like invisibility.
Everyday uses: So obvious and myriad they surely don't have to be explained. Worried where the boyfriend goes with the boys after footy? Just asked the 'curvy' lady in the office how many months to go? Forgotten a birthday?
Does it exist? According to reports, several groups of scientists claim to have invented versions of the invisibility cloak, although they appear only to work in 2D, or if you are standing against a silver backdrop wearing a silver hoodie. Guys, you're not fooling anyone.
4) Proton packs
Movie: Ghostbusters. Four paranormal investigators dressed as cleaners attempt to tidy up a few ghosts; three want to avert Judgment Day and one just wants to get laid.
Everyday uses: A lot like Dyson vacuum cleaner, but one powered by nuclear accelerative technology that sucks up ghostly ectoplasm as well as bowling balls. Talk about constant suction.
5) Androids
Movies: Blade Runner and Artificial Intelligence. Who could forget Pris the 'basic pleasure model' (played by Darryl Hannah) putting the gymnastic death moves on Harrison Ford by trying to strangle him with her thighs - before he brutally kills her. In Artificial Intelligence, Haley Joel Osment plays an android with the ability to love, with tragic results.
Do they exist? Yes. Androids are already among us - husbands, bosses, gen-Y waiters, Kevin Rudd. Anyone who claims Two and a Half Men is funny.
6) The neuraliser
Movie: Men in Black. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones expunge incriminating memories of things it's best we don't know about (like refugee policy under the former Liberal government) as they try to keep a planet of intergalactic freaks under control.
Everyday uses: The idea of whipping out a little gadget that clicks, whines and wipes your mind is immensely appealing, particularly if you have accidentally just watched Ten Years Younger in Ten Days.
Does it exist? In the wrong hands the results could be devastating, where a society collectively fails to learn the lessons of the past and is condemned to repeat them. Oh. Damn.
7) Light sabre
Movies: Star Wars (all of them). Obvious inclusion in any list, if only to be able to say: "I am your father''.
Everyday uses: The light sabre would mean day surgery would never be the same, and it would also be pretty handy for the barbecue, too.
8) Teleporters
Movies: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Star Trek.
Everyday uses: None. But was anyone else creeped out by Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka? Channelling Michael Jackson much? And just to clear up this common misunderstanding, Captain Kirk never actually said "Beam me up Scotty'': the line was "Scotty, beam us up''. Okay, okay - getting to work on time, space-travelling and satisfying that late-night chocolate craving.
9) Time machine
Movie: The Time Machine (2005). I bet Guy Pearce wishes he had one, he'd probably pop back to the moment before he signed up for this flopped remake of the 1960s classic.
Everyday uses: See above.
10) Flubber
Movie: Flubber (1997). Robin Williams invents flying rubber, or flubber, in order to win back his girlfriend and save the college she runs from financial ruin.
Does it exist? There is already a thing called flubber - Wikipedia says it is a "visco-plastic material'' which can be made for children to play with, using a recipe of glue, borax, water and food colouring. Notes to parents: don't let kiddies fool around with borax unsupervised.
Honourable mentions:
The excessive machine in Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda. Kills by "excessive pleasure'', if you know what I mean.
Iris recognition - Minority Report, with Tom Cruise. Coming to an airport near you.
Any of the innumerable gadgets dreamed up by Q in the James Bond films.
Sting the sword, Lord of the Rings. Before there was Ben Stiller's Night in the Museum's glow-in-the-dark torch, there was Sting, an elvish sword which handily glows blue in the presence of Orcs. Perfect for dark corners at the end-of-year office party.
