MovieChat Forums > Panic Room (2002) Discussion > Has this movie dated or not, from a tech...

Has this movie dated or not, from a technical point of view?

posted 12 years ago by MisterZed
24 replies | jump to latest

I watched this movie the other day on TV, for the first time since 2002. From a technical point of view, I'm wondering if others think that the movie has dated or not? I found that it has, but not enough to ruin enjoyment of it. A couple of areas:

1) Nobody uses landlines anymore, and I doubt criminals would even bother cutting a phone line today

2) A panic room in 2011 would almost certainly have an internet connection that doesn't rely on a phone line (such as cable, or satellite). It would be much easier to contact the outside world this way. I'm surprised that even in 2002, this wasn't thought of when designing the panic room, although the panic room could have been built before this was possible.

3) Having 1 individual CRT monitor per video camera is *very* 80s/90s (I always think of Scarface when I see this). These days, you could just have one large monitor and have all the camera images shown simultaneously on a single screen.

4) VCRs are obsolete - all recording now would be to a hard drive or DVD.

Other than these few minor issues, the movie still holds up well nearly a decade on.

[–] Dinosaw 12 years ago

Well yeah, maybe from the above things it is a little dated.

But from the way it's filmed - camera movement, quality, sound, etc...I've seen recent films that look worse, seriously. The film still holds up in the technical/crew department.

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[–] EddieAdamsFromTorrance 12 years ago

I think you don't understand what it means for a movie to be dated. For it to be dated it would have to not resonate with a modern audience. That is like saying "The Godfather is so dated when I watched it in 2012. No one drives cars like those anymore."

[–] MisterZed 12 years ago

Not really the same thing. This entire movie is about a panic room. If said panic room is outdated, then the movie itself becomes outdated. Another movie I can think of is Phone Booth - soon there will be no more phone booths left so will future audiences really be able to relate? We'll see.

[–] EddieAdamsFromTorrance 12 years ago

That is no true at all because the movie is about the story not the panic room. It is about, not to sound cliche, but, a game of cat and mouse. Does that mean that movies made about WWII are dated because they are about WWII and many young people cannot relate to WWII? That is not what dated films mean.

[–] MisterZed 12 years ago

That's why I said dated *from a technical point of view* in my title...

[–] EddieAdamsFromTorrance 12 years ago

^True, my apologies.

[–] maxloh-1 11 years ago

Your title actually didn't make it very clear to me. If the movie is SET in 2000 then it should have technology of year 2000. The whole time I'm thinking you're stupid because you're saying how the things IN THE MOVIE'S STORY are dated rather than the techniques used for the movie itself.

By that logic Lord of the Rings is dated because we'd use machine guns instead of crossbows.

"From a technical point of view" makes me think of effects/CGI, not things *in the story*.

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[–] sackofwhine 9 years ago

True but lord of the rings is nor future or past (or present) its fantasy and not part of our reality. Otherwise i agree with you

[–] madmaxwarrior 12 years ago

It will never be dated. It was simply made when landlines were popular. call it a history film if you will. Its not supposed to stay modern and never predicts the future technology.

[–] roxytm87 12 years ago

I still have a landline, my sister and her bf still have a landline, and I know several other people who still have one...

[–] carmmm4 12 years ago

Many, many people still use landlines though. I would want one in any panic room so I wouldn't have to try to get a signal through all that metal. Any internet connection is going to have the same vulnerabilities anyway. You either have to be able to access an external wireless signal or connect through a wire that can be cut. And unless you want to rely on your facebook buddies to see your emergency status update, you still better have enough time to use an internet phone service to call 911.

[–] Geijutsu12 11 years ago

Yeah, I thought the whole "technical point of view" meant movie production value rather than actual technology that were displayed in them movie.

[–] matt_S_haines 11 years ago

This movie really makes me miss the Sony Trinitron line of TV's.

[–] MisterZed 11 years ago

I still have a Sony Trinitron (HD WEGA) - it's the only TV I have. Wonderful Japanese picture tube, with far better quality picture than any flat panel I've seen. I've had mine since 2002, and I expect it to last at least another 10 years. After that, I have a spare one down in the garage as a backup. :)

[–] s_Scott-1 11 years ago

"I still have a Sony Trinitron (HD WEGA) - it's the only TV I have. Wonderful Japanese picture tube, with far better quality picture than any flat panel I've seen. I've had mine since 2002, and I expect it to last at least another 10 years. After that, I have a spare one down in the garage as a backup. :)"

I'm using an IBM P275 Trinitron tube by Sony as my primary display on my computer desk -> Better than ANY LCD :)

[–] MisterZed 11 years ago

Well, I'm not sure about that. I used a CRT monitor up until 2008 but then switched to LCD. There were no widescreen CRT monitors ever offered here in Australia, and 4:3 is just archaic. Furthermore, unlike with a TV, the sharpness of text is quite important on a PC monitor, and for this, LCD cannot be beat. I currently use an HP LP2480zx Dreamcolor display (Dreamworks pictures were involved in designing it) which is pretty much the best quality picture you can get from an LCD. It's very close to CRT standard.

[–] Lidocaineus 11 years ago

You don't understand what a dated movie is - if we went by your definition, any movie prior to a year or two ago from the present would be dated, eg a movie made today would be dated in five years.

A dated movie is one based on production values, and usually in terms of production that doesn't stand up to scrutiny today, or looks odd given the tech of the time. Films don't update as time moves on - they're products of their time period.