Movies and technology: How an iPhone could wipe out the history of cinema

Most of us own an iPhone – or a similar smartphone. And we love it, oh boy, we love it so much. But did we ever consider what it could do in the wrong hands? Or in the wrong situation? We thought of five films that would be completely ruined had an iPhone been available.

The Notebook

We all know the story: Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams struggling for their romance to end well. We’re also convinced that most of you are familiar with the main reason why there’s a major misunderstanding between the two that makes them think they have forgotten about each other: letters (and a very manipulative mother, that’s right too). Had Noah and Allie had an iPhone, things would have turned out quite differently and we most likely wouldn’t have enjoyed this dramatic and passionate reencountering that makes the poster of the film.

Toy Story

Who doesn’t remember the Toy Story fantasy: toys coming to life while their owners were away. The fun part about it though was they could never be caught red-handed but … what if Andy had a Nest camera connected to his iPhone? Probably Toy Story 2 would have a different title and who knows, maybe Andy would have joined Woody and Buzz Lightyear’s adventures.

North by Northwest

For those of you too young to remember (or that haven’t watched the 50s classic), this Hitchcock masterpiece has Cary Grant at the centre of it who is a businessman mistakenly identified as a spy. It would have been enough for the poor Grant to have his Linkedin profile at hand to prove his identity. We’d have missed all the fun though, that’s for sure.

Pirates of the Caribbean

Needless to say what Jack Sparrow is famous for (apart from drinking way too much rum): always getting away with it, and doing it without being caught. Can you imagine if the Royal Navy had iPhone back then? iMessage would have been their most valuable resource: warning each other, Sparrow would have spent much more time in jail (most likely).

Jurassic Park

Remember when computer engineer Dennis Nedry tried to escape the park whilst the storm is going on? He was bringing the embryos to a rival of John Hammond when he crashed his car against the sign pointing towards the dock. Confused about where to go, he loses time playing with the sign. Had he had an iPhone in his hands, he could have reached the port safely with maps and completely new scenarios would have unfolded.

Maria Barrios