Take a peek at the net geek’s movie portfolio

So just in time for the holidays, I’ve compiled a collection of movie and television classics, new and old, that various networkers singled out as ‘great movies for network geeks.’

Some kids are born to be network engineers. But for many of us, it was a decision shaped as much by nurture as nature. And nurture included things like the movies we watched and the books we read, which engaged our minds and fired our imaginations.

So just in time for the holidays, I’ve compiled a collection of movie and television classics, new and old, that various networkers singled out as “great movies for network geeks.” The process was decidedly unscientific: I asked associates in the network industry to list the movies (and a few television shows) that most strongly resonated with them, and explain why.

Chances are you won’t agree with all the selections (in fact, I’d be deeply surprised if you’ve even seen them all). I’ve probably left out your favorites, or included some that you hated. Heck, I’m including some that I’m not crazy about or haven’t seen, but that my respondents rated highly.

First off are the sci-fi classics, the movies that made technology cool, celebrated the maverick and the rebel, and gave geeky types the responsibility of making universe-ending, good-vs.-evil decisions: “Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” of course, and lesser-known shows such as the “Babylon 5” series, “Red Dwarf,” and “Lexx.” (OK, those last two are personal favorites, not classics . . . but if you like your sci-fi humor black, check them out.) “War of the Worlds” cropped up here on the grounds that its depiction of what happens when the bad stuff comes down is all too familiar to IT folks.

Then there are the films I’ll call traditional pro-science, which celebrate accomplishment within the framework of relatively traditional science and engineering: “Apollo 13” and “October Sky” (a true story about the kids in a West Virginia mining town who taught themselves how to build rockets).

Next is a broad category of “mind-set and sensibility” movies that shaped the imagination of a generation: “Lord of the Rings,” of course, and “Mad Max,” “Brazil” (about an individual’s stubborn resistance to Big Brother) and the original “Solaris,” which, while beautiful, is the most incomprehensible movie I’ve ever seen. And how about brooding, noir-ish classics like “The Matrix” and “Pi”? Or the sterile world of “Gattaca”?

But these are all runners-up. For the latest generation of up-and-coming geeks (and their parents), the hands-down winners were the “Harry Potter” movies, which were cited more than any others. As one telecom researcher with a doctorate explains, “They’re all about building things and exploring strange worlds.”

Finally, there are the mainstream movies with network geek appeal – movies that aren’t necessarily tech-related but got folks looking differently at reality: “Magnolia,” “Memento,” “Crash,” “A Beautiful Mind.” And the most offbeat suggestion: “The Grand Illusion,” a movie that was banned by the Third Reich about a prison break during World War 1. The suggestion refers both to the “grand illusion” that technology can fundamentally change the world and the power of movies (like technology) to challenge authority.

Feel free to let me know what we missed.

What are your geek classics? Discuss the best (and worst) geeky movies.