Travelling Salesman
- 2012
- 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
Four mathematicians are hired by the US government to solve the most powerful problem in computer science history.Four mathematicians are hired by the US government to solve the most powerful problem in computer science history.Four mathematicians are hired by the US government to solve the most powerful problem in computer science history.
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- 1 win total
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Some of this is so current that I don't see how it got in when the movie was made. All of the premises and implications are not included but that is irrelevant to the film.
If you don't consider the future dystopian, the consequences of this topic, the singularity (should it happen) and the intelligence explosion (should it occur if the singularity occurs), a completely different world for humans is not that far away. In 100 years we may be as intellectually different from now as we are from our million year past ancestors. The evolution into a new species (Kurzweil).
From a dystopian viewpoint it would either be the end of our species or a setback of our civilizations by centuries.
I've been listening to "end of the world stuff" all my life. I grew up during the intensifying cold war. I was born the year the Soviets detonated their first nuclear weapon and the "duck and cover" stuff started. In any case, my point of view is as at least non-dystopian if not utopian.
If you don't consider the future dystopian, the consequences of this topic, the singularity (should it happen) and the intelligence explosion (should it occur if the singularity occurs), a completely different world for humans is not that far away. In 100 years we may be as intellectually different from now as we are from our million year past ancestors. The evolution into a new species (Kurzweil).
From a dystopian viewpoint it would either be the end of our species or a setback of our civilizations by centuries.
I've been listening to "end of the world stuff" all my life. I grew up during the intensifying cold war. I was born the year the Soviets detonated their first nuclear weapon and the "duck and cover" stuff started. In any case, my point of view is as at least non-dystopian if not utopian.
15 August 2016. This movie isn't so much about science fiction as it is about the geopolitical implications of a potential breakthrough in mathematics that may have world wide national security implications. The audience is dropped into a conference room with very little introduction and there begins an increasingly hostile discussion regarding national secrets among supposedly some of the brightest mathematicians in the United States and a representative of the government. What transpires is mostly a lot of philosophical and moral dialogue, debate interspersed with a few surrealistic scenes that leave the audience wondering what's going on here.
For the most part, the talking heads discussion is an apt description because most of the discussion appears to mimic to some extent what may have occurred during the Cuban Missile Crisis during President Kennedy's administration except with the threat much less imminent. It's hard to get emotional involved in the movie especially with nearly an all male cast, devoid mostly of heart felt emotion and literally mostly focused on rational logic.
The culmination of this movie is perhaps the only real emotional appealing scene, but even so it fails to really capture the angst that so many thrillers have achieved in the past such as Fail Safe (1964), The Good Shepard (2006), Bridge of Spies (2015), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Breach (2007), Transcendence (2014), and The Machine (2013).
For the most part, the talking heads discussion is an apt description because most of the discussion appears to mimic to some extent what may have occurred during the Cuban Missile Crisis during President Kennedy's administration except with the threat much less imminent. It's hard to get emotional involved in the movie especially with nearly an all male cast, devoid mostly of heart felt emotion and literally mostly focused on rational logic.
The culmination of this movie is perhaps the only real emotional appealing scene, but even so it fails to really capture the angst that so many thrillers have achieved in the past such as Fail Safe (1964), The Good Shepard (2006), Bridge of Spies (2015), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Breach (2007), Transcendence (2014), and The Machine (2013).
Let me start by saying I don't rate very many movies in the 8 9 or 10s but this one is a solid 9! I'm as harsh and hard a critic as they come but this movie was so well done it is hard not to like it. The movie has a solid dialog that drives the movie forward like a raging bull with great simplistic camera shots and settings. You can count the settings on 1 hand and they are well done and fit the tone of the dialog superbly. This movie is no doubt a low budget master piece and as a script writer think it is an amazing piece for younger writers to learn from. You don't need huge budgets to produce incredible work! It is a striking movie in the sense of Primer and I commend both writers for this excellent work. I back the AMC notion that story matters and they have produced a great one! You will love this movie! The only reason I did not give this movie a 10/10 is that I had to look up what P = NP is. If you are reading to deiced what if you are going to view the movie, it asks whether every problem whose solution can be quickly verified by a computer can also be quickly solved by a computer. Enjoy this film!
The movie projects the aesthetics of a theorem and how it can simply change the world for better or worse. It deals with what would be the possibilities if a Millenium problem that is P Vs NP would be solved and ponders it further on what would happen if this solution is concentrated in the hands of only one entity. Would or wouldn't that entity use to play God? Would it be ethical to keep it from the world? Such questions have been arising since a long time in Scientific Research. Overall, this movie is a must watch for all Science nerds as some of the points discussed would make you indulge in giving it a thought yourself. Great plot!
I believe it is a travesty that this film has such a low score on here. The only thing I can attribute it to is that today's viewers have an attention span of a raccoon trapped in a treasure chest. I suppose the fact that I am a very big fan of this type of film--and what I mean by that is chock full intelligent dialog--may also have something to do with that. There are two other films that have always been in my top 10 favorite films list because of this attribute and they are 12 Angry Men, and The Man From Earth (not to be confused with the man who fell to earth.) Basically a few people trapped in a room for most of the movie discussing a monumental mathematical proof that has huge implications for just about everything and everyone on the planet, and the moral responsibility they have as they are in cahoots with the government through funding. If you have an attention span, love existential and philosophical discussions, or just enjoy movies that make you think then you will love this film as I did. Please help this film get the rating it deserves.
Did you know
- TriviaThe original draft of the screenplay was written in 2009, years before leaked NSA information detailing cyber-espionage was revealed--a topic discussed directly in the film.
- GoofsEarly in the film, the character Tim Horton asks a colleague about the characteristics of a desert. The colleague replies that they are 'hot'. This is not true, since Antarctica is a desert and is not thought of as being 'hot'. There are many ways to classify an area as a desert. Two of the main methods are that total precipitation is less than 10 inches, and the evaporation being greater than precipitation. 'Hot' is too subjective a term since many people will disagree on what qualifies as 'hot'.
- Quotes
[last lines]
No. 1 - Tim Horton: Don't blink. You might miss something.
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 20 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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