Transcendence banner
In the 1980’s movies glamorized computers to the point where they were magical and could do magical things. People just didn’t comprehend what they were, how they worked or what they were capable of doing. Now there is more computing power in your cell phone than all the Apollo spacecrafts combined and there is some sort of computer in 99% of household in the US.
Computer science (and science in general) has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 30 years to where some things are not only probable but may be even possible. So the concept of this movie isn’t necessarily too farfetched.
“Dr. Will Caster is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn and best friend Max Waters, both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can…but if they should. Their worst fears are realized as Will’s thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown. The only thing that is becoming terrifyingly clear is there may be no way to stop him.”
A screen grab from the movie ‘Transcendence’
Author, inventor, futurist, and a director of engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil, predicts that the technological singularity will happen by 2045. Others predict, with an 80% probability, that the singularity will occur between 2017 and 2112. So this plot is very relevant.
A behind the scenes look at the some of the cast and crew of ‘Transcendence’
I love the look of this film. There is a reason for that. ‘Transcendence’ is helmed by Wally Pfister who was the director of photography for all the Chris Nolan ‘Dark Knight’ movies. It also has an all-star cast. This has tons of potential and has me onboard from the word go. Look for this in a theater near you mid-April.
The Average Movie Nerd 