16 Memorable OSes and UIs From the Big Screen

The Terminator - Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 (or is it the T-850, or maybe the T-800?), the Terminator is not only a badass killing machine, but has a wicked fancy killing machine UI as well.

Jedi Temple Archives - It doesn’t get much cooler than an interactive holographic star map of the entire galaxy. The Jedi Temple even hosts a seemingly huge server cluster with some sort of holographic mini-interface.

Quantum of Solace - Who knows what it’s called, but Quantum of Solace featured some sort of tactile multitouch display built into a table that could scan and recognize a $20 bill just by placing it on the display. You could also fling images across the room onto wall mounted displays.

Tron - Tron was host to a myriad of awesome computer tech. For starters, Master Control Program had a touch screen based UI built straight into a desk. Then there’s the high powered scanning laser that injects you straight into the bit-wide world of computing.

The Matrix - When it comes to an advanced operating system, you can’t get much more advanced than the Matrix. It’s the entire world, running inside of a computer. Don’t even get us started on the brain searing awesomeness of the knowledge injecting software they have.

Avatar - Where the Matrix could project someone’s mind into a computer, Avatar took it a step further and projected it into an entirely different being. It kind of gives new meaning to the word “Proxy.”

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - There’s nothing cooler than a hot chick with a bunch of fancy gadgets. Lara Croft’s clearly military grade hardware had some pretty impressive software to go with it, capable of breaking ciphers, satellite imagery, and rendering 3D schematics.

Minority Report - It’s difficult to describe the PreCrime units interface found in Minority Report. The best explanation would probably be to call it a touchless multitouch display. We may be closer to utilizing something similar in the near future. Don't believe us? Check this out.

Star Trek: The Next Generation's LCARS - The Library Computer Accesss/Retrieval System or “LCARS” first popped up in The Next Generation and was used in subsequent Star Trek movies. Fans loved the interface so much that they’ve created LCARS based themes for Windows, Linux, and the iPhone.

I, Robot - I, Robot was filled with advanced tech, from hockey puck size projection puzzle boxes/voice recorders to a confused super computer named VIKI with a floating holographic head.

Dune - It may not look it, but back in 1984 when Dune came out, the computer capabilities showed on screen were highly advanced. Real-time 3D rendering was an extremely complex task for computers of the era to tackle.

Cube Zero - Cube Zero gave a glimpse into just how the torturous cube prison system worked, with an impressive scanning capability linked with implanted neural chips. It could relay all sorts of feedback from within the cube to its equally imprisoned operators.

Alien - Ridley Scott’s Alien laid host to all sorts of interesting concepts, like android AI, advanced flight computers, and “Mother”, the ships main operating system. Computer images shown were all realistically achievable at the time, but Hollywood was able to spruce things up further with high-level voice commands.

Source Code - Even though the title has basically nothing to do with the concept behind the movie, Source Code presents several different user interfaces that actually play as plot devices, including a surprisingly simple interface that reveals the mind blowing twist at the end.

Sunshine - As a Sci-Fi psychological thriller, it comes as no surprise that Sunshine had plenty of pretty computer screens to look at. Yeah, the science behind the whole movie was a little wonky, to say the least, but you can’t deny the fact that the computer systems, including a holographic simulation room, were well done.

The A-Team - The A-Team is the latest in a long line of badass spec ops style movies, and one thing movies like this all have in common are impossibly invasive and ridiculously “secure” computer systems that can miraculously track people from around the world. The A-Team was no exception.