





























© Getty Images
0 / 30 Fotos
'Die Hard' - Detective McClane would have called 911 on his cell phone long before he had the chance to kill Tony and take his radio. Many more lives would have been saved with law enforcement arriving sooner, but there would be no 'Die Hard'...
© NL Beeld
1 / 30 Fotos
'Catch Me If You Can' - Both the film and the con-man's story it's based on would never have happened with modern technology, as all checks would be verified with high-tech machines, and airports would have much higher security monitoring.
© NL Beeld
2 / 30 Fotos
'North by Northwest' - The whole plot revolves around a misunderstanding of Cary Grant's identity, which in today's age could be immediately verified online, and the men would leave him alone.
© NL Beeld
3 / 30 Fotos
'Sixteen Candles' - With Google alerts and Facebook notifications, the chance that everyone would forget Samantha's birthday is near impossible.
© NL Beeld
4 / 30 Fotos
'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset' - Deciding not to exchange numbers but vowing to meet at the exact spot in six months time, it's revealed in the next film that the two characters don't actually reconnect until nine years later. One platform to foil it all: Facebook.
© NL Beeld
5 / 30 Fotos
'Sleepless In Seattle' - If Annie used Google instead of that antiquated database to search for "Sam," "architect," and "Chicago," she would have found a ton more results. Plus, Jonah would have likely made his dad an online dating profile instead of calling into a talk show, and they'd never need to meet at the Empire State Building.
© NL Beeld
6 / 30 Fotos
'Scream' - Caller ID is really screwing with modern murder plots.
© NL Beeld
7 / 30 Fotos
'Home Alone' - Alarms on their cell phones, cheap international calling plans, and home surveillance systems accessed through the internet make this classic story ridiculous today.
© NL Beeld
8 / 30 Fotos
'Friends' (the "We Were On A Break" plot) - Ross sleeps with another woman after he calls Rachel on a payphone and hears Mark in her apartment. With a cell phone, she would've been able to call him back or send him a text to explain what happened, but instead the toxic relationship worsened.
© NL Beeld
9 / 30 Fotos
'Pretty Woman' - When Edward gets lost, he looks up directions on his phone. He never pulls over to ask Vivian for directions, and this classic plot is never realized.
© NL Beeld
10 / 30 Fotos
'You’ve Got Mail' - This Meg Ryan rom-com, centered around anonymous emailing, would be impossible today. You don't meet strangers in chat-rooms, and you certainly wouldn't meet anyone without Google-searching them or seeing photos. Plus, with online dating Kathleen wouldn't have given Joe a chance.
© NL Beeld
11 / 30 Fotos
'Psycho' - With a quick Trip Advisor search on her iPhone, Janet Leigh could see that the Bates Motel had terrible ratings and many complaints about a creepy owner, and she would book her stay elsewhere.
© NL Beeld
12 / 30 Fotos
'Say Anything' - The iconic scene where John Cusack holds his boombox outside the girl's window just wouldn't have the same impact with an iPod speaker.
© NL Beeld
13 / 30 Fotos
'The Talented Mr. Ripley' - Facebook, YouTube, Google, and the myriad of other online databases would completely obliterate Matt Damon's masquerade.
© NL Beeld
14 / 30 Fotos
'The Ring' - Firstly, VHS tapes are hardly in use. It could be adapted for people who illegally downloaded the death-inducing film, but for the people who watch movies on their laptops and phones, that's a tiny screen for Samara to climb out of.
© NL Beeld
15 / 30 Fotos
'Jurassic Park'
- If GPS were as common in 1993 as it is now, those kids would've never gotten lost on that island. It honestly feels like the revived dinosaurs are actually more believable than someone not checking Google maps...
© NL Beeld
16 / 30 Fotos
'127 Hours' - In a modern setting, after people noticed Franco's character had gone missing, someone could contact his cell phone provider, and they would track his phone and dispatch a search party to rescue him. All he would need to do is ration water and not cut off his arm.
© NL Beeld
17 / 30 Fotos
'Office Space' - Daily life at a 1990s software company turns into a computer virus crime scene, but the criminals are saved by a massive fire incinerating all the evidence. Destroying evidence is harder now than it was before, and the cloud would put them in jail.
© NL Beeld
18 / 30 Fotos
'An Affair to Remember'
- Another epic meetup that would have been foiled by the internet. Nickie would have been able to check up on Terry online, and she could have just sent him a text saying that she was running late instead of getting hit by a car in her rush.
© NL Beeld
19 / 30 Fotos
'Cinderella' - They would have exchanged numbers at the ball and arranged a time for him to drop off her shoe, saving him from smelling a kingdom's worth of feet.
© NL Beeld
20 / 30 Fotos
'Forrest Gump' - Forrest could have looked up directions to Jenny's house on his phone, meaning he would never have sat on that bench and started telling his story.
© NL Beeld
21 / 30 Fotos
'Dial M for Murder' - The murder weapon itself (a landline phone cord) is obsolete.
© NL Beeld
22 / 30 Fotos
'The Notebook' - Allie could just have emailed or texted Noah when she hadn't heard from him. He could also have skipped the snail mail, and password-protected devices mean her meddling mother would never know.
© NL Beeld
23 / 30 Fotos
'The Bonfire of the Vanities' - The prevalence of GPS has officially ruined every story based upon characters getting lost.
© NL Beeld
24 / 30 Fotos
'Romeo and Juliet' - Just one text to from Juliet letting Romeo know she was going to fake her death could have completely changed this story from a great tragedy to just an alright happily ever after.
© NL Beeld
25 / 30 Fotos
'High Fidelity' - The sad reality is that this independently owned music shop would have likely been closed thanks to MP3s and streaming. Plus, Cusack's mixtapes would not have seemed so impressive as a Spotify playlist.
© NL Beeld
26 / 30 Fotos
'Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead' - "Swell" would have never gotten that impressive fashion job by fudging her resumé, certainly not with Facebook and LinkedIn. A quick internet dive into her high school prom photos would reveal her true age.
© NL Beeld
27 / 30 Fotos
'The Parent Trap'
- Annie and Hallie would have likely found their missing parent on Facebook and discovered they were twins without the whole camp fiasco.
© NL Beeld
28 / 30 Fotos
'Notting Hill'
- A Hollywood megastar would likely get her books shipped to her through Amazon or downloaded onto her e-reader—both of which might also mean the independent bookshop might not even exist. See also: Cursed? Bizarre film facts you probably didn't know
© NL Beeld
29 / 30 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 30 Fotos
'Die Hard' - Detective McClane would have called 911 on his cell phone long before he had the chance to kill Tony and take his radio. Many more lives would have been saved with law enforcement arriving sooner, but there would be no 'Die Hard'...
© NL Beeld
1 / 30 Fotos
'Catch Me If You Can' - Both the film and the con-man's story it's based on would never have happened with modern technology, as all checks would be verified with high-tech machines, and airports would have much higher security monitoring.
© NL Beeld
2 / 30 Fotos
'North by Northwest' - The whole plot revolves around a misunderstanding of Cary Grant's identity, which in today's age could be immediately verified online, and the men would leave him alone.
© NL Beeld
3 / 30 Fotos
'Sixteen Candles' - With Google alerts and Facebook notifications, the chance that everyone would forget Samantha's birthday is near impossible.
© NL Beeld
4 / 30 Fotos
'Before Sunrise' and 'Before Sunset' - Deciding not to exchange numbers but vowing to meet at the exact spot in six months time, it's revealed in the next film that the two characters don't actually reconnect until nine years later. One platform to foil it all: Facebook.
© NL Beeld
5 / 30 Fotos
'Sleepless In Seattle' - If Annie used Google instead of that antiquated database to search for "Sam," "architect," and "Chicago," she would have found a ton more results. Plus, Jonah would have likely made his dad an online dating profile instead of calling into a talk show, and they'd never need to meet at the Empire State Building.
© NL Beeld
6 / 30 Fotos
'Scream' - Caller ID is really screwing with modern murder plots.
© NL Beeld
7 / 30 Fotos
'Home Alone' - Alarms on their cell phones, cheap international calling plans, and home surveillance systems accessed through the internet make this classic story ridiculous today.
© NL Beeld
8 / 30 Fotos
'Friends' (the "We Were On A Break" plot) - Ross sleeps with another woman after he calls Rachel on a payphone and hears Mark in her apartment. With a cell phone, she would've been able to call him back or send him a text to explain what happened, but instead the toxic relationship worsened.
© NL Beeld
9 / 30 Fotos
'Pretty Woman' - When Edward gets lost, he looks up directions on his phone. He never pulls over to ask Vivian for directions, and this classic plot is never realized.
© NL Beeld
10 / 30 Fotos
'You’ve Got Mail' - This Meg Ryan rom-com, centered around anonymous emailing, would be impossible today. You don't meet strangers in chat-rooms, and you certainly wouldn't meet anyone without Google-searching them or seeing photos. Plus, with online dating Kathleen wouldn't have given Joe a chance.
© NL Beeld
11 / 30 Fotos
'Psycho' - With a quick Trip Advisor search on her iPhone, Janet Leigh could see that the Bates Motel had terrible ratings and many complaints about a creepy owner, and she would book her stay elsewhere.
© NL Beeld
12 / 30 Fotos
'Say Anything' - The iconic scene where John Cusack holds his boombox outside the girl's window just wouldn't have the same impact with an iPod speaker.
© NL Beeld
13 / 30 Fotos
'The Talented Mr. Ripley' - Facebook, YouTube, Google, and the myriad of other online databases would completely obliterate Matt Damon's masquerade.
© NL Beeld
14 / 30 Fotos
'The Ring' - Firstly, VHS tapes are hardly in use. It could be adapted for people who illegally downloaded the death-inducing film, but for the people who watch movies on their laptops and phones, that's a tiny screen for Samara to climb out of.
© NL Beeld
15 / 30 Fotos
'Jurassic Park'
- If GPS were as common in 1993 as it is now, those kids would've never gotten lost on that island. It honestly feels like the revived dinosaurs are actually more believable than someone not checking Google maps...
© NL Beeld
16 / 30 Fotos
'127 Hours' - In a modern setting, after people noticed Franco's character had gone missing, someone could contact his cell phone provider, and they would track his phone and dispatch a search party to rescue him. All he would need to do is ration water and not cut off his arm.
© NL Beeld
17 / 30 Fotos
'Office Space' - Daily life at a 1990s software company turns into a computer virus crime scene, but the criminals are saved by a massive fire incinerating all the evidence. Destroying evidence is harder now than it was before, and the cloud would put them in jail.
© NL Beeld
18 / 30 Fotos
'An Affair to Remember'
- Another epic meetup that would have been foiled by the internet. Nickie would have been able to check up on Terry online, and she could have just sent him a text saying that she was running late instead of getting hit by a car in her rush.
© NL Beeld
19 / 30 Fotos
'Cinderella' - They would have exchanged numbers at the ball and arranged a time for him to drop off her shoe, saving him from smelling a kingdom's worth of feet.
© NL Beeld
20 / 30 Fotos
'Forrest Gump' - Forrest could have looked up directions to Jenny's house on his phone, meaning he would never have sat on that bench and started telling his story.
© NL Beeld
21 / 30 Fotos
'Dial M for Murder' - The murder weapon itself (a landline phone cord) is obsolete.
© NL Beeld
22 / 30 Fotos
'The Notebook' - Allie could just have emailed or texted Noah when she hadn't heard from him. He could also have skipped the snail mail, and password-protected devices mean her meddling mother would never know.
© NL Beeld
23 / 30 Fotos
'The Bonfire of the Vanities' - The prevalence of GPS has officially ruined every story based upon characters getting lost.
© NL Beeld
24 / 30 Fotos
'Romeo and Juliet' - Just one text to from Juliet letting Romeo know she was going to fake her death could have completely changed this story from a great tragedy to just an alright happily ever after.
© NL Beeld
25 / 30 Fotos
'High Fidelity' - The sad reality is that this independently owned music shop would have likely been closed thanks to MP3s and streaming. Plus, Cusack's mixtapes would not have seemed so impressive as a Spotify playlist.
© NL Beeld
26 / 30 Fotos
'Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead' - "Swell" would have never gotten that impressive fashion job by fudging her resumé, certainly not with Facebook and LinkedIn. A quick internet dive into her high school prom photos would reveal her true age.
© NL Beeld
27 / 30 Fotos
'The Parent Trap'
- Annie and Hallie would have likely found their missing parent on Facebook and discovered they were twins without the whole camp fiasco.
© NL Beeld
28 / 30 Fotos
'Notting Hill'
- A Hollywood megastar would likely get her books shipped to her through Amazon or downloaded onto her e-reader—both of which might also mean the independent bookshop might not even exist. See also: Cursed? Bizarre film facts you probably didn't know
© NL Beeld
29 / 30 Fotos
Iconic plots made impossible by today’s technology
Blunders and excitement that modern marvels have made irrelevant
© Getty Images
Think about how many movies you’ve watched that depended entirely on characters being able to fake identities, get lost in a new place, or not being able to reach the person they need. We’re living in a time where technology is so intrinsically tied to us that it is becoming difficult to craft stories with believable suspense, comedy, fear, and danger that audiences can relate to. Whole movies could have been made irrelevant with the advent of Facebook!
Click through to see instances where modern technology, websites, or apps would have destroyed the plots of classic films.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU







MOST READ
- Last Hour
- Last Day
- Last Week