All The President's Men

While I was responding to Timo's post over on the Star Wreck forum, it came to mind that the 1970s journalism thriller All The President's Men provides some interesting methods for presenting technical things in a compelling way.

For those who don't know, ATPM was a dramatised version of the real events which led to the downfall of President Nixon. The film had a very unusual style, almost like a documentary, and it assumed a lot of intelligence from the audience.

Here's a typical example:

Note that it doesn't matter that the dial phones and pencil-and-paper methods are dated, because the film is still a gripping story with gripping performances. It's ultimately the drama that carries things, and seeing old technology just adds to the 1970s atmosphere.

But the realism made the performances more believable.