From the your modern day cable guy, to drone repair on a dystopian earth, field service have been diversely depicted in Hollywood across time, space and genre. Here’s a look at some of our favorites field service movie moments:
Gravity – 2013
There’s nothing worse than having a routine repair suddenly go south, but when you add getting un-tethered in zero-gravity and spiraling into the blackness of space — it makes working on earth and traveling by van look a lot safer than, say, a space shuttle.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B25hh4ii4Rs?wmode=Opaque]
Oblivion – 2013
Have you ever wondered what the future of field service on earth will look like? In the film, Oblivion, in the year 2077, Tom Cruise’s character barely has time to get to all of his repairs as he strives to avoid getting caught in massive radiation zones while saving the fate of mankind.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmIIgE7eSak?wmode=Opaque]
Moon – 2009
Life on the road can be isolating, but would you sign up for a three-year contract alone on the moon? Sam Rockwell’s character in Moon, does just that, but not without it costing him his sanity.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb3exxD2nGo?wmode=Opaque]
WALL-E – 2008
In Pixar’s WALL-E, field service (and almost all jobs) in the future are carried out entirely by robots as humans have become increasingly lazy. But all that changes when one, small waste-collecting robot, WALL-E, gets involved to save mankind.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHH3iSeDBLo?wmode=Opaque]
The Cable Guy – 1996
Its true that some customers just can’t be won over, but in the ultimate field service revenge flick, Jim Carrey’s The Cable Guy, shows what can happen when one field tech’s best efforts to befriend a customer go horribly wrong.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IIU2GCFbJc?wmode=Opaque]
Overboard – 1987
There are many ways to handle a difficult customer, but taking advantage of their sudden amnesia and convincing them that they’re your wife isn’t a tactic we recommend. In Overboard, Kurt Russell’s character, a carpenter, does just that and chaos ensues.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rHjCYLzifE?wmode=Opaque]
Fletch – 1985
Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher, journalist and man of many disguises, finds that there’s a lot more to airplane mechanics than just a good set of fake teeth in this field service movie moment.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InUHz2iZQI4?wmode=Opaque]
Caddyshack – 1980
Bill Murray’s character, Carl Spackler, greenskeeper, knows job dedication in the field is tough. In order to defeat conquer his gopher nemesis, enemy of the golf course, he must first learn to step into the mind of his enemy.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR0sWU1HzTE?wmode=Opaque]
Alien – 1979
Another futuristic field service film, but with a much darker twist. When commercial vessel, Nostromo receives a distress call, the crew heads to an unexplored planet to search for survivors.
But how exactly does the film Alien tie in with modern field service? Service Engineer at UCLA, Steve Fraser, describes it best in this discussion from the Field Service Engineer LinkedIn Group:
“The tunnels everyone uses to move about the mineral-ore transport ship Nostromo remind me of the steam tunnels here at UCLA. Dark, full of strange noises, some kind of vapor blowing out here and there, lights and sirens. Once in a while you bump into some strange creature wearing a blue striped work shirt or maybe coveralls crawling out of the shadows and you are startled, then you see a pile of chicken bones and El Pollo Loco wrappers and you realize you must be getting closer to where the Queen Alien is laying her eggs, or where the plumbers congregate during lunch.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDRLtgr2T9E?wmode=Opaque]
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