MovieChat Forums > Go (1999) Discussion > No Mobile Phones

No Mobile Phones

posted 16 years ago by bigbud_120
144 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone else notice that even though the film was shot in 1999 and focused on young people that no mobile phones appeared in the film.

Unless I missed something it seems like this was a deliberate decision by makers of the film. I like the choice.

Edit: The stripclub guy who Simon shot may have used a mobile phone to call the Rivierra to find out which room Simon and his friends were staying in. I don't recall, it may have been a carphone.

It still doesn't explain why no other characters in the movie use a mobile when they had the opportunity.

[–] nogard64 11 years ago

yeah back in 1999 people were still rocking pagers and beepers, America usually is behind the times when it comes to Tech, like DVDs were in Japan mid 90s, and Blu Ray was in Asia way before we had it, even Fiber internet, its a fact America is way behind it.

But on a personal note in late 1999 I finally did purchase my own phone, I even remember the model number it was a Nokia 5190, the thing was pretty huge and weighed a lot so your pocket always had a big huge bulge in it, and the battery died so fast, and reception was always spotty. Man I miss the late 90s, good times.

http://hemestate.blogspot.com/

-things I write on IMDB may come from my blog

[–] TC Fenstermaker 11 years ago

Sure, I'm five years late to this well-beaten horse, but, why not add my 24cents worth of wisdom...

...I actually saw this movie in the theater the week it came out. Not once did I think, "what the heck, how comes these kids aren't calling each other on their cell phones?" While cell phones existed, were not an uncommon site, and people knew how they worked (for example, that they could be traced to a location), they weren't as omnipresent as now. It's that simple.

If this movie came out today and a) there was a built-in cell phone in the sports car (which, btw, was exactly the sort of opulent accessory "Orange County" would have had) and b) the kids weren't texting each other every five seconds on smart phones--no matter how poor they were--I would find it odd and unrealistic. But the way in which cell phones were used in this film, and the amount they were used, was about right for the time and made perfect sense to those of us in the audience then. (At least, those of in the US, which, if one notices, is where this movie takes place--so it doesn't really matter if all the cool kids had them in Australia then, or wherever.)

(I'm now going to head over to the Blair Witch Project board and see how many threads there are asking "how could these kids NOT have a cell phone and just use Google Maps?")

____
As a reward for your bravery, you will both find permanent homes on adult contemporary radio.

[–] tbirdman-1 11 years ago

"Go" was first released in 1999 which is coincidentally when I bought
my first ever mobile phone. It was a Sony Erickson which had all the
basic features and I signed up with Cellular One which was later
taken over by Sprint PCS. Now this was before text messaging was
invented so in the late 90's/early 2000's I could make and receive
calls and that was it for my new phone. Don't remember what I
used to pay monthly though it was a lot and of course I was tied
to a minimum two years contract. I stayed with sprint until early
2002 when my contract ended and they credited my original down
payment on my first phone which also paid my final bill. I have
since switched over to Virgin Mobile in 2002 where I've been a
loyal and satisfied consumer for well over ten years. I'm
paying $45.00 per month for 1200 chat minutes and unlimited
texting, email and web use plus $5.00 for phone insurance.
And I'm using an android phone and cannot imagine going back
to a traditional old school phone.

Lawrence Sunny California

Call me a sailor or a swabby just don't call me a squid!

[–] rodimus76 11 years ago

Hi,

I live in the UK and mobile phones were very common with people of that age group and in similar jobs (I was one!) in 1999! mainly becuase we had many cheap PAYG (Pay as You Go) phones that you could get from £40/50 onwards where you would top up your phone with small amnounts when needed, so no contract. I had some motorolla at the time, a bit of a brick by todays mobiles though.

However i dont think these types of phones caught on in the US till quite a while later, as when i was talking to Americans in 2001 (in Australia while backpacking) they mentioned this. which is probably why the majority of Americans are saying that it was very expensive, wheras people in Australia/UK are saying "yeah! i had one in 1999 and i was 16/18" etc etc.

[–] ipacac22 11 years ago

I was in high school when this movie came out and nobody had a cell phone at my school. It wasn't that common back then. People rocked pagers as they highlight in this movie.

Utah! Get me two.

[–] allearsblog 11 years ago

In 1999, I was a teenager and had a pager. Not many teens in Canada had cells then.

[–] joekill162 10 years ago

Only one out of 50 people I knew had a cell phone in the late 90's I had my first cell phone, around nov, dec 99, they were expensive $50 and 200 min month, In 1998 I had those text pagers were you had to call a live person to leave a text message to the the person you want to receive the beeper text message that technology bomb, text message pagers, the same year it came out.

[–] robocat893 10 years ago

1995 I was running a business out of my home and I wanted cell phone so I wouldn't be tied to my office. I went to RadioShack and received a phone that was the size of a couple of bricks and it came in a bag with a shoulder strap because that thing weighed a ton. It was very expensive and the coverage was iffy at best.

We sure have come a long way since then.

Bagels and coffee!

[–] ryderdvs 10 years ago

Yeah, I was living in Los Angeles when this film came out, and only a few people that I knew had one, and they usually had a pre-paid minutes plan, that came with a card with a phone number that had to be dialed first, in order to hear how many minutes were left. It was about a year two later (2000 - 2001), that I was at the Northridge Fashion Center Mall, and cellular phone vendors were suddenly EVERYWHERE.

[–] generationofswine 9 years ago

1) Yes, cell phones were a lot cheaper & more common outside of the US in the late 90s.

2) Min wage jobs could not afford to purchase cell phones in the late 90s. I was working a min wage job then & a cell phone was a pipe dream. I couldn't afford one myself until half-way through college.

[–] jakal911 9 years ago

I got my first cell phone in 99, and I was out of school working. I'd say that maybe around 30% of the people I knew had cell phones at that time. Not a lot of people I worked with had them, and we're talking about full time employees working in the technology sector earning very good pay, who are in their early 20s.

[–] svellis-96785 8 years ago

I was curious so I looked up the statistics, and apparently about 1 in 4 Americans had cell phones when the movie was made (in 1998), so I'm guessing that in 1999 (when the movie was released) about 30% of Americans had cellphones.
It's strange that the US was so far behind the rest of the world with regards to cell phones (Canada was also far behind, incidentally). Even now I believe North America has the most expensive phones and plans in the world.

[–] ImReallyANarc 8 years ago

Like all the characters in this film, I was a poor 19-year-old in 1999. Only a very few of my friends had cell phones back then and could barely afford the minutes anyway. The phone was more of a fashion/status accessory.