More Letters about Cube

From: Shatz, Neil
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999

Dear Arnold, you might wish to add the movie "The Cube" (1998) to your website. In this Sci-Fi suspense thriller, prime number theory and good old autistic brain-power (the idiot-savant variety) are required in order to negotiate a series of rooms (cubes) with deadly booby-traps. Very well done movie, enjoyable not only for the math,but for the emotional suspense.

Best Regards,


From: JBlitch
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999

Here's another one for you - "The Cube" It's a science fiction movie about 6 people trapped in a Rubik's cube type contraption. They spend their time trying to escape by trying to figure out how to move from cube to cube, safely, based on knowledge of previous cubes. They don't know how or why they came to be in the cube. One of the characters figures out that numbers on the doors of each connected cube contain clues for its successful negotiation. I don't want to give away the solution. This is a 'must-see' film. Cheers,


From: Frank Jenkins
Subject: The Math in the Movies Page - The cube
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000

Arnold,

I was looking at your "The Math in the Movies Page" and was amazed to see that you've missed out "The Cube". This movie has some of the most beautiful and complex (for me!) math that I've ever seen in a major release movie. Check out the following links if you can't get it at your local video shop:

I'd rate it as:

math ***** (5 star)
movie *** (3 star)

but please see it for yourself!

cheers,

http://cubethemovie.com/ - the official site

http://www.angelfire.com/ok2/cube/ the official *unofficial site

http://www.math.ecu.edu/~pravica/ - Dr. Pravica's own site (the guy behind the mathematics)


Date: Wed, 10 May 2000
From: Nicola Arcozzi

I've found some information about math-in-the-cube at the following address:

http://welcome.to/thecube


Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999
From: Jerry Ferguson
Subject: Cube

In the movie Cube, the characters have to escape from a maze of traps by determining the number of factors for a given number.


Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999
From: Gavin Seal

Dear Arnold.,

I just went through your "Math in the Movies" page, which is quite nice. I saw a movie called "Cube" the other day, which has a kind of a mathematic background (although I didn't catch all the subtleties of the "math-understanding" character's explanation of the maths involved - well, to be frank, I suspect it to be hot air, but I didn't check) and I didn't see it mentioned.

Anyway, maybe you know about it and think it's full of "Mumbo-jumbo, pseudo-math and mad scientist clichés" (although I know some mathematicians who look just like Malcolm in "Jurassic Park") and not worth mentionning; if not, you can find more information on it in the Internet Movie Database.

Best regards,


From: Clyde Porter
Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 It has been awhile since I've seen the movie "The Cube."  It was a thriller movie of where there people end up in a giant cube in the middle of nowhere.  As they move around in the cube trying to get out, they gather information about the structure of the cube; such as 8 rooms across, 8 rooms down, and 8 rooms wide.  Each room has 6 doors labled with numbers.  Doors with a particular kind of numbers led to a safe room while doors that don't lead to traps. 

A sickening movie but with good and confusing mathematics.


Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999
From: Matthew Angell

I stumbled upon your page quite by accident. After reading through it, there is a glaring omision.

Cube - 1997

A very cool and engrossing movie which entire premise is based upon pemrutation vectors of a 26x26 cube of rooms. A must see for anyone like yourself, and as well should be mentioned on your page.

Have fun! -matt From: SailorOlg
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000

how about "cube"? its from around 96... sci fi movie about 4 people stuck in some off facility where each room is a square with respectively six doors and they have to choose one in some fashion and move on in order to get out. so it takes them a while to realize they are in a cube and then they figure out with some numbers, something having to do with prime numbers and things divisible by other things (pretty interesting concept if you look into it, i forgot it). i am sure you can find a review of it somewhere if you havent seen it. good luck.
From: Jean
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000

How about Cube (1997) ? Here's the imdb link: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0123755
From: Werner Frielingsdorf
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 Hi Arnold, I've just watched a move called "Cube" and I thought I might have a look on the net to see how accruate the mathematics used in the film were. However, looking at your web site there was no mention of the film, and looking at the titles that were reviewed, I'd imagine "Cube" would make an excellent addition.

Anyway, here's a link to a review of the film. http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue91/screen.html

I appologise I don't have the mathematical background required to review it myself, but I did enjoy the film :).


Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000
From: Frank Simonetta
Subject: Cube

One movie you've got to add to your list is "Cube". It's a Canadian sci-fi film.

Synopsis: One by one, a group of people wake to find themselves in a cube room with six doors, one on each wall (ceiling/floor). Each door leads to another identical room, which in turn leads to others etc. Each door has been coded with a sequence of numbers. Only one path leads out of the building, all the others have been booby trapped to kill them. They realise that the only way out is to find the pattern in the numbers.

Here is its IMDB page http://us.imdb.com/Title?0123755


Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 To: reinhold@world.std.com
From: Peter Wood

Hi,

I was just looking at your "Math in the Movies" webpage and I thought I should mention a movie I saw called "The Cube". It is about a group of people who wake up trapped is this weird cube contraption consisting of smaller cubes. They have to do things like factor products of large prime numbers and work out the dimesions of the cube in order to escape. The true nature of the cube is never revealed.

Date: Sun, 7 May 2000
From: Nicola Arcozzi
I have quite enjoied your list of movies and math. I propose two new entries:

1) "Rosencrantz and Guilderstein are dead", by T. Stoppard;

2) "The Cube" (canadian and recent). Stoppard's movie does not have explicit references about math, besides a metaphor on life involving probability. At the beginning of the movie, a flipped coin obstinately turns head, to the surprise of the scientific minded Rosencrantz (or was it Guilderstein?). As we come to learn in the end, R&G; are already dead: this why nothing more is casual ("there is no chance").

"The cube" is a recent Sci-Fi psycho-thriller, that already takes place in a highly mathematized environment (a labyrinth of permuting cubes), with six characters trying to get out, amidst deadly traps and dramatic struggle within the group. They manage because one of them is a girl with astonishing math skills and another one is an idiot-savant, a autistic guy with prodigious computing abilities. (I saw the movie in dubbed into Italian. My impression was that the math were rather casual, but this might be the effect of the translation).



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