Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

'Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine' Documentary Debuts Today in Theaters and on VOD

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,584
37,975



The new documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine today sees its wide release into theaters and onto video on demand platforms. The film first debuted at SXSW in March and met a bit of controversy thanks to its depiction of Jobs as a merciless force, with less time spent on his greater contributions to Apple and his impact on the world. Subsequently, Apple senior executive Eddy Cue called the film "an inaccurate and mean-spirited view of my friend" and "not a reflection of the Steve I knew."

Steve-Jobs-MITM-Poster.jpg
Now that the film has seen a slightly wider release in critic screenings before its launch today, a few more opinions have been gathered on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. The film currently sits at a 75% with 30 fresh and 10 rotten reviews, with an overall consensus calling the film "absorbing" but lacking any deep understanding of Jobs himself. The movie's theatrical run is pretty limited to start, with it only hitting 65 screens in 50 markets, according to Deadline. The usual cities of New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will more heavily serve viewing of the documentary.


Fortunately, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine is seeing a simultaneous theatrical and VOD release. Users can watch the movie at home on services like iTunes, VUDU, Xbox Video, and The PlayStation Store. Its price varies drastically between each service, with the cheapest HD rental coming from iTunes for $4.99 and the highest option coming from VUDU for an $8.99 HDX version of the film.

Article Link: 'Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine' Documentary Debuts Today in Theaters and on VOD
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/04/steve-jobs-documentary-debuts/
Inaccurate, Eddie? You're saying Jobs didn't deny paternity of his daughter Lisa? That's not exactly a minor character flaw. Eddie, get your head out of your ass.

I wonder if he would give the same lame defense of Dre, considering his behavior.
 
Last edited:
DaveTheRave said:
Inaccurate, Eddie? You're saying Jobs didn't deny paternity of his daughter Lisa? That's not exactly a minor character flaw. Eddie, get your head out of your ass.

I wonder if he would give the same lame defense of Dre, considering his behavior.
Click to expand...
The funny thing about our world and especially the world according to Americans, is that someone is either a perfect hero or a perfect villain. The reality is a bit more complex. No one is perfect in either direction.

It is hard to defend (especially as a father myself) SJ denial of his own daughter. That, to me, is some seriously messed up stuff. It is also hard to deny that he accomplished great things in the world of technology. In addition to the complexities of humanity that creates a man like this, it also provide some insight into what makes him, him, and what he values more.

Dre is much the same. He screwed up pretty bad in his youth but seems to have done better as he has matured. Do we judge him for ever based on his past actions? Do we ignore those actions? Or do we recognize the complexities of his humanity that has evolved over the years.

I for one, cannot judge someone based on a single fact or based on something from long ago. I include that in my judgement, but it is not the exclusive reason for the judgement. This carries into politics. All too often people vote based on a single issue such as abortion or gay marriage or whatever. The world is just too complex for me, and to simplify it to a single issue, makes no sense.

Okay, sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant, which was not my intention.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: greatrace53, iKen1, mijail and 26 others
Cuban Missles said:
The funny thing about our world and especially the world according to Americans, is that someone is either a perfect hero or a perfect villain.

The reality is a bit more complex. No one is perfect in either direction. It is hard to defend (especially as a father myself) SJ denial of his own daughter. That, to me, is some seriously messed up stuff. It is also hard to deny that he accomplished great things in the world of technology.
Click to expand...
Well stated too. One's atonement should always be considered too. Jobs did work later in his life to build a connection with his first daughter, and ended up raising quite a nice family with his wife as well. His early actions with his girlfriend and first daughter are not worth defending by anyone, but I don't see those actions as a reason to discredit everything he's done in his life. If the true victim of his actions, his own daughter, can forgive him and move on, then the rest of us should be able to as well.

What bothers me about such binary thinking is that it can send a message to someone who has done something bad that there is no forgiveness or redemption. And that can lead someone with an unstable mind to go down a very dark path. Giving someone a second chance and helping to guide them to better actions in the future is far more beneficial to society as a whole then shunning people the second they step out of line.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mal67, iKen1, macs4nw and 5 others
drakino said:
Well stated too. One's atonement should always be considered too. Jobs did work later in his life to build a connection with his first daughter, and ended up raising quite a nice family with his wife as well. His early actions with his girlfriend and first daughter are not worth defending by anyone, but I don't see those actions as a reason to discredit everything he's done in his life. If the true victim of his actions, his own daughter, can forgive him and move on, then the rest of us should be able to as well.

What bothers me about such binary thinking is that it can send a message to someone who has done something bad that there is no forgiveness or redemption. And that can lead someone with an unstable mind to go down a very dark path. Giving someone a second chance and helping to guide them to better actions in the future is far more beneficial to society as a whole then shunning people the second they step out of line.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the complement.

One thing, I read the bio on Steve and it was my understanding that he and his daughter were not on speaking terms at the time of his death, so I am not sure about your statement about her. Still, I strongly agree with the point that in the end the ultimate judgement is with her as the relationship was between the two of them.
 
I wonder what the insider story was about the daughter. Did the mother somehow hurt Jobs? Did he really believe he was not the father? Or he didn't like that he made a mistake because that was not planned.
 
DaveTheRave said:
Inaccurate, Eddie? You're saying Jobs didn't deny paternity of his daughter Lisa? That's not exactly a minor character flaw. Eddie, get your head out of your ass.

I wonder if he would give the same lame defense of Dre, considering his behavior.
Click to expand...

What a waste of internet space, which is a real achievement!
 
Cuban Missles said:
The funny thing about our world and especially the world according to Americans, is that someone is either a perfect hero or a perfect villain. The reality is a bit more complex. No one is perfect in either direction.

It is hard to defend (especially as a father myself) SJ denial of his own daughter. That, to me, is some seriously messed up stuff. It is also hard to deny that he accomplished great things in the world of technology. In addition to the complexities of humanity that creates a man like this, it also provide some insight into what makes him, him, and what he values more.

Dre is much the same. He screwed up pretty bad in his youth but seems to have done better as he has matured. Do we judge him for ever based on his past actions? Do we ignore those actions? Or do we recognize the complexities of his humanity that has evolved over the years.

I for one, cannot judge someone based on a single fact or based on something from long ago. I include that in my judgement, but it is not the exclusive reason for the judgement. This carries into politics. All too often people vote based on a single issue such as abortion or gay marriage or whatever. The world is just too complex for me, and to simplify it to a single issue, makes no sense.

Okay, sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant, which was not my intention.
Click to expand...

For me the thing that irks me about SJ was is calculated calouness toward his daughter and her mother.

He knew Apple was going public and that he would be worth hundreds of millions. So he decided, after battling and denying for years, to pay child support. He did this so by law he would not have to pay more after Apple went public.

That is some next level s**t.

But at the same time he was a brilliant man. He pushed very talented people to create things they never thought possible.
 
Cuban Missles said:
One thing, I read the bio on Steve and it was my understanding that he and his daughter were not on speaking terms at the time of his death, so I am not sure about your statement about her. Still, I strongly agree with the point that in the end the ultimate judgement is with her as the relationship was between the two of them.
Click to expand...
My understanding is Steve's sister helped repair the relationship between Steve and Lisa to the point she changed her last name, and helped lead to the multiple times Lisa lived with Steve. The relationship between Steve and his ex wasn't good though, as she was asking for money to shelve a book she was going to publish in 2005, and again later in 2009 which Steve saw as a ransom demand.
 
MacRumors said:
Its price varies drastically between each service, with the cheapest HD rental coming from iTunes for $4.99 and the highest option coming from VUDU for an $8.99 HDX version of the film.
Click to expand...

This is incorrect. The iTunes rental price is showing up as $6.99 for me.
 
drakino said:
My understanding is Steve's sister helped repair the relationship between Steve and Lisa to the point she changed her last name, and helped lead to the multiple times Lisa lived with Steve. The relationship between Steve and his ex wasn't good though, as she was asking for money to shelve a book she was going to publish in 2005, and again later in 2009 which Steve saw as a ransom demand.
Click to expand...

He was divorced when he died? I thought he was still married. Ugh, she got that God awful yacht. Boy that was a horrible design.
 
Whether it's completely accurate or not, Apple and the execs don't apparently disagree enough to refuse to make some money from it.

If Apple's executive staff felt strongly about the movie, they could and would refuse to stream it through iTunes.

The fact that they're offering it, shows they care more about the money than whether or not it accurately portrays Steve.

I'm personally not bothered either direction. It's a movie. And, like all movies, it's impossible to capture every intricacy of decades of a life in a couple hours.

The thing about the negative reviewers, is that they still watched the movie, and the publisher still got their money. It all works for the studio regardless of whether you like or disliked the film.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MH01
Jobs was a piece of **** as a human being. Reversed Apple's philanthropic efforts in the 90's, completely endorsed inhumane Chinese sweat shops, the whole paternity thing, screwing Apple employees out of money, and not giving a dime to charity before or after his death. Not to mention how contradictory and hypocritical his speeches about success were; he visciously punished people in the company who lived by his mottos.

He created some good products, but that was also the work of many other people. Jobs shouldn't be idolized or revered in the slightest. Supposedly Tim Cook is trying to reinstitute philanthropy at Apple, if that happens he'll be a better man than Jobs ever was.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Oblivious.Robot and The Bad Guy
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back