Do you ever think about the repercussion of logistics in the cinema? Did you know that there are large productions that have hired the figure of “logistics expert” for some of their films?

I take advantage and leave you with a mini personal selection (and why not, recommendation) of some films in which logistics has been an undisputed protagonist.

Zootopia

At first glance, it seems hard to imagine anything less suited than a cartoon movie for dealing with the supply chain. However, Zootopia is capable of turning concepts such as Lean and waste reduction into play. In a hilarious scene, we see how Nick the fox manages to turn an elephant-sized sundae into many small rodent-sized sundaes. Incredible as it may seem, the scene is a prodigy of Lean philosophy and use of resources: how to obtain raw materials at low cost, how to maximize sales starting from the same amount of product, reduce the number of scraps to zero, proximity to the point of sale to the consumer, recycling… And, on top of it, Nick ends up reselling the ice cream sticks to a construction company made up of rodents. A true zero percent waste.

Taking Chance

In some cases, the main challenge is not to arrive quickly, but rather to arrive and do so with the merchandise intact. Kevin Bacon plays an American soldier who has to repatriate the body of a colleague from Iraq to his home. Leaving aside the patriotic tone, the film is a sign of care with the cargo, of the importance of it reaching its destination intact and of the difficulties that shipments can suffer, even more so if they have to cross half the world.

Captain Phillips

In the film ‘Captain Phillips’, the ship ‘Maersk Alabama’ is hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia. Even the US SEALs intervene, along with the captain, who is none other than Tom Hanks. They try to save the ship and its cargo. Will they get it?

With this film we approach all the logistics of the world of maritime transport, although the plot derives from the situation on board, we have a realistic brushstroke of how it works.

The Martian

Even more extreme is the situation posed by the most recent The Martian. In it, Matt Damon is just as isolated, but much further from any help when he finds himself on the red planet. To save himself, he must be able to manage his meager resources and put in place overwhelming logistics to procure food and survive, including making his own compost.

Argo

Iran, 1979. When the United States embassy in Tehran is occupied by followers of Ayatollah Khomeini to request the extradition of the Shah of Persia, the CIA and the Canadian government organized an operation, with leading logistics, to rescue six diplomats Americans who had taken refuge in the house of the Canadian ambassador. To this end, an expert in rescuing hostages was brought in, and the stage was set for the shooting of a science-fiction film, entitled “Argo”, in which a team of Hollywood talent scouts participated. The mission: go to Tehran and pass the diplomats through a Canadian film crew to bring them back home.

The Lord of the War

At the beginning of the film, all the logistics required to manufacture weapons are presented. We live the evolution of manufacturing with first-person shots as if we were a large-caliber bullet.

Yuri Orlov, a Russian arms dealer, travels through countries at war trying to avoid not only the pursuit of a relentless Interpol agent, but also that of his rivals in the business and even that of some of his clients, all of them important dictators. .

This film shows the entire process of manufacturing-selling-transport-delivery-and customer service of any product… let’s take it to the sadly not too much fiction, and we get a masterpiece with Nicolas Cage in the lead.

As an added curiosity, the tanks and rifles that appear in the film were donated by arms dealers who collaborated with the film crew. It was cheaper than buying fake guns.

American made

Based on the real life of Barry Seal, a TWA pilot recruited by the CIA who became a major drug trafficker who moved drugs for Jorge Ochoa and Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel between the United States and Central America, becoming involved in important events of the 1980s such as the Iran-Contra scandal.

The logistics shown throughout the film are deafening. They have set up an entire collection-distribution-delivery-invoicing operation… an entire international business process with air connections and delivery method through “airdrop”.

There are a thousand more examples in the cinema to verbalize how important logistics is in our day to day life, in the end, if we simplify, even frying an egg has a development process, which takes us from its production and setting, to the peak moment Of consumption.

Share more examples of logistics in the cinema, do you have a movie in mind that we can include in this list?