Customer Reviews

Hackers

5 star:		(199)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(33)

 

 

If you want a serious movie about hackers, look somewhere else. If you want a really fun movie with good style, Angelina Jolie, and a pulsing soundtrack, Hackers may be for you.

Johhny Lee Miller (aka Crash Override or Zero Cool) moves to New York with his mother. He meets Angelina Jolie (aka Acid Burn) at school and they immediately become rivals. They come up with a hacking contest to prove who is the best. Together with their friends, Lord Nikon, Cereal Killer (my favorite), Phantom Phreak, and Joey (who is nobody without a handle) join up to take on Fisher Stevens as Mr. The Plague.

This movie is chock full of cool scenes, cool people, and skater technobabble. Sure, the hacking scenes are totally unrealistic, the people unrealistic as computer geeks, but with the awesome techno soundtrack and the style they are presented with, it is easy to overlook. Just sit back and enjoy the ride!

I think that most sysadmin types probably have Mr The Plague as their role model. As a villain, he is ultra suave. As a sysadmin, he is over the top. I have never seen a computer guy with this much panache, and I don't suspect I will see another.

After you have made it through the movie a few times you can begin to watch for the fun stuff. Watch Mr The Plague's hands, especially in the flower delivery scene. When they go over to Lord Nikon's place and watch TV, consider what is playing. How many of their secret hacker books do you own?

If I could give this movie more stars, I would. This is by far my favorite hacker type movie, and if you count the number of times I have watched it, it would rank as my all time favorite over all. BUY IT NOW! It is better than Cats, you will watch it again and again.

The soundtrack is available on CD, and if you are a techno fan I suggest looking in to it.

There was a lot of talk about this movie over the Net..90% of net hackers will probably tell u this is the worst movie ever created but i disagree with that ...this movie got me into computers in the first place . I own the DVD and i must have watched this movie over 400 times by now..maybe more i never really kept track, it has its hyped up moments or even a far fetched moment here and there but its a movie for crying out loud, what i think was most accurate (at least to me) was the portrayal of someone who is obsessed by technology and just how the whole sub-culture of the computer underground is like, the clothing, the music, the attitude was all very nice i love this movie and when i have kids they will probably be like "oh god, dads getting out the Hackers DVD again.." and they will probably hate it but it, in my opinion of course, is an excellent movie. Though i urge MGM-DVD to re-release it with some extra features, the features are what make DVD what it is. I saw some scenes flashed in that trailer that were not in the movie and i would give anything to see them,

this movie is absolutly great, it's a great story, a lot of people complain about it, because it doesn't depict true hacker culture, well people, ya gotta remember two things: 1.) this movie is meant to be a visual manifestation of what hackers see the computer world is, and 2.) if they really showed what true hackers saw on their screen (mostly text, no graphics) then people would get boring, and not want to watch it, and the people that review this movie are always saying, " i'm a hacker, and i never goto clubs like that", tends to tip off the fact that the person really isn't a a hacker, and should use their imagination, and really get the creativity that went into this movie, this is a top of the line movie, awesome music, good acting, and nice visuals, 5 stars all the way!

It was an enjoyable movie, even with the one-dimensional bad guy with the equally bad one-liners, but best of all - the film had a great portrayal of a multi-ethnic society, without using dumb stereotypes found in most 'teen' movies. Angelina Jolie wasn't the typical love interest who tends to spout pretentious lines such as 'whatever' and 'as if'. Instead, we were introduced to a 'sexy tomboy'. Best of all, there wasn't the 'token female black best-friend', often found in bad movies (Scream 2, Clueless, etc). Jonny Lee Miller made a likeable 'hero' as Crash Override aka Dade Murphy, and the chemistry between him and former wife Angelina sizzles - shame about his dodgy accent though! Matthew Lillard - what can I say?? Would this film be the same without 'Cereal Killer'?!? The rest of the supporting cast are great - this film may not be without flaws, but it's 'anti-Hollywood' portrayal of 'teens' is fantastic. A definite recommendation for an above average 'teen' movie.

I rented this movie recently for the first time. It was spectacular. Although it doesn't give a completely accurate description of hacker culture, it comes close. This movies show's hackers to be what they really are: People looking for free information, not working to destroy things. The methods of hacking and phreaking (making free phone calls) are innaccurate enough so kids can't do it, but accurate enough to show it can be done and will inspire people to learn more about computers. This is the future

For your better than average computer geek, this film is more of a comedy than anything else. I LOVED it. The people who wouldn't like this flick are the ones perhaps looking for practical or usable hacking tips.. if thats the case, forget it. The GUI and other hacking visuals have Hollywood and fan-service written allllllll over them. The villain (Mr. The Plague, lol) is a geek... Of course he doesn't have the typical villainous charisma you might expect in a movie like Die Hard or Friday the 13th part 9,078,243 1/2 ... For the love of God he's a geek... whatcha expect?? The Terminator?

The plot is interesting as Dade contiues to prove himself as elite to his new friends and becomes an intergral part in saving the day.

The "ideas" behind the hacking and the way many hackers think are very real... its just the methods are glamourized... great graphics tho!!

Love Secret Sex God and Password are all no-nos, but another important one... do not spell your name backwards ... thats one that I might check ;-)

dV

P.S. Look for the Anglina nipshot ... can yah find it???

I just saw Hackers (rented it at my local video rental place; looked like it had been sitting there since the day it came out since the case was so beat up. lol) and I loved it.

Their are of course errors with the technological aspect of it; like the computers had software and GUI that hadn't come out yet for that time period, but its a still a good movie overall. Some argue that the villain sucks, but, honestly, I kind of liked him. He didn't repersent a villain very well, but he was the main comic relief of the film. One thing I've heard (I have yet to actually see the second one) was that Hackers 2: Operation TakeDown has NOTHING to do with the first one. Different characters, Different time period, everything. I was also suprised ot see that Amazon doesn't have Hackers 2: Operation Takedown. I think it may have had some sort of ban put on it, but i'm not sure. It would be nice to have the second one though.
*Clap for Kevin Mitnick*

Another thing about the realness (I know its not a word, shutup) of the computers is that viruses aren't actually loaded that easily unless your the most u83r_133+ s(r1p+ k1DD13 around. I think they could have shown alot more of the actual hacking instead of just having them suddenly be in the government computers in 5 minutes; although then I guess it wouldn't be any fun for you normal users who don't know the difference between an AIM and Telnet. FYI, Real hackers don't say things like u83r_133t, only script kiddies do. The only time a real hacker (Someone who knows how to program and actually knows how computers work) says things like u83r 133t and h4x0r is when we are making fun of scrip kiddies.

My $.02
Enjoy
-Phreak.Net

"Spandex, Its a privilege, not a right."
~Hackers

Exillerating is the only word that can be used to describe the pace of this movie. Admitedly this movie doesn't depict the true actions of hackers, but that's okay since this is a movie not a documentary. The graphics are below par when compared to today's standards but they are still satisfactory. This is not the type of movie to watch if you are just into sitting back and not thinking at all, you need to think at least a bit. Over all this is an excellent movie, especially when complemented by the pumpin' soundtrack. I highly recommend this.

An excellent effort for a less known director. High levels of charisma with both the Dade and Kate characters, adding to the seriousness, with the comic relief by the "Phreak" and "Cerial Killer" hacker characters. Despite the cliqued storyline (good guys framed by bad), the movie is fast paced and fun, including great one-liners and teen dialogue. Even though this movie is disliked by some, via it's obvious departing from reality, and editing flaws, Hackers is the first movie to enter the lifestyle and emotions of hackers and the introduction of the internet and the mass corruption of information.

Quick Story: Boy is banned from computer usage till his 18th birthday due to a massive virus while created a wall street crash. Meets up with 5 other hackers whom stumble on and into a massive crime with both ecological and economic damage involving an oil company. Throw in a few secret service agents, a prank contest and some really freaky dreams and watch till the end..

My advice is to ignore the fact that a 28.8 modem couldnt possibly reach those speeds, and enjoy the movie. Because remember, even "The Matrix" had it's story holes too.

- Arameda

Funny how so many people complain that this movie makes a complete mockery of everything computer-related. Well, it does! Yes, it represents a computer mainframe as a 3D world with what look like skyscrapers full of files. Yes, it represents virii (viruses) as animals and video-game characters. And yes, the supercomputer looks like it would work better as movie screen with a Star Trek-like "keyboard". So what? I happen to be a computer programmer (Not a hacker by the media definition, I admit), and I've made some of those complaints myself. But you know what? Their little peephole into the world of computer hacking is absolutely hilarious! The plot, though simple, moves along nicely... The characters are stereotyped but still entertaining... The archvillian, an "evil corporation" hacker who actually rides next to the car on a skateboard instead of inside (Pretty hilarious to see), is extremely well played! Bottom line, true computer people need a good sense of humor to appreciate this film, and everyone else... It's definitely worth seeing, but try not to take it too literally.