Teenage hackers discover a criminal conspiracy with plans to use a computer virus that will capsize five oil tankers.Teenage hackers discover a criminal conspiracy with plans to use a computer virus that will capsize five oil tankers.Teenage hackers discover a criminal conspiracy with plans to use a computer virus that will capsize five oil tankers.
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
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Summary
Reviewers say 'Hackers' is a quintessential 90s film with mixed opinions. Some praise its nostalgic value, energetic youth portrayal, and iconic status among tech enthusiasts, while others criticize its unrealistic hacking depiction, poor acting, and clichéd plot. The film is seen as fun yet flawed, with a strong soundtrack and memorable performances, especially from Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie. Despite inaccuracies and dated visuals, 'Hackers' is appreciated for its cultural impact and community sense among 90s tech scene viewers.
Featured reviews
Obviously this movie is not an academy award winner. So it's going to score or not score points solely based on entertainment value.
Here's why I rate it a 7...
* The music - a great soundtrack, if you enjoy the era and genre ( Prodigy being one of the coolest bands featured) * The characters - They are all fun - especially Cereal Killer and the phone phreak guy * A pretty hot Angelina Jolie * The dialog - Some of it is pretty amusing, if you don't take the movie seriously * The overall presentation - I enjoy the signs of the time; grunge music posters, early virtual reality, etc; I enjoy the attempts at portraying what goes on inside of a computer even though it's totally wrong * I enjoy the attempt of the movie to be technical. Especially amusing is the discussion of Kate's laptop..."It has a killer refresh rate", lol; You kind of have to laugh at such things; They get some things right though. Like calling the compiler design book the Dragon book...it was named that when I was in college
Obviously weak is the portrayal of computers and hacking. As a computer professional, I can still live with it. Movies rarely get any of this stuff right, so you just put up with these things.
The plot is quite weak. But what do you expect? It suffices as a vehicle for the situations, dialog and music.
Here's why I rate it a 7...
* The music - a great soundtrack, if you enjoy the era and genre ( Prodigy being one of the coolest bands featured) * The characters - They are all fun - especially Cereal Killer and the phone phreak guy * A pretty hot Angelina Jolie * The dialog - Some of it is pretty amusing, if you don't take the movie seriously * The overall presentation - I enjoy the signs of the time; grunge music posters, early virtual reality, etc; I enjoy the attempts at portraying what goes on inside of a computer even though it's totally wrong * I enjoy the attempt of the movie to be technical. Especially amusing is the discussion of Kate's laptop..."It has a killer refresh rate", lol; You kind of have to laugh at such things; They get some things right though. Like calling the compiler design book the Dragon book...it was named that when I was in college
Obviously weak is the portrayal of computers and hacking. As a computer professional, I can still live with it. Movies rarely get any of this stuff right, so you just put up with these things.
The plot is quite weak. But what do you expect? It suffices as a vehicle for the situations, dialog and music.
Ok, I've read lots of the reviews here. I'm a computer person by trade, and I'll agree that the effects, and even some of the terminology is WAY off. But that's not the point of this movie. It never claims to be a documentary, just a fun movie about good vs. bad, and good wining. It just happens to take place over the internet. I think that this movie has just gotten a bump rap, it's the perfect B movie for lazy Saturday nights...
Love the look, the lingo, the total misunderstanding of how computers work, the idealized view of hackers, the rollerblades, all of it. this is a super corny movie BUT for a slice of 90's nostalgia and corn, it works. If you were a teenager when it came out, you probably love it, and if you saw it then, you probably still do.
I'm working in IT for over 10 years now, and let's be clear: Hackers is a movie, .. there's nothing real about the "hacking" going on in the movie.
There's a few scenes that are horribly done (for today's standards) but all in all I loved the movie. The acting is OK, the soundtrack is great and it changes for the everlasting "chliché" of the IT Nerd.
It's a movie that could surprise you, especially with the amount of bad movies being released nowadays. It's funny to see Johnny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie at the beginning of their careers as well.
If you're looking for light entertainment for one evening, ...
There's a few scenes that are horribly done (for today's standards) but all in all I loved the movie. The acting is OK, the soundtrack is great and it changes for the everlasting "chliché" of the IT Nerd.
It's a movie that could surprise you, especially with the amount of bad movies being released nowadays. It's funny to see Johnny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie at the beginning of their careers as well.
If you're looking for light entertainment for one evening, ...
First off I would just like to say that anyone who reads into this movie too much(ie try to take the validity of each and every aspect of the movie) will hate the film. Coming from a programmer and a computer enthusiast, the movie was great despite all the false statements, fake guis and totally bs methods of cracking. Quite frankly if you are one of my fellow computer geeks don't expect anything close to the real deal, it would never make a good movie for the public. I think that the true movie here is behind the whole "hacking" front. It is the development of characters the build up of a plot and an exciting climax and satisfying denouement. In closing, don't expect a command line prompt or a true UNIX client on any of the systems because it just doesn't happen in movies. Instead watch the movie because its exciting, fun and a great throwback to the early 90's.
Did you know
- TriviaThe "hacking"-sequences - the scenes where you see the "inside" of a computer - are mostly motion-controlled models, because director Iain Softley thought that actual computer graphics would look too artificial.
- GoofsThe Pan Am building seen in the New York City flyover had the Pan Am sign removed in 1992, approximately one year after Pan Am ceased operation, and three years before the film's setting.
- Quotes
Dade Murphy: Mess with the best, die like the rest.
- ConnectionsEdited from Dead of Night (1945)
- SoundtracksHalcyon & On & On
Written by Paul Hartnoll, Phil Hartnoll (as Philip Hartnoll) and Ed Barton
Performed by Orbital
Courtesy of Internal Records
Contains a sample of "It's a Fine Day"
Performed by Opus III
Courtesy of PWL International
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $7,563,728
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,173,101
- Sep 17, 1995
- Gross worldwide
- $7,566,199
- Runtime
- 1h 45m(105 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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