"The '90s in Action" - 'Hackers' (1995)

'Hackers' (1995)

Okay, so with my latest film for ‘The ‘90s in Action!’ is stretching the boundaries of what an action film is. “Hackers” is actually classified as a crime thriller, but it does have some action beats and it definitely has an over-the-top villain.

The first thing that I’ll get out of the way is that this movie does not accurately portray how computers work in any way and I’m well aware of that. In the ‘90s, it was apparently a big challenge to make it exciting showing people working on computers.

What “Hackers” does well, though, is that it gives us a true cyberpunk atmosphere and a highly stylized world where our hackers operate. It simplifies things for the audience’s sake and I believe film critic Roger Ebert said it best when he reviewed the film, “The movie is smart and entertaining, then, as long as you don’t take the computer stuff very seriously. I didn’t. I took it approximately as seriously as the archeology in Indiana Jones.”

What the movie sets out to show us was a very real culture where talented hackers use their talents behind the keyboard for harmless exercises. As the tagline for the movie read, “Their crime is curiosity.”

Crash Override and Acid Burn are at the center of 'Hackers'!

The movie mainly follows Dade Murphy (Jonny Lee Miller), a hacker who performed a major hack when he was a kid but got caught. Now that he’s 18, he has regained access to a computer and is hacking once again under the code name Crash Override. After being forced to move to New York City, he eventually meets other hackers like him.

There’s the Phantom Phreak (Renoly Santiago), Cereal Killer (Matthew Lillard), Lord Nikon (Laurence Mason), and Joey Pardella (Jesse Bradford) who has yet to get a nickname. Then there is Acid Burn (Angelina Jolie), a hacker who is initially at odds with Crash Override and they soon find themselves in a bet to see who the better hacker really is.

In the meantime, Joey gets set up for causing a virus that threatens to sink oil tankers unless whoever is behind the virus is paid $5 million. In reality, this is a cover by Eugene Belford, aka The Plague (Fisher Stevens). His true plan is that he’s been slowly embezzling money from the company he works for and Joey discovered this when he hacked the company’s mainframe, so the Plague framed Joey and he gets the secret service to track not just Joey but his friends as well.

Crash Override is not alone in 'Hackers'!

It is true that if you can get past the absurd computer jargon, you find yourself in a fantastical world with characters that you enjoy hanging out with for the most part. While the computer effects are nothing like the real world, the movie is trying to get you into the mind of the hackers. They’re trying to get you to see what they see and, for the most part, you’re with them.

The performances are fun as well. Miller is a good lead, Lillard is as crazy as ever, Santiago is a good guide into this world of hackers, Jolie shows off her early talents as an actress that led her to superstardom, and Mason is great as Nikon, the man with a photographic memory that can remember everything.

Then there is Stevens as the Plague. I believe I read some time ago that Stevens dismisses this role and the movie altogether. I hate that because I actually think he gives an appropriately devious performance that is just right for this kind of movie. It’s a fun role for the audience to take in and Stevens should be proud of it.

Yes, the movie is absurd in places and out of date just due to age, but every time I play this movie, I love it. I just get lost in this world of hackers and their quest for justice for their friend and the fun they have in their world. In conclusion, if you can look past the absurd computer techno babble, this is a fun movie and one worth seeing!