# Hackers (1995)

### reviewed by
Rob Slade, doting grandpa of Ryan and Trevor

    VDHACKRS.RVW   20010308

    "Hackers", Rafael Moreu/Ian Softley (director), 1995, 0-7928-4467-X
    %A   Rafael Moreu
    %C   2500 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA   90404-3061
    %D   1995
    %E   Iain Softley (director)
    %G   0-7928-4467-X
    %I   MGM/UA
    %O   www.mgm.com MGM_customerservice@pds.com
    %P   105 min.
    %T   "Hackers"

One of the review quotes used to promote this film states that it "[s]ucceeds at just about everything `The Net' failed to." I'm not sure what this success is supposed to entail. "Hackers" does have better graphics, a more frenetic pace, hackers versus hackers, and a sense of communal versus singular effort. Plus a neat semi-climactic plot twist. (Which, however, becomes rather foolish if you really knew what was happening in one of the earlier scenes. Why bother recabling phones locally when you can bounce calls through half a dozen relays?)

Semi-believable: law enforcement sending a SWAT team to break down the doors and grab a pre-teen cracker. (One does hope they've learned something since Operation Sun Devil.) (Not living there I wouldn't know, but do Americans really allow that kind of media harrassment of juvenile offenders?)

OK, let's list the stereotypes. Crackers are young, evil geniuses (genii?) A virus, presumably written and run on a PC, can bring down a mainframe based transaction system. Graphical interface instant messaging systems that work through tape library controllers. Video games skills equate to technical skills. Graphical interfaces for everything, including ransom notes in viruses. (The "Leonardo Da Vinci" virus? Oh, please ...) The salami scam. A virus which, even when found, is undetectable.

In order to convince us that the movie truly is 'leet, we have what? Nice fractals? And mentions of the cookie prank and virus. Flu-Shot (although it doesn't work on mainframes). Social engineering. Dumpster diving. Arf, Arf and Gotcha (that was a trojan, not a virus). Emmanuel Goldstein.

While the movie is fun, the tone is uneven, celebrating anarchic security breaking exploits without demonstrating the real dangers involved in "just looking." Sure, we're told that Wall Street drops some percentage points, and we see a three car accident, but the massive chaos and suffering that could result from the electronic horseplay is nowhere to be seen. There is an additional level of unreality in the fact that the bad guy has way too much power, and yet falls way too easily.

Still, if you completely clear your mind of any vestige of logic, the graphics are pretty.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2001 VDHACKRS.RVW 20010308

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