Hackers is a movie released in 1995 that follows the misfortunes of young hacker Dade Murphy (aka 'Crash Override'/'Zero Cool'). It was written by Rafael Moreu and directed by Iain Softley.

The movie failed to make a profit at the box-office, but has developed a cult following from its video release, and it is also known as the first major film to star future Academy Award-winner Angelina Jolie. Despite their lack of accuracy, metaphorical graphical sequences are used well as a substitute for what would normally be hours of boring text screens and typing.

Plot

In his childhood, Dade is convicted as the youngest ever hacker for crashing 1507 systems in one day and causing a drop in the New York Stock Exchange. As a result, he is banned from using a computer or touch-tone telephone until the day of his 18th birthday. On his 18th birthday Dade is forced to move to New York City where his mother gets a new job and he attends Stuyvesant High School and becomes quickly recognized for his hacking abilities.

Ramon Sanchez ('Phantom Phreak') a member of a dysfunctional group of hackers in Dade's new school who spots his skill during bouts of Dade's revenge with the beautiful Kate Libby ('Acid Burn') played by actress Angelina Jolie. Other members of the group include Emmanuel Goldstein ('Cereal Killer') played by Matthew Lillard, Paul Cook ('Lord Nikon') played by Laurence Mason, and Joey Pardella, played by Jesse Bradford.

The younger Joey Pardella, the wannabe hacker of the group, hacks into an oil company supercomputer to prove to the rest of the group that he is an elite hacker. He downloads part of a garbage file that ends up being part of a worm written by the oil company's computer security expert Eugene 'The Plague' Belford. The partially downloaded file can prove that 'The Plague' is stealing money from the company via salami slicing. 'The Plague' enlists the clueless US Secret Service to recover the file by claiming it is the code to a computer virus that will capsize the companies oil tanker fleet.

The aggressive tactics of 'The Plague' and 'Hacker Enemy Number 1', Agent Richard Gill cause the hackers to seek revenge in the only way they know how, electronically.

A spectacular electronic battle against 'The Plague' and against time (before they are arrested) saves the day in typical hero style.

Background

The movie stars Jonny Lee Miller as Murphy, Angelina Jolie as Libby, with Fisher Stevens as Belford. The protagonist character, Zero Cool (Miller), is based on Robert T. Morris. A Phantom Phreak may have gotten his name from an early hacker who wrote for Phrack Magazine.

This movie quotes the Hacker Manifesto (written by The Mentor) from Phrack magazine. The person reading the manifesto was holding a 2600 magazine, not a print out of Phrack. Also, the name of Emmanuel Goldstein (a.k.a. Cereal Killer) is borrowed from one of the editors of 2600. Emmanuel Goldstein (real name: Eric Corley) helped advise the movie makers when it came to the sub-hacker culture.

The racing game briefly featured in the movie was a video prototype created during development of wipEout.

Trivia

• "Hack the Gibson" is a phrase used in the movie that refers to the hacking of a Gibson supercomputer, a fictional brand of supercomputer probably referring to the science fiction author William Gibson, father of the cyberpunk genre and coiner of the term "cyberspace". Used colloquially to impugn an achievement, particularly as regards to computers (e.g. "Brian thought he was totally hacking the Gibson but ended up formatting his hard drive instead").

• The real name of Matthew Lillard's character, Emmanuel Goldstein, is taken from George Orwell's 1984. It is also a pseudonym of Eric Corley who was a technical consultant for the film. A copy of Corley's 2600: The Hacker Quarterly also appears briefly hanging on a wall during the movie.

• The Hacker Manifesto read by Agent Bob is part of a real article written by hacker, The Mentor.

• When Eugene Belford, aka The Plague, is on the plane near the end he uses the pseudonym "Mr. Babbage". This is a tribute to Charles Babbage, the inventor of an early computer.

Ratings

• Argentina:13
• Australia:M
• Canada:PG
• Germany:12
• Ireland:15
• Singapore:PG
• Spain:13
• UK:12
• USA:PG-13 (certificate #33561)

Technical

• Runtime: 107 min
• Country of origin: USA
• Languages: English / Italian / Japanese / Russian
• Color Format: Color (DeLuxe )
• Sound Mixes: DTS-Stereo / DTS

External links