Hackers (film)

Hackers
Poster design by Dawn Patrol
Directed by	Iain Softley
Produced by	Michael Peyser
Written by	Rafael Moreu
Starring	Jonny Lee Miller Angelina Jolie Jesse Bradford Matthew Lillard Fisher Stevens Lorraine Bracco Renoly Santiago Laurence Mason
Music by	Simon Boswell
Cinematography	Andrzej Sekuła
Editing by	Chris Blunden Martin Walsh
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	September 15, 1995
Running time	107 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$7,563,728 (US)

Hackers is a 1995 American cyberpunk thriller film directed by Iain Softley and starring Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, Renoly Santiago, Matthew Lillard, Lorraine Bracco and Fisher Stevens. The film follows the exploits of a group of gifted high school hackers and their involvement in a corporate extortion conspiracy. Made in the 90s when the internet was unfamiliar to the general public, it is a cult classic reflective of the verbatim quotes in the film from the Hacker Manifesto, of a borderless world free of national, religious, and racial identity biases, to fight the powerful. Hackers has achieved both dated cult classic status and prescience.

Plot summary

In 1988, Dade "Zero Cool" Murphy (age 11) is arrested and charged with crashing 1,507 systems in one day and causing a single-day 7-point drop in the New York Stock Exchange. Upon conviction, his family is fined $45,000 and he is banned from owning or operating computers or touch-tone telephones until his 18th birthday. Seven years later, Dade (Jonny Lee Miller) calls a local television station, dupes the security guard into giving him the modem's phone number and successfully hacks into the station's computer network, changing the current TV program to an episode of The Outer Limits. However, Dade is "attacked" by a hacker (handle "Acid Burn") on the same network. During the conversation, Dade identifies himself by the new alias, Crash Override, to hide his old alias.

Dade enrolls at Stanton High School in New York, where he meets Kate Libby (Angelina Jolie), who is assigned to take him on a tour of the school. After pranking Dade by claiming there's a pool on the roof of the school, only to lock him outside with several other students during a rainstorm, a rift develops between Dade and Kate. Ramon "The Fantom Phreak" Sanchez (Renoly Santiago) takes notice of Dade's skills and invites him to an exclusive hacker nightclub, where the rivalry between Dade and Kate intensifies as Dade beats Kate's high score at a video game. Dade exacts revenge for the earlier prank by scheduling a test of the school's sprinkler system the next day. Dade begins integrating himself into Phreak's circle of hacker friends: Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein (Matthew Lillard), Paul "Lord Nikon" Cook (Laurence Mason) (so named for his photographic memory), and Joey Pardella (Jesse Bradford), an aspiring novice hacker without a codename. At a party, Dade learns that Kate is "Acid Burn", the hacker that earlier kicked him out of the TV network.

Meanwhile, Joey, out to prove his skills, successfully breaks into an Ellington Mineral Company supercomputer and downloads part of a garbage file as proof of his feat. Unfortunately, the company's IT employee Hal (Penn Jillette) detects this unauthorized entry and summons computer security officer Eugene "The Plague" Belford (Fisher Stevens) to deal with the problem. He realizes the file being downloaded can prove that The Plague is stealing from the company via salami slicing. The Plague pretends the hackers are to blame and enlists the U.S. Secret Service to recover the file by claiming that it is the code to Da Vinci, a computer virus that will capsize the company's oil tanker fleet and he needs that code to destroy the virus.

Joey is arrested and his computer is searched, but the Secret Service finds nothing, as Joey has hidden the disk containing the files. In response, Dade and Kate decide to settle their disagreements with a hacking duel, with hacks focused on harassing Secret Service Agent Richard Gill (Wendell Pierce), a known enemy to the hackers, who was involved in Joey's arrest. Phreak, Cereal, and Nikon act as judges. After various pranks including canceling Gill's credit cards, creating a fake embarrassing personal ad in Gill's name, fabricating a criminal record, and changing his payroll status to "deceased", the duel remains tied.

After being released on parole, Joey reveals the disk to Phreak in a public park; but they quickly realize that they are being followed by the Secret Service. The next day, Phreak is arrested. He uses his phone call to inform Kate that he hid the disk in a boy's bathroom at school. That evening, Kate and Cereal Killer ask Dade for his help; but, because of his record, he declines. Kate then asks Dade to copy the disk so that, if anyone else is arrested, they have the disk as evidence. After determining that Dade is not the one who hacked into Ellington, The Plague attempts to enlist Dade's help to find the one who did. First, he offers Dade a free high-powered laptop. Later, he threatens to have Dade's mother incarcerated with a manufactured criminal record. At this, Dade agrees to deliver Kate's copy of the disk.

Meanwhile, Kate, Lord Nikon, and Cereal Killer attempt to discern the contents of the disk. Dade joins them; and, after working all night, they learn the truth—it's designed to salami-slice $25 million from Ellington transactions. Dade reveals that he knows Plague is behind this scheme, because he was the one who wanted Kate's copy of the disk. He admits he gave Plague the disk and reveals his earlier hacking history. Determined to stop the scheme, the assembled hackers plan to hack the Gibson again. Kate and Dade go dumpster-diving for employee memos with passwords; Cereal Killer installs a hidden microphone in the Ellington offices; and Nikon poses as a delivery boy wandering the Ellington cubicles, memorizing employee passwords as they enter them. From the memos, they discover the Da Vinci virus is set to capsize the oil fleet the next day, which would provide the perfect cover to distract from the salami-slicing worm. In need of help, they seek out Razor and Blade, the producers of a hacker-themed pirate TV show, "Hack the Planet."

The next morning, they evade the Secret Service and converge on Grand Central station, where they use payphones to begin their assault on the Gibson. At first, their attempts are easily rebuffed by Plague, who calls Dade to warn him to escape before he is arrested. However, Razor and Blade have contacted hackers around the world, who lend their support with virus attacks, distracting Plague long enough for Dade to download the incriminating file to a floppy disk.

Shortly after crashing the Gibson, Dade and company are arrested. As they're being led away, Dade surreptitiously informs Cereal Killer, hiding in the crowd, that he's tossed the disk in a trashcan. As Dade and Kate are being interrogated, Razor and Blade jam the local television signals and broadcast live video of Cereal Killer, revealing the plot and Plague's complicity. Plague is arrested when he tries to flee to Japan under the alias "Mr. Babbage." Their names cleared, Dade and Kate go on a date at a swimming pool on the roof of a building, their friends showing off their latest hack—the lights in several adjacent office buildings spelling out "CRASH AND BURN."

Cast

• Jonny Lee Miller as Dade Murphy (a.k.a. Crash Override a.k.a. Zero Cool)
• Angelina Jolie as Kate Libby (a.k.a. Acid Burn). The director auditioned Hilary Swank, Heather Graham, and Liv Tyler for the role which ultimately went to Jolie. The part was originally offered to Katherine Heigl, but due to prior commitments to Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) had to turn it down.
• Renoly Santiago as Ramόn Sánchez (a.k.a. The Phantom Phreak)
• Matthew Lillard as Emmanuel Goldstein (a.k.a. Cereal Killer)
• Laurence Mason as Paul Cook (a.k.a. Lord Nikon)
• Jesse Bradford as Joey Pardella
• Fisher Stevens as Eugene Belford (a.k.a. The Plague)
• Lorraine Bracco as Margo Wallace
• Alberta Watson as Lauren Murphy
• Penn Jillette as Hal
• Wendell Pierce as Special Agent Richard Gill, U.S. Secret Service
• Marc Anthony as Special Agent Ray, U.S. Secret Service
• Michael Gaston as Special Agent Bob, U.S. Secret Service
• Felicity Huffman as Prosecuting Attorney
• Darren Lee as Razor
• Peter Y. Kim as Blade
• Max Ligosh as Young Dade Murphy

Production

Screenplay

The screenplay, written by Rafael Moreu, is highly inspired by the hacker and cyberpunk subcultures. He saw the film as more than just about computer hacking but something much larger: "In fact, to call hackers a counterculture makes it sound like they're a transitory thing; I think they're the next step in human evolution." He had been interested in hacking since the early 1980s. After the crackdown in the United States during 1989 and 1990, he decided to write a script about the subculture. For research, Moreu went to a meeting organized by the New York-based hacker magazine 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. There, he met Phiber Optik, a.k.a. Mark Abene, a 22-year-old hacker who spent most of 1994 in prison on hacking charges. Moreu also hung out with other young hackers being harassed by the government and began to figure out how it would translate into a film. He remembered, "One guy was talking about how he'd done some really interesting stuff with a laptop and payphones and that cracked it for me, because it made it cinematic". The character Eugene Belford uses Babbage as a pseudonym at the end of the film, a reference to Charles Babbage, an inventor of an early form of the computer. The fictional computer mainframe named the "Gibson" is a homage to cyberpunk author William Gibson and originator of the term "Cyberspace" in his 1982 book Neuromancer.

Pre-production

The cast spent three weeks learning how to type, rollerblade and got to know each other. They also read a lot about computers and met with actual computer hackers. Actor Jonny Lee Miller even attended a hacker's convention.

Shooting

The school scenes were filmed in Stuyvesant High School and the surrounding areas in the TriBeCa and East Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in November 1994. Many scenes included real school seniors as extras.

Post-production

Softley did not use CGI for any of the sequences in cyberspace. He said they used "more-conventional methods of motion control, animation, models, and rotoscoping to create a real, three-dimensional world, because... computer graphics alone can sometimes lend a more flat, sterile image." Psygnosis created the CGI for the arcade game sequence.

Shortly after the filming ended, Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie were married, and after divorcing, remain good friends.

Marketing

MGM/UA set up a website for Hackers that soon afterwards was allegedly hacked by a group called the "Internet Liberation Front." A photograph of the film's stars Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller were doodled upon, and the words "this is going to be an entertaining fun promotional site for a movie," were replaced with "this is going to be a lame, cheesy promotional site for a movie!" The studio maintained the site during the theatrical run of the movie in its altered form.

The movie poster shows Acid Burn and Crash Override with various words and ASCII symbols transposed on their faces, with the words:

• Hacker names from the movie, including Lord Nikon, Acid Burn, and Crash Override.
• Most commonly used passwords, noted by Plague, such as God, Sex, Love, and Secret.
• Phreak, a "phone freak" hacker whose specialty is telephone systems, with the main Phreaker in the hacker group Phantom Phreak.

Soundtrack

The music soundtrack combines electronica, pulsating tribal rhythms and techno/house music of early hardcore groups like Prodigy, Underworld and Orbital. Extremely popular with 4.5 of 5 stars from 48 reviewers, it was released in 3 separate volumes over a number of years. The first volume was composed entirely of music featured in the film (with the exception of Carl Cox's "Phoebus Apollo"), while the second and third are a mix of music "inspired by the film" as well as music actually in the film. The most featured song in the movie is "Voodoo People" by The Prodigy.

Some tracks are by Guy Pratt. According to Pratt on Twitter, they feature an uncredited guitar performance by David Gilmour.

Hackers

Complete Track List from Hackers Soundtracks

"Hackers"

1. "Original Bedroom Rockers" - Kruder & Dorfmeister
2. "Cowgirl" - Underworld
3. "Voodoo People" – The Prodigy
4. "Open Up" – Leftfield (feat. John Lydon)
5. "Phoebus Apollo" – Carl Cox
6. "The Joker" - Josh Abrahams
7. "Halcyon and On and On" - Orbital
8. "Communicate" (Headquake Hazy Cloud Mix) - Plastico
9. "One Love" – The Prodigy
10. "Connected" - Stereo MCs
11. "Eyes, Lips, Body" (Mekon Vocal Mix) - Ramshackle
12. "Good Grief" – Urban Dance Squad
13. "Richest Junkie Still Alive" (Sank Remix) - Machines of Loving Grace
14. "Heaven Knows" - Squeeze

Hackers 2: Music From And Inspired By The Original Motion Picture 'Hackers'

1. "Firestarter" (Empirion mix) - The Prodigy
2. "Toxygene" - The Orb
3. "Little Wonder" (Danny Saber Dance Mix) - David Bowie
4. "Fire" - Scooter
5. "Narcotic Influence 2" - Empirion
6. "Remember" - BT
7. "Go" - Moby
8. "Inspection" (Check One) - Leftfield
9. "Cherry Pie" - Underworld
10. "To Be Loved" (Disco Citizens R&D Edit)[Mix] - Luce Drayton
11. "Speed Freak" (Moby Remix) - Orbital
12. "Get Ready to Bounce" (Radio Attack) - Brooklyn Bounce
13. "Off Shore" (Disco Citizens Edit) - Chicane
14. "Original" - Leftfield

Hackers 3

1. "Why Can't It Stop" - Moby
2. "Godspeed" (BT Edit Mix) - BT
3. "Absurd" (Whitewash Mix) - Fluke
4. "Quiet Then" - Cloak
5. "I Am Fresh" - Monkey Mafia
6. "Phuture 2000" (Radio Edit) - Carl Cox
7. "An Fhomhair" - Orbital
8. "Fashion" (Ian Pooley Mix) - Phunky Data
9. "Psychopath" (Leftfield Mix) - John Lydon
10. "Stop & Panic" - Cirrus
11. "Strong in Love" - Chicane
12. "Hack the Planet" - Brooklyn Bounce
13. "Diskette" - Simon Boswell
14. "Launch Divinci" - Simon Boswell

Additional information

Songs featured in the film but not appearing on any soundtracks:

• "Connection" - Performed by Elastica
• "Real Wild Child" - Written by Johnny O'Keefe, Johnny Greenan and 'Dave Owen (VIII)' (as Dave Owens)
• "Protection" - Performed by Massive Attack
• "Combination" - Performed by Guy Pratt
• "Grand Central Station" - Performed by Deep Cover

Reception

Hackers earned mixed reviews. Some critics praised the film for its stylish visuals but criticized its unconvincing look at hackers and their subculture. Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "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". On the show Siskel & Ebert, Ebert gave the film thumbs up while Gene Siskel gave the film thumbs down, saying, "I didn't find the characters that interesting and I really didn't like the villain in this piece. I thought Fisher Stevens was not very threatening... The writing is so arch".

In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Peter Stack wrote, "Want a believable plot or acting? Forget it. But if you just want knockout images, unabashed eye candy and a riveting look at a complex world that seems both real and fake at the same time, Hackers is one of the most intriguing movies of the year".

USA Today gave the film three out of four stars and Mike Clark wrote, "When a movie's premise repels all rational analysis, speed is the make-or-break component. To its credit, Hackers recalls the pumped-up energy of Pump Up the Volume, as well as its casting prowess". In his review for the Toronto Star, Peter Goddard wrote, "Hackers joy-rides down the same back streets Marlon Brando did in The Wild One, or Bruce Springsteen does in Born To Run. It gives all the classic kicks of the classic B-flicks, with more action than brains, cool hair and hot clothes, and all the latest tech revved to the max".

Chicago Reader critic Jonathan Rosenbaum noted that, "Without being any sort of miracle, this is an engaging and lively exploitation fantasy-thriller about computer hackers, anarchistic in spirit, that succeeds at just about everything "The Net" failed to—especially in representing computer operations with some visual flair."

The Los Angeles Times David Kronke wrote, "imagination of Rafael Moreu, making his feature screenwriting debut, and director Iain Softley...piles on the attitude and stylized visuals, no one will notice just how empty and uninvolving the story really is". In his review for the Washington Post, Hal Hinson wrote, "As its stars, Miller and Jolie seem just as one-dimensional—except that, in their case, the effect is intentional". Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "D" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "the movie buys in to the computer-kid-as-elite-rebel mystique currently being peddled by magazines like Wired".

The film has a metascore of 46 by critics, with a 5.8/10 by users on Metacritic and a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 32 reviews.

See also

• List of films featuring surveillance
• Cyberpunk

External links

• Hackers at the Internet Movie Database
• Hackers at Rotten Tomatoes
• Hackers at Metacritic
• Hackers: Where are the actors now?
• Good Bad Flicks review
• Hackers (film) at Box Office Mojo