Hackers by Iain Softley

Softley, Iain. Hackers. MGM, 1998. PG 13. DVD. 107 minutes. ASIN: 6305047456

Plot Summary

Dave “Zero Cool” Murphy as a 13 year old boy crashed 1,507 systems, causing large drops on the stock market. He was forbidden to use a phone or computer until he turned 18…he now is. Dave moves to New York with his mother where he begins as a Senior in a new high school. On his 18th birthday Dave quickly returns to his hacking ways. Kate “Acid Burn” Libby, Joey, “Freak,” and Emanuel “Cereal Killer” Goldstein introduce Dave into the NY underground hacking world. While hacking Joey discovers a file that he thought was worthless but ends up getting him into a lot of trouble. Before he gets arrested he copies a file onto a floppy and hides it. Joey tells his friends where it is hidden and they discover that the disk holds information that can bring Eugene “Plague,” a security officer against hackers who words for the Ellington Mineral Corporation. Eugene has set up a virus that will cause a major ecological disaster in oceans. It is up to the backers to take down Eugene and prevent the disaster. The close knit of hacker friends reach out to the hacker community to help bring down Eugene. It becomes more of a challenge when Richard Gills, a hacker enemy FBI agent, is monitoring all there moves.

Critical evaluation

Hackers were really popular and cool in the 90’s because the internet was more accessible to people. This movie captured that power that most teens wanted to have but were to afraid to do it. This is a fun movie that shows a world that many people did not existed. Though it does not seem realistic at times it is still a fun movie to watch. The actors do not look like teenagers at all but they still do a very good job in portraying the adolescent qualities that teens have. Teenagers and rebellion in the 21st century is portrayed perfectly in this film.

Readers Annotations

Dave and his fellow hacker friends must work together to save the planet and bring down “The Plague.”

Information About the Author

Softley Hackers deals with the mysterious and dangerous side of the computer world. This film has become a cult classic.

Genre

Action/Crime/Drama/Thriller

Curriculum Ties

Information Processing

Booktalking Ideas

1) Discuss how 21st century are able to defy government through internet
2) are the 90’s really different from now? How?

Reading Level/Interest Age

13+

Why Book Included

One of my favorite movies of the 90s