Hackers
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• PAL
In Theaters : 15 September, 1995 |
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Not terrible, not a masterpiece
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Yes, Hackers rests comfortably on a throne of mediocrity. Its time and place etched into the American cultural psyche: 1995. The Information Superhighway was making its way into the lexicon, digital graphics were revolutionizing film-making (specifically compositing, and very soon outright fabrication would be feasible [3D]), and the media started talking about how computers would eventually replace TV's.
And riding this wave of media buzzwords, cultural trend, and just plain mythology-yes, some of this film is quite simply false-was the film Hackers. A veritable "magic carpet ride" into the a cultural mythology that vaguely resembled the reality of the information age. This film was very topical and current; watching this is partially like opening a time capsule from 1995. In fact, if there are any -actual- time capsules from 1995 to be opened in 2045 (or whatever), I hope they include this film. They probably should include a projector too, and an explanation of what celluloid is and how to thread it... but I digress.
But, I have to look at it on its own merit.
So, here are the cons: The characters are one-dimensional and clichA -and I mean, bad. It's style hasn't aged particularly well-like I said it was riding a cultural wave that partially imaginary. It's villain is dopey and unhateable. It's plot is strangely slow. You would expect the film to move faster than it does-it really doesn't get started until about 30 minutes in. Most of what it is doing before then is showboating and character development; however as I said the characters are horrifyingly clichA d and watching them develop narratively was uninteresting. Factual errors galore. They've been picked apart down to the letter, no need to rehash. Ubiquitous montage and b-roll sequences to burn screen time-and every last one of them tacky as all hell.
Here are the pros: It captured the imagination of a nation at the time and, to some extent, contributed to the "nerds are cool" attitude. I personally would have been thrilled to grow up when nerds were cool-but I'm happy to take a few arse-kickings for the team. It has a definite spunkiness to it and the young characters represent essentially the new (at the time) techno rebels. The plot is relatively solid, once it gets going. And, it's fun. It may not be great, but it's fun.
The soundtrack is a slightly mixed bag, it has a few atrocities but is mostly solid (UNDERWORLD).
12 years later, this film is definitely showing its age. It certainly is not terrible, and has some good qualities to it. But it certainly is no masterpiece. You can choose to take the bad with the good and enjoy it, or you can choose not to suspend your disbelief and get irritated with it. |
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