Hackers
Dir. Iain Softley, 1995
107 min
With Angelina Jolie, Jonny Lee Miller, Fisher Stevens, and Lorraine Bracco

Released before the widespread use of the Internet, the cult classic Hackers presents a vision of the hacking subculture and technological warfare that is equal parts authentic and utter science fiction. After attending a meeting of the magazine 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, screenwriter Rafael Moreu was inspired to write a film reflecting his belief that hackers were “the next step in human evolution.” The result was an energetic heist movie following a group of high school hackers, including a twenty-year-old Angelina Jolie in her first starring role, who stumble into an extortion conspiracy led by an evil corporate security expert. Featuring flamboyant cyberculture fashions, an iconic techno soundtrack, non-CGI special effects, and quotable dialogue, Hackers has become a touchstone of 1990s American counterculture and its hopes for hacking as a force for global change.