# Hackers: What On Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049 "2012-01-01T16:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/1 "2012-01-01T16:23:53Z")
I subjected myself to half of this movie. It was like some very large in joke that I didn’t get. Angelina Jolie was a worse actress than I remembered- at least at that time. The characters were like some sort of carnival that went horribly wrong. Was it popular at the time? I can’t even recall it. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/2 "2012-01-01T17:13:24Z")
I loved it when it came out. But I was 18 at the time and watching for Jonny Lee Miller and Jesse Bradford, not Angelina Jolie. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/3 "2012-01-01T17:43:51Z")
I recall it not being overly popular, but I had a visceral, hateful reaction to it at the time. Joe ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/4 "2012-01-01T18:31:02Z")
I saw it years after the fact. On late night TV, presumably. I love that movie! Not realistic, no. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/5 "2012-01-01T18:37:52Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Not realistic, no. You mean that if I h4x0r a l33t mainframe with an acoustic coupler in Grand Central Terminal, I _won’t_ see random swirling blobs of text on my screen that say TOP SECRET FILES OVER HERE —\> and Dr. Melfi talking about bunny rabbits? That’s disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/6 "2012-01-01T20:28:28Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Was it popular at the time? I can’t even recall it. It’s my recollection that this movie was much hyped by the studio but that anyone who knew anything at all about computers/the Internet/hacking thought it looked really stupid. I was a teenager at the time and people around my age were probably the target audience, but I don’t think anybody I knew bothered seeing it. _Hackers_ is rated only 31% fresh on [Rotten Tomatoes](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hackers/), and it looks like even the more positive reviews describe the movie as a dumb but fun popcorn flick. The [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113243/business) tells me _Hackers_ grossed about $7.5 million domestically, so it wasn’t even a commercial success. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/7 "2012-01-01T20:43:49Z")
It’s fun to watch. It’s bad, has nothing to do with real computers, and totally 80s-ed out but fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/8 "2012-01-02T01:36:05Z")
I have postulated this once before, but I do wonder if it’s possible to make a good action thriller with genuinely real computer hacking in it. It seems like it’s potentially possible, but nobody is willing to try it (or it gets boosted back into stupid levels by interfering parties somewhere betwixt writing and release) ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/9 "2012-01-02T02:38:02Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have postulated this once before, but I do wonder if it’s possible to make a good action thriller with genuinely real computer hacking in it. Probably not. Real computer hacking involves several hours hacking up code and just letting the programs (whether virus, malware, etc) do its thing while you sit back. It’s a lot like the ticking time bomb interrogation scenario in stuff like _24_. Just like you don’t need to beat information out of a terrorist to prevent a bomb from going off, you’re not going to be in a time-sensitive situation where you need to get stuff off a computer. Even the Anonymous attacks on computer systems took time (though the systems with atrociously bad security were hacked due to known security vulnerabilities and by off-the-shelf malware). ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/10 "2012-01-02T02:54:47Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Probably not. Real computer hacking involves several hours hacking up code and just letting the programs (whether virus, malware, etc) do its thing while you sit back. > > It’s a lot like the ticking time bomb interrogation scenario in stuff like _24_. Just like you don’t need to beat information out of a terrorist to prevent a bomb from going off, you’re not going to be in a time-sensitive situation where you need to get stuff off a computer. Even the Anonymous attacks on computer systems took time (though the systems with atrociously bad security were hacked due to known security vulnerabilities and by off-the-shelf malware). I dunno…one of my exes was into…um…kind of shady stuff…back when even his home computers were text-only. He had a few friends into it too, crackers more than hackers, and their thing was more along the black/green/whatever color boxes that they used to jack into various telecommunications cables to do…whatever they did. One of his friends had been busted, at aged 16, for hacking into the local sheriff’s bulletin board, and yes, part of his criminal punishment was that he was not allowed to own or use a modem, and his mom had to provide telephone records every month to prove he wasn’t operating out of the household in order for them to even HAVE a phone line in their household. So when the movie came out, it felt more like I’d seen it all before, lol. With the exception that I doubt my personal acquaintances ever got much more out of their escapades than free phone calls or whatever the hell they were doing. And I like the movie. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/11 "2012-01-02T03:07:25Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have postulated this once before, but I do wonder if it’s possible to make a good action thriller with genuinely real computer hacking in it. It seems like it’s potentially possible, but nobody is willing to try it (or it gets boosted back into stupid levels by interfering parties somewhere betwixt writing and release) _Sneakers_ has some great stuff in it. It’s a little cheesy, but the characters do realistic things like tap into phone lines (using actual banana clips, not magical powers) shoulder-surf passwords, various social engineering scams, etc. Of course the McGuffin is a magic cipher chip that can decrypt any secret American communications channel. ( :o ) ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/12 "2012-01-02T03:10:02Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have postulated this once before, but I do wonder if it’s possible to make a good action thriller with genuinely real computer hacking in it. It seems like it’s potentially possible, but nobody is willing to try it (or it gets boosted back into stupid levels by interfering parties somewhere betwixt writing and release) Sneakers (1992) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/13 "2012-01-02T03:15:12Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Sneakers (1992) If you ignore the magical super duper decoder chip. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/14 "2012-01-02T03:21:37Z")
Thirded that _Sneakers_ is the most “realistic” hacker movie, apart from the McGuffin. The blind phone phreak “Whistler” was based on the [real blind phone phreaks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denny_Teresi) that John “Cap’n Crunch” Draper learned from, one of whom reportedly could whistle the 2600 hz tone to gain operator control over a telephone company switch. The thing is, movies usually hire genuine experts to advise them how to do it correctly. Getting them to _listen_ to the advice is a different matter. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/15 "2012-01-02T03:27:38Z")
And even when they listen, it is the filmmakers job to recognize when reality makes for a really boring image on the screen. That doesn’t mean that the result of ignoring reality will be good (it certainly wasn’t in Hackers) but a bad outcome doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision to not be realistic. For the most part, real life is not something that people want to pay to watch for two hours. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/16 "2012-01-02T03:35:41Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > …but a bad outcome doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision to not be realistic. Wow. That was a quadruple-negative. I am confused. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/17 "2012-01-02T03:53:43Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Wow. That was a quadruple-negative. I am confused. …and it still only got an 8.5 from the Russian judge. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/18 "2012-01-02T04:16:46Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Wow. That was a quadruple-negative. I am confused. No it wasn’t. And I doubt you are. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/19 "2012-01-02T04:31:55Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > No it wasn’t. And I doubt you are. Best username/post combination ever. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049/20 "2012-01-02T05:11:42Z")
the soundtrack was great. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hackers-what-on-earth/608049.md?page=2)