The Net (1995)

“Just think about it. Our whole world is sitting there on a computer. It’s in the computer, everything: your, your DMV records, your, your social security, your credit cards, your medical records. It’s all right there. Everyone is stored in there. It’s like this little electronic shadow on each and everyone of us, just, just begging for someone to screw with, and you know what? They’ve done it to me, and you know what? They’re gonna do it to you.” – Angela

Number of Times Seen –  2 (Theater in 1995, and 28 Aug 2013)

Brief Synopsis – A computer hacker has her identity erased when she accidentally stumbles on classified information

My Take on it – When this movie came out, home computer use was in its infancy and the dangerousness of the internet was just becoming clear.

This movie along with Sneakers (1993), Enemy of the State (1997) and numerous others in the 90’s showed the many new dangers of  the information age.

It was scary then and even scarier now that we know more about the capabilities of computers and information especially the fact that many of us “normal” computer users now understand the idea of this movie on a more personal level than we did 20 years ago.

The problem I have with this movie is that it seems so dated watching it now and that it just doesn’t transfer well enough to a world where most of us know a lot more about computers.

A pseudo-sequel to this movie came out in 2006, but since I haven’t seen it yet, I can’t comment on how that movie translates to the present day.

Bottom Line – Great concept that has been somewhat overused in the last 20 years, but done well. Unfortunately the plot is very very weak.

Rating – BAFTA Worthy