Hackers 1995 & other hacker movies reviewed and rated!

A cult classic that portrays a group of young hackers who uncover a conspiracy. Known for its vibrant portrayal of hacker culture in the '90s.

Starring:
Jonny Lee Miller as Dade
Angelina Jolie as Kate
Jesse Bradford as Joey
Matthew Lillard as Cereal

Thoughts: This movie is a time capsule of '90s youth culture. It's all style and no substance and all the more charming for it! With rollerblades, techno beats, and fluorescent interfaces, it's more of a cyberpunk dreamscape than realistic portrayal. That said, it captures a feeling of being young, online, and obsessed with technology like few films do. The social engineering aspects are probably the most believable, even if the rest is pure fantasy. Bonus points for inspiring a whole generation to code!

Realism Score: ★☆☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆
 

Cover image © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. Used here under fair dealing for the purpose of review.

A young computer whiz accidentally hacks into a military supercomputer, almost triggering World War III. It's one of the earliest films to explore the dangers of hacking.

Starring:
Matthew Broderick as David
Ally Sheedy as Jennifer
John Wood as Falken

Thoughts: Eerily prescient for the early 80s, WarGames made people take computer security seriously. A teenager accidentally accessing a military AI and nearly starting world war 3 sounds absurd, but it wasn’t far from the real concerns of the time. In fact, this movie helped inspire the creation of the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act! It's a suspenseful and surprisingly accurate representation of early hacking and the limits of automation.

Realism Score: ★★★☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

A group of security experts who specialise in testing security systems are blackmailed into stealing a valuable device. A mix of tech intrigue and espionage.

Starring:
Robert Redford as Bishop
Sidney Poitier as Crease
David Strathairn as Whistler
Dan Aykroyd as Mother
River Phoenix as Carl

Thoughts: Sneakers is clever, funny, and packed with a star studded cast. It focuses more on physical security, surveillance, and cryptography than keyboards and command lines. The tech is dated, but the ideas, like penetration testing, backdoors, and social engineering are still highly relevant. A good watch for anyone working in cybersecurity.

Realism Score: ★★★☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

While not purely a hacker movie, the protagonist Neo is a hacker who discovers the truth about reality. The film has had a significant impact on cyber and hacker culture.

Starring:
Keanu Reeves as Neo
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith
Joe Pantoliano as Cypher

Thoughts: Neo's hacker persona gives way to philosophical and sci-fi exploration rather quickly, but The Matrix earns its spot on the list because of its influence on hacker aesthetics and the ideas of digital rebellion it explores. While it's not technically a hacker movie, it raised cultural awareness of concepts like simulated reality and digital control. Stylish, smart, and utterly iconic.

Realism Score: ★☆☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★★

A programmer gets transported into a digital world and must navigate a computer system from the inside. A pioneering film in depicting virtual realities.

Starring:
Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn / Clu
Bruce Boxleitner as Alan Bradley / Tron
David Warner as Ed Dillinger / Sark / Master Control Program

Thoughts: Like The Matrix, Tron is only part hacker film, and more a metaphysical dive into what happens inside your computer when you're not looking! Tron was visually groundbreaking, and it does deal with corporate espionage and programming, but its internal logic is firmly rooted in sci-fi. Still, if you grew up around arcades and command prompts, there's a definite nostalgic magic to it.

Realism Score: ★☆☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

A systems analyst becomes entangled in a conspiracy after her identity is erased by hackers. Highlights the vulnerabilities of digital identities.

Starring:
Sandra Bullock as Angela Bennett
Jeremy Northam as Jack Devlin
Dennis Miller as Dr. Alan Champion

Thoughts: The Net tapped into a growing paranoia at the beginning of the digital age. Sandra Bullock plays a reclusive systems analyst who becomes digitally erased. The concept was pretty out there for the nineties, but in the modern context of data breaches and deepfakes, it doesn’t feel as far-fetched as it once did. The Net explores some really interesting concepts that were ahead of their time such as the dangers of a single identity being the key to everything.

Realism Score: ★★☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

With more also-known-as monikers than most, Takedown is based on the capture of notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick. It delves into real-life hacking and law enforcement.

Starring:
Skeet Ulrich as Kevin Mitnick
Russell Wong as Tsutomu Shimomura
Angela Featherstone as Julia
Master P as Brad
Tom Berenger as McCoy Rollins
Amanda Peet as Karen
Ethan Suplee as Dan Bradley

Thoughts: Based on the story of Kevin Mitnick’s arrest, Takedown is a more grounded hacker movie than most. It dives into phone phreaking, social engineering, and the early days of cyber security. While the real Mitnick contested the film's accuracy, it still stands as a semi-factual dramatisation that reflects the real cat-and-mouse games of early cyber crime.

Realism Score: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

The fourth instalment in the Die Hard series, featuring a cyber-terrorist plot that threatens the United States. A high-octane action movie with hacking elements.

Starring:
Bruce Willis as John McClane
Timothy Olyphant as Thomas Gabriel
Justin Long as Matt Farrell
Maggie Q as Mai
Kevin Smith as Warlock
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy

Thoughts: It was only a matter of time until John McClane would take on cyber terrorism. There are some realistic cyber attack concepts here, like infrastructure hacks and system interconnectivity, but everything is dialled up to 11 because, you know, Die Hard! The film treats hacking like a form of sorcery, but it did also help to push cyber threats into the public consciousness.

Realism Score: ★☆☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

An animated cyberpunk film exploring themes of artificial intelligence and cybernetic enhancements. The protagonist, Major Motoko Kusanagi, is a cyborg security agent who faces off against a hacker known as the Puppet Master.

Starring:
Atsuko Tanaka as Kusanagi Motoko (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka as Batô (voice)
Kôichi Yamadera as Togusa (voice)

Thoughts: Ghost in the Shell is a cyberpunk meditation on identity and consciousness. It's definitely not a straightforward hacker story, but this anime classic introduces "ghost hacking" in a world where minds and machines are fused. Ghost in the Shell is philosophical, layered, and visually stunning. A must-watch if you're interested in the future of hacking and AI.

Realism Score: ★☆☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Directed by Michael Mann, this film follows a hacker released from prison to help authorities track down a high-level cybercriminal. Known for its realistic portrayal of hacking techniques.

Starring:
Chris Hemsworth as Nick Hathaway
Leehom Wang as Chen Dawai
Tang Wei as Chen Lien
Viola Davis as Carol Barrett

Thoughts: One of the more accurate depictions of modern cyber crime, Blackhat gets a lot right - command line interfaces, the global nature of cyber crime, and threat actor motivations. It loses some credibility by casting a guy who looks like Chris Hemsworth as a super-hacker, but the technical details are surprisingly solid! Blackhat stands out in this list as a film that actually tried to get hacking right and for the most part succeeded.

Realism Score: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

A hacker is coerced by a charismatic criminal mastermind to steal billions of dollars from secret government accounts. The film is notable for its action-packed sequences and high-stakes cyber heists.

Starring:
John Travolta as Gabriel
Hugh Jackman as Stanley
Halle Berry as Ginger
Don Cheadle as Roberts
Sam Shepard as Senator Reisman
Vinnie Jones as Marco

Thoughts: Swordfish is a movie that makes hacking look like a Fast & Furious car chase! Everything is slick, fast, and implausible. That being said, it touches on the idea of state-sponsored cyber warfare and surveillance, which is at least adjacent to the real world. And it’s undeniably entertaining, even if it is a bit ridiculous.

Realism Score: ★☆☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

An adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel features a skilled hacker, Lisbeth Salander, who helps a journalist uncover a dark family secret. The character's hacking abilities play a crucial role in the story.

Starring:
Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist
Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander
Lena Endre as Erika Berger

Thoughts: Lisbeth Salander is one of the most grounded hacker characters in cinema. Her abilities are impressive but believable, and the film doesn’t glorify the tech. It shows the cold, methodical process of digital investigation and intrusion. One of the best character-driven hacker films out there.

Realism Score: ★★★☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

A young programmer gets his dream job at a powerful software company, only to discover that the company may be involved in unethical practices. It explores the dark side of the tech industry and intellectual property theft.

Starring:
Ryan Phillippe as Milo Hoffman
Rachael Leigh Cook as Lisa Calighan
Claire Forlani as Alice Poulson
Tim Robbins as Gary Winston

Thoughts: A dot-com era thriller where idealistic programmers clash with a Bill Gates style mogul. It exaggerates corporate evil, but it has some insight into how big tech can manipulate innovation and talent. This feels a bit like The Social Network if it were written by conspiracy theorists with flip phones!

Realism Score: ★★☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

A film about virtual reality and simulation, where a programmer discovers a shocking truth about the nature of his reality. It explores themes similar to "The Matrix" but with a unique twist.

Starring:
Craig Bierko as Douglas Hall / John Ferguson / David
Armin Mueller-Stahl as Hannon Fuller / Grierson / Jane's father
Gretchen Mol as Jane Fuller / Natasha Molinaro / Jane
Vincent D'Onofrio as Jason Whitney / Jerry Ashton

Thoughts: The Thirteenth Floor is a masterclass in metaphysics exploring simulated realities within simulated realities - think inception but instead of dreams it's simulations. While not about hackers per se, it belongs in the conversation for its virtual world-building and eerie questions about what it means to be real. Less "hacking a mainframe" and more "hacking your perception of the universe", The Thirteenth Floor is a film that floored me when I first saw it and is criminally underrated.

Realism Score: ★★☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

A man finds himself in a deadly cat-and-mouse game after he accepts an opportunity to spy on his favourite actress from his laptop.

Starring:
Elijah Wood as Nick Chambers
Sasha Grey as Jill Goddard
Neil Maskell as Chord

Thoughts: This movie is a wild ride. It plays out entirely on a computer screen like a techno-thriller version of Rear Window. Elijah Wood’s character gets dragged into a voyeuristic cyber game orchestrated by a mysterious hacker, and the film escalates into full-on surveillance madness. Is it realistic? Absolutely not. But it’s stylish, unhinged, and a fun (if bonkers) take on what happens when your devices turn against you. A hacker movie in structure, if not quite in substance. It also leans into the idea that knowledge, or perceived control, is often just an illusion when someone else is pulling the strings.

Realism Score: ★★☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

A British teenager becomes a victim of a mysterious and sinister computer hacker. If she does not do his bidding, the hacker will leak compromising photos of her to the public.

Starring:
Maisie Williams as Casey
Ella Purnell as Megan
Wilson Haagens as Hacker
Haruka Abe as Jennifer Li
Jake Davies as Alex

Thoughts: This one is different. Cyberbully is a taut, one-room drama about a teenage girl held hostage online by an anonymous hacker who knows far too much about her. It’s shot in real-time, and the entire story unfolds through her screen, making the tension feel claustrophobic and intimate. What makes this so special is how plausible it is. There are no explosions or no dramatic code sequences - just manipulation, exposure, and psychological pressure. It’s an excellent depiction of social engineering and the emotional trauma that comes with being hacked in the most personal sense. It’s also an extremely slick and tight narrative told in around an hour — short, sharp, and chilling.

Realism Score: ★★★★☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

A virtual reality game designer goes on the run with a colleague after assassins try to kill her. Concerned her new game may be damaged after the attack, she convinces her colleague to play the game with her, but this involves inserting organic matter in to their own bodies.

Starring:
Jude Law as Ted Pikul
Jennifer Jason Leigh as Allegra Geller
Ian Holm as Kiri Vinokur
Willem Dafoe as Gas
Christopher Eccleston as Seminar Leader
Sarah Polley as Merle

Thoughts: If The Matrix and Videodrome had a weird, squishy baby, it would be eXistenZ. David Cronenberg takes the idea of hacking and flips it inward - into biology, identity, and simulated consciousness. In this world, game developers plug into organic consoles via bio-ports in their spines and play games that feel more real than reality. It’s not about firewalls or passwords. It’s about what’s real, what’s programmed, and how easily our minds can be rewritten. While it’s only loosely a "hacker movie", I had to include it in this list because it explores the ultimate hack - your perception of existence itself. Also, the game controller looks like a mutated shrimp. This film is one of the weirdest I've ever seen. You’ve been warned!

Realism Score: ★☆☆☆☆
Overall Rating: ★★★★☆