Hackers

Blurring the line between heightened reality and hi-tech fantasy, this presents the virtual world that hackers imagine, rather than the one they inhabit. Busted seven years earlier for causing computer chaos on Wall Street, the legendary 'Zero Cool' (Miller) is now 18 and hooked up with a wacky, multi-ethnic gang of hackers and phone phreaks. While Zero and spiky femme 'Acid Burn' (Jolie) channel their sexual attraction into competing for the top hacker slot, 'Cereal Killer', 'Phantom Freak' and 'Crash Override' define their place in the rebel tribe by pulling harmless on-line stunts. But things get serious when the Secret Service cracks down and 'The Plague' (Stevens), hacker turned security expert, sets them up to take the fall for his internal scam, siphoning millions of dollars from the mega-corporation that employs him to keep them out. Directed with verve, and driven forward by a wrap-around electronic score, this brilliantly captures the energy and insolence of virtual teen rebellion. The sappy ending's hard to take, but the on-line showdown between The Plague, the Secret Service and the united worldwide community of hackers is nail-biting.