OC LIVE : ‘Hackers’ Taps Into Culture and Imagination of Techno Teens

In “Hackers,” a group of alienated, teen-age, New York cyber-punks must pool its considerable computer know-how to outwit a master corporate hacker before he steals millions, sparks a worldwide environmental calamity and frames them for it. (Rated PG-13)

In the brave new world of computer thrillers, “Hackers” has found a lukewarm spot in the cyber-generation’s heart, several notches above the action flick “Johnny Mnemonic” but beneath the more realistic “Sneakers.”

“I liked it because it was imaginative [and] creative, but it was also unrealistic,” said Court Nickel, 17, of Irvine. “It was a little comic-bookish.”

Twelve-year-old Blake Oliver of Irvine agreed. “It was really exciting. I liked the way they had the computer graphics flying around the towers of information. But it really wouldn’t look like that in real life. That sort of annoyed me.”

The kids bought into the plot: A brilliant 11-year-old hacker, Dade Murphy, is banned from computers for seven years for bringing down Wall Street, then teams up at age 18 with other high-IQ, street-smart student hackers who never have to be in at night, who all own their own laptops and who are able, on their first guess, to find the password to a multimillion-dollar corporation where the computer security chief is about to plant a destructive virus.

But they were bothered by the small stuff: What corporation would have a three-letter password? Who could just call up a TV station and get the phone number for its modem just by asking? No computers have virtual reality animation yet. And the computers reacted too quickly. Said Blake: “A 28.8 modem is not going to be like that for animation. You can’t get that.” Isn’t it fun being a kid and being so sophisticated about computers that you can say neener, neener about high-tech details?

Court also liked the competitive nature of the romance between Dade and Kate Libby, an aggressive hacker who never smiles and who always wears pants. They agree that whoever wins their competition for the most outrageous computer break-ins will wear a dress on their first date.

In addition to adult language, there are also brief erotic dream sequences, sexy dancing in punk nightclubs and violent scenes of secret agents breaking into families’ homes to arrest the teen-agers.

What the kids liked most, however, were the lighter moments, especially the hackers’ high school high jinks. They laughed at the illegal stunts the hackers pulled on the Secret Service agent hired to catch them breaking into the corporation’s computer. By accessing computerized records, they canceled his credit card, gave him a police record and made him officially deceased.

To overcome the security chief, they call on international Internet friends to crash the corporation’s computer.

It added up to what Court called a realistic assessment of hackers’ mixed morality described in the movie as: “There’s no right or wrong, only fun or boring.”

“That hit me--that’s how kids view it,” he said.

The impact of that message was unclear. “Kids who want to break into these companies, they can watch it and see it happen instead of doing it. Maybe it’s a good thing,” Court said. “The other side of it is, they do get away with it. How many things did they do wrong to make that one thing right?”

To be sure, the movie targets a limited audience--older kids who understand the technology, the lingo and the culture of the elite hacker.

“That’s probably why it’ll be gone in two weeks,” Court said.