The Net (1995)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Irwin Winkler

Writers (WGA):

John D. Brancato (written by) &
Michael Ferris (written by)

Release Date:

28 July 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Her driver's license. Her credit cards. Her bank accounts. Her identity. DELETED.

Plot:

Angela Bennett's a software engineer type who works from home and has few friends outside of cyberspace...

Plot Keywords:

Computer | Vacation | Secret | Espionage | Identity

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Sandra Bullock	...	Angela Bennett / Ruth Marx
Jeremy Northam	...	Jack Devlin
Dennis Miller	...	Dr. Alan Champion
Diane Baker	...	Mrs. Bennett
Wendy Gazelle	...	Ruth Marx
Ken Howard	...	Michael Bergstrom
Ray McKinnon	...	Dale Hessman
Daniel Schorr	...	WNN Anchor
L. Scott Caldwell	...	Public Defender
Robert Gossett	...	Ben Phillips
Kristina Krofft	...	Nurse #1
Juan García	...	Resort Desk Clerk
Tony Perez	...	Mexican Doctor
Margo Winkler	...	Mrs. Raines
Gene Kirkwood	...	Stan Whiteman

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, some sexuality and brief strong language.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Alameda, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The game that Angela (Sandra Bullock) is playing/debugging at the beginning of the movie is the Apple version of Wolfenstein 3D, similar to the console editions of the game released on the Atari Jaguar and 3DO.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Macintosh virus Angela found would not be able to infect a mainframe computer.

Quotes:

Dr. Alan Champion: Will you be handling the outpatient care, nurse?
Angela: Well, do you mind?
Dr. Alan Champion: Visions of sponge baths dance in my head.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: Inside 'The Net' (#2.3)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

BLANCA ROSA

Not to be taken internally or seriously...

In the dim, dead, dark days preceding my ownership of a PC, I was rather intrigued with the movie. Very Hitchcockian in its tone, and kind of a David-beats-Goliath theme that every one can relate to (Apple vs. Microsoft, employee vs. boss, ad infinitum). Seven years hence...I realize that many of the governmental entities supposedly "hacked" were, at the time of this movie, utilizing systems built when leisure suits were still the rage--and IBM was lord and master of the computer domain. Granted, hackers can be considered a real and acknowledged threat, but we should take this movie for what it is...Just some passably good entertainment and not too representative of R/T (Real Time for all you Netsurfing newbies). However, the plot remains fundamentally sound, and not too taxing on the mind.

Sandra Bullock gave a reasonably credible performance as programmer/support tech/consultant Angela Bennett. I realize that sex appeal fuels Hollywood, and it IS possible to have beauty and brains. But the story seems to have some fundamental flaws. What are the odds that NO one would know who you really were...It's impossible to think that we really have become the so-called "ghosts in the machine". As long as we have receipts, hard copies,friends and loved ones, we won't be caught in "The Net."

Some good performances by the smooth but irreverent Dennis Miller, and by the suave but deadly Jeremy Northam make for a movie worth watching when there's nothing better on the boob tube...Or if you're a closet geek like yours truly, you call friends and laugh about all the inaccuracies.