Takedown (2000)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Joe Chappelle

Writers (WGA):

Tsutomu Shimomura (book) and
John Markoff (book) ...

Release Date:

15 March 2000 (France)

Genre:

Thriller | Action

Tagline:

The world has a right to know.

Plot:

This film is based on the story of the capture of computer hacker "Kevin Mitnick".

Plot Keywords:

Hacker | Computer | Kevin Mitnick | Computer Hacker | Bathtub Scene

Cast

Skeet Ulrich	...	Kevin Mitnick
Russell Wong	...	Tsutomu Shimomura
Angela Featherstone	...	Julia
Donal Logue	...	Alex Lowe
Christopher McDonald	...	Mitch Gibson
Master P	...	Brad
Tom Berenger	...	McCoy Rollins
Jeremy Sisto	...	Lance 'Icebreaker' Petersen
Amanda Peet	...	Karen
Ethan Suplee	...	Dan Bradley
Dorit Sauer	...	Shelley
Mark Joy	...	Committee Chairman
Scott Cooper	...	Jake Cronin
Ned Bellamy	...	Tom Fiori
Sara Melson	...	Rachel

Also Known As:

Hackers 2: Takedown (USA) (informal title)
Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw (USA) (working title)
Track Down (USA) (DVD box title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

Germany:92 min | USA:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-7 | Iceland:12 | France:U | Germany:12 | USA:R | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Trivia:

Editors of 2600 magazine (a hacker publication) learned of this film early in its development and were at the time campaigning for Kevin Mitnick's release from prison. They filmed the documentary "Freedom Downtime" as they tried to correct many glaring errors and personal attacks on Mitnick's character in the film, protesting outside Miramax offices in New York among other things.

Movie Connections:

References Sneakers (1992)

Soundtrack:

All That He Wants

l33tifi3d.

First of all, let's clear up some common misconceptions.

This film isn't "Hackers 2". You will find no CGI or parachute pants here. This film is about the capture of the notorious computer criminal Kevin Mitnick who used his technical skills and ability to influence people to gain access to things he really shouldn't have been able to access.

The thing that bothers me most about this film is the computer virus that Shimo wrote. I doubt that he did, and this makes Mmitnick seem worse by stealing it. The AI doesn't exist to put that virus around now, and it didn't 3 years ago.

The film in itself is a work of genius. This is the only realistic hacker film i have ever seen. Maybe because it was based on a true story and to put spinning DNA molecules on the computer screen instead of C++ would be a load of bollocks.

The acting is great; the pace of the movie is quick, especially in the part when the FBI almost captures Mitnick for the second time. The portrayal of the FBI in this film isn't very good, when they apprehended Mitnick, they didn't go in with 20 SWAT teams!

Kudos to Ulrich for his part as Kevin Mitnick, but as for Wong, I'm very surprised, where's the glasses and the geekyness? I know where, it got lost in the writing process, to make hackers look geeky and security experts look 'ard and sexy. In actual fact, security experts are just crackers in business suits. Kevin Mitnick did no damage, but they chase after him like he mass murdered a few police departments. I suppose they can't be totally realistic, and then the film would be an hour and a half of typing, with 30 minutes of chases and arrest.

I'm just glad there were no parachute pants ^_^