Takedown (2000)

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

Director:

Joe Chappelle

Writers:

Tsutomu Shimomura (book), John Markoff (book)

Stars:

Skeet Ulrich, Russell Wong, Angela Featherstone

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Skeet Ulrich	...	Kevin Mitnick
Russell Wong	...	Tsutomu Shimomura
Angela Featherstone	...	Julia
Donal Logue	...	Alex Lowe
Christopher McDonald	...	Mitch Gibson (as Chris McDonald)
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

Storyline

Kevin Mitnick is quite possibly the best hacker in the world. Hunting for more and more information, seeking more and more cybertrophies every day, he constantly looks for bigger challenges. When he breaks into the computer of a security expert and an ex-hacker, he finds one - and much more than that...

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Plot Keywords:

computer | hacker | computer hacker | computer virus | based on book | 

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Taglines:

The world has a right to know.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 March 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

Track Down

Filming Locations:

Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Millennium Films, Hacker Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Kevin Mitnick flees Seattle and flips through his stack of false IDs, he shows Martin Bryce. Martin Brice (Bishop) was the name of the hacker character played by Robert Redford in Sneakers 1992.

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Goofs

Alex Lowe states that 56 bit encryption allows for roughly 72 trillion combinations. He is off by 3 orders of magnitude. 56 bit encryption allows for roughly 72 quadrillion combinations.

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Quotes

Kevin Mitnick: Why am I here and you are not?

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Connections

References Hackers (1995)

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Soundtracks

(You Can Never Find A) Policeman In The Rain
Performed & Written by FibreHevy Brain
Published by Insidious Music (BMI)
Courtesy of FibreHevy Brain

User Reviews

surprisingly good

Stumbled upon TAKEDOWN's listing here on IMDB.com and had to check it out: I'd read Markoff and Shimomura's book back in grad school and thought it was okay (digression: there's a lot of debate in the hacker community about which book covers the Mitnick case best, and many say Markoff and Shimomura's book is extremely one-sided; Mitnick is guilty of nothing more than breaking into several large corporation's servers and poking around, trying out their code, they say. Whether this is a real crime, I leave that up to you dear reader).

As for TAKEDOWN, the movie: most flicks about computers teeter on one end or the other of the Reality Scale: they are either boring -- afterall, it's just a person typing at a computer -- or way too fantastical for anyone who's used any flavor of Unix to take seriously (e.g., THE MATRIX or the last HACKERS movie). TAKEDOWN straddles the line somewhere in the middle -- and admirably so.

What TAKEDOWN does very well is show the process of social engineering, e.g., talking someone into thinking you're someone you're not to get information. Mitnick mastered this skill. The real crux of TAKEDOWN, though, is the showdown between the two egos of Mitnick and Shimomura (bravo to Russell Wong -- wow, if Shimo really is that much of an arrogant jerk, I can see why he got under Mitnick's skin so much).

Skeet Ulrich is often called the Poor Man's Johnny Depp, but here's a role that was made for him. Joe Chappelle's direction is crisp and keeps the action tense. Minor complaint: The editor should have chilled out a bit though -- man, do we really need all those quick, jarring cuts? I supposed they were trying to make using a computer look interesting, cool and non-boring.

Overall, if you're into hacking, subcultures, law enforcement and computer crime, you should check this one out. It's too bad no one's seen this -- it must have been released direct-to-video; I don't even remember seeing ads in the paper for it.

P.S. keep an eye out for a brief appearance by Amanda Peet in a telling scene that hints at the REAL source of Mitnick's problems: LACK OF SOCIAL SKILLS!