Blackhat (2015)

A furloughed convict and his American and Chinese partners hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta.

Director:

Michael Mann

Writer:

Morgan Davis Foehl

Stars:

Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis, Tang Wei

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Hemsworth	...	Nick Hathaway
Leehom Wang	...	Chen Dawai
Tang Wei	...	Chen Lien
Viola Davis	...	Carol Barrett
Holt McCallany	...	Mark Jessup
Andy On	...	Alex Trang
Ritchie Coster	...	Elias Kassar
Christian Borle	...	Jeff Robichaud
John Ortiz	...	Henry Pollack
Yorick van Wageningen	...	Sadak
Tyson Chak	...	Tech
Brandon Molale	...	Sort Guard
Danny Burstein	...	Associate Warden Jeffries
Archie Kao	...	Shum
Abhi Sinha	...	Daniels

Storyline

Nick Hathaway, an extremely talented hacker who has gone astray, finds his way out of a 15 year prison sentence when parts of a computer code he once wrote during his youth appears in a malware that triggered a terrorist attack in a nuclear power plant in China. This opportunity will reunite him with an old friend but will also put him in the middle of a power game between the American and Chinese government as well as an arch villain hacker whose identity he has to find if he wants to keep his freedom and his life.

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Plot Keywords:

hacker | computer | cybercrime | one word title | indonesia | 

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Taglines:

We are no longer in control

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Michael Mann film to be shot entirely in digital formats. Collateral (2004), Miami Vice (2006) and Public Enemies (2009) were mostly shot with digital cameras, but had also certain sequences shot on 35mm film.

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Goofs

When looking through the hex dump, Nick Hathaway comes across a "//TODO ... " and infers the malware developer was in a hurry. Compiled binaries don't contain programmer comments. They are removed very early in the compilation process.

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Quotes

Assistant Warden Jeffries: Is this the attack tool? With it you open up a terminal, and that gives you a command line? That how you broke into the network and plussed-up the balances?
Nicholas Hathaway: No. I use it to call Santa in the North Pole and tell him to do Christmas early this year.

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Alternate Versions

Michael Mann premiered the Director's Cut during a retrospective of his films at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on February 10, 2016. This version is three minutes longer than the theatrical release, and opens with the hacking attack on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, rather than the Hong Kong nuclear plant attack, which has been moved to the middle of the film. Some scenes and dialogue exchanges have also been cut or shortened. This version was shown on FX on May 9, 2017, and several days later it was made available on DirecTV Now, Hulu with Live TV and other streaming services.

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Connections

References The Insider (1999)

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Soundtracks

Peligroso
Written by Daniel Indart, Danny Osuna, Sara Traina, Luis Rangel
Performed by Azucar MC
Courtesy of LMS Records

User Reviews

Gives You Just Enough to Not Walk Out

If I had to pay to see this movie when I saw it, I'd be so mad, but I didn't, so I was disappointed for free. Chris Hemsworth and Voila Davis are so much MORE than the crappy roles they were given for this film. The storyline was all over the place; there are too many side stories to keep up with. The overall concept of the film is fun and interesting, but its execution is very poor. There's light at the end of the tunnel during a few scenes, and the attention of the audience is kept somehow by a very thin thread. In the end, it's pure curiosity that'll keep you from walking out on the movie altogether. In the hands of a different writer and director, this film would've been great. I suggest waiting for it to be available on Redbox instead of seeing it in the theater.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin Spanish

Release Date:

16 January 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blackhat

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,901,815, 18 January 2015

Gross USA:

$8,005,980

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,652,057

Company Credits

Production Co:

Forward Pass, Legendary Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Dolby Surround 7.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1