In today’s world, the internet has become an integral part of our lives. Official documents, bank details, personal data and even government documents are stored on the internet. Of course, when this is the case, the day is dawning for the hackers we call hackers. Every day, we wake up with the news that a new piece of our data has been captured by a hacker group.
Of course, such an interesting subject attracts the attention of filmmakers, and we come across hacker films on many different themes. Interestingly, while hacker movies had a fictional narrative for a period, the ones made in the next period were mostly biographies and documentaries. So hackers are indeed among us. We have listed some hacker movies that lock the viewers on the screen with their action and suspense-filled stories for you.
Hacker movies you can watch without taking your eyes off the screen:
- hackers
- Tron
- The Italian Job
- WarGames
- sneakers
- Snowden
- Ghost in the Shell
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Citizenfour
- The Matrix
What will you be when you grow up: Hackers
- Year: 1995
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
- Director: Iain Softley
- Cast: Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, Jesse Bradford
- IMDb: 6.2
A computer-savvy young man writes a virus program. The program he wrote was so powerful and effective that the authorities stepped in and the young man was forbidden to even touch the computer keyboard until he was 18 years old. It is the US Secret Service itself that put this ban. Of course, stopping a hacker will not be as easy as they think.
Software within software: Tron
- Year: 1982
- Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Director: Steven Lisberger
- Cast: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner
- IMDb: 6.7
In the movie Tron, which takes place in the dark world of the 1980s, our character named Kevin is a software developer who designs video games. Trying to win the favor of his boss, Kevin writes a code he hasn’t tried before and gets trapped inside a program he wrote. Everything in the program has become a character, and the programmers and those who use the program have become gods. Kevin is determined to get out of here no matter what.
Hunting on the go: The Italian Job
- Year: 2003
- Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
- Director: F. Gary Gray
- Cast: Donald Sutherland, Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton
- IMDb: 7.0
We are watching an extraordinary robbery story in The Italian Job, a remake of the 1969 movie of the same name. After our characters commit a big robbery, they plan to create a traffic jam by locking the city system. They found a car that was small enough to go over the pavement. Of course, nothing they plan will go as planned.
The boy who started nuclear war: WarGames
- Year: 1983
- Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
- Director: John Badham
- Cast: Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, John Wood
- IMDb: 7.1
Our character David in WarGames, which tells a story set in the Cold War era, is a master hacker. He often connects to the school system from his home computer to impress his girlfriend. One day, he expands business and decides to connect to a game developer’s computer, but accidentally hacks into the government system. If he thinks the nuclear war simulation he encounters here is a game, it will be a move that will start the Third World War.
One program that rules everything: Sneakers
- Year: 1992
- Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Director: Phil Alden Robinson
- Cast: Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Sidney Poitier
- IMDb: 7.1
Martin Bishop, the leader of a team that tests the quality of digital security systems, one day receives an offer from government officials. Their mission is to run a covert operation, but the team refuses to accept this frightening mission. State officials blackmail the team by playing their trump card. Looking at their strange situation, the team discover that they have actually found a program that will crack every code in the world.
Biggest traitor: Snowden
- Year: 2016
- Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
- Director: Oliver Stone
- Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo
- IMDb: 7.3
Inspired by the event of a real hacker named Edward Snowden, Snowden begins with the announcement by Snowden that the US government actually has access to the digital data of all citizens, and moreover, secretly legalizes access to them. Declared as the greatest traitor in American history, Snowden’s job is not an easy one.
Virtual or real: Ghost in the Shell
- Year: 1995
- Genre: Animation, Action, Crime
- Director: Mamoru Oshii
- IMDb: 7.9
Ghost in the Shell, which also made a movie version in 2017, is an anime originally called Kôkaku kidôtai. In the story set in a distant future, people now live in a kind of virtual reality. An agent named Puppet Master is one of the most talented officers who ensure the security of this virtual world. When he starts looking for a body for himself, other agents will follow him.
Only a hacker can save you: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Year: 2011
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Director: David Fincher
- Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer
- IMDb: 7.8
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson, begins with the wrongful accusation of a man named Mikael Blomkvist. On top of that, our character, who starts to investigate the death of his nephew, feels stuck. Crossing paths with a hacker named Lisbeth Salander will make her job a little easier.
Narration with real witnesses: Citizenfour
- Year: 2014
- Genre: Documentary, Biography, History
- Director: Laura Poitras
- IMDb: 8.0
Citizenfour is a documentary about the true story of CIA analyst Edward Snowden. Unlike the fictional Snowden movie, we watch the events throughout Citizenfour through the mouths of those who witnessed everything, with their documents and images.
Beginning of the legend: The Matrix
- Year: 1999
- Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
- Director: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
- Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss
- IMDb: 8.7
Although The Matrix, the first movie of the Matrix legend, evolved as a very different story later on, the first movie actually tells a hacker story, because our main character, Neo, is a hacker at night, and that’s how he met Trinity. The fact that this simple story, which starts with green codes on the black screen, turns into such a legend doubles the viewing pleasure.
Bonus: Mr. Robot
- Year: 2015 – 2019
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Cast: Rami Malek, Christian Slater, Carly Chaikin
- IMDb: 8.5
Of course, when we say hacker, we think of Mr. The legendary series called Robot is coming. Working as an ordinary cyber security expert, Elliot puts on his hoodie in the evening and starts typing as a hacker. After meeting a hacking group doing dark deeds, he will transform into a V For Vendetta-style hero.
We have listed some of the hacker movies that you will feel like your digital data will be stolen even while watching. Of course, this list could have been much longer. You can share the hacker movies you want to be on our list in the comments.