Hack, create, destroy. 7 movies about computer geniuses and hackers

7. "Snowden" 

• 2016
• UK, France, Germany, USA
• Thriller, drama, crime, biography
• Director: Oliver Stone
• Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto, Tom Wilkinson
• IMDb Rating: 7.3

Edward Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) was in combat training to join the U.S. Special Forces, but due to an injury he had to give up his dream of being in the military. He ends up working for the National Security Agency, where he learns that U.S. intelligence agencies are illegally spying on citizens of other nations. Unable to withstand the stress and tension, the agent tells the media about it. Snowden is declared a traitor to his homeland, after which he becomes the most persecuted person in the world.

Oliver Stone's movie is based on the real life story of American tech expert and former CIA and NSA employee Edward Snowden. The film won the Satellite Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay (Oliver Stone) in February 2017.

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6. "Pirates of Silicon Valley" 

• 1999
• USA
• Drama, biography, history
• Director: Martin Burke
• Starring: Noah Wyle, Anthony Michael Hall, Joey Slotnick, J. G. Hertzler, Wayne Pere
• IMDb Rating: 7.3

Early 70's, the computer industry is just getting started. Two geniuses — Bill Gates (Anthony Michael Hall) and Steve Jobs (Noah Wyle) — are about to build their own empires and change the lives of ordinary people forever. A few years later, their dreams become a reality. The guys turned into billionaires by founding their own companies, Jobs — Apple and Gates — Microsoft.

The movie is partly based on the real stories of the rise of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. In places in the picture there are a lot of artistic digressions and even exaggerations to make the tape more emotionally colored.

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5. "23" / 23 — Nichts ist so wie es scheint

• 1998
• Germany
• Thriller, drama
• Director: Hans-Christian Schmid
• Starring: August Diehl, Fabian Busch, Dieter Landuris, Stephan Kampwirth, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Peter Fitz
• IMDb Rating: 7.3

Young and capable Karl Koch (August Diehl) finds an online chat room where a group of teenagers discuss conspiracy theories he has been fascinated with since childhood. Soon they begin hacking into secret government and military websites and think of selling the information they have obtained to the KGB. Gradually Carl ceases to distinguish reality from fantasy and becomes a real criminal.

The movie is based on the real story of a young hacker Carl Koch from Germany. The picture perfectly shows what obsession with any idea can lead to.

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4. "Who Am I" / Who Am I — Kein System ist sicher

• 2014
• Germany
• Fantasy, thriller, drama, crime, detective
• Director: Baran bo Odar
• Starring: Tom Schilling, Elyas M'Barek, Wotan Wilke Moehring, Antoine Monot Jr, Hanna Herzschprung
• IMDb Rating: 7.5

Benjamin Engel (Tom Schilling) is a pretty reserved guy, but in virtual reality he has no equal. He's a real pro at hacking and hacker attacks. One day Benjamin meets a charismatic programmer Max (Elyas M'Barek). Together they create a hacker group and commit a number of daring cybercrimes. Because of this, Europol becomes interested in them.

"Elias M'Barek is one of my favorite actors. A great movie that is best watched carefully", — Mayer_E.

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3. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" 

• 2011
• USA, Sweden, Norway
• Detective, thriller, drama, crime
• Director: David Fincher
• Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, Steven Berkoff
• IMDb Rating: 7.8

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) begins to investigate a 40-year-old murder: a girl disappeared and her body was never found, but her uncle, big businessman Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), is sure that she was murdered. Blomkvist is joined by hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) with a photographic memory. Together, they delve into the genealogy and dirty secrets of the Vanger family.

This is not the first attempt to bring Stieg Larsson's "Millennium" trilogy to the screen, but it was David Fincher's version that was the most successful. The movie was nominated for five Oscars and eventually the picture won the statuette for Best Editing. Despite the love of critics and audiences, Fincher never screened the next two novels of the trilogy.

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2. "The Social Network"

• 2010
• USA
• Biography, drama
• Director: David Fincher
• Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Rooney Mara
• IMDb Rating: 7.8

Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) has a fight with his girlfriend (Rooney Mara) and to spite her he creates a website to rate pictures of cute classmates. In a few hours, due to the influx of visitors, the entertainment resource became the cause of a scandal and disruptions in the university servers. This begins the story of Facebook (owned by Meta Corporation, recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation), and Zuckerberg himself becomes the youngest billionaire in the world.

The film received eight Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, and won three statuettes for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and Soundtrack. In total, the film has 172 awards and 186 nominations. "The Social Network" is included on Stephen Schneider's list titled "1001 Movies to See Before You Die".

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1. "The Matrix"

• 1999
• USA, Australia
• Action, sci-fi
• Directors: Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
• Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Gloria Foster
• IMDb Rating: 8.7

Nicknamed Neo by day, Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is an ordinary office worker by day and an elusive hacker by night. One day he discovers that the world around him is not real, and people are the power source for the machines that have taken over humanity. And only a small group of people together with Neo can change everything.

"For me, this movie has passed the test of quality over time. Every time I watch it with interest. and how was this movie made? just a masterpiece! I love movies with such color correction of green color. The acting is top notch", — stylemaer.

"My most favorite part of all. The music is perfect, the special effects, the actors are gorgeous, the fights are professional, not what is shown now. Keanu Reeves is just hot", — naytvd.

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