Top 20 Hackers in Film History

Published on 13/11/06 in Technology

From the overlooked to the overblown, a list of the 20 greatest hackers and geeks that have ever graced the silver screen.

My fellow Geeks! Below you will find a list of the 20 coolest, funniest, dare I say sexiest hackers and computer geeks that have graced the silver screen. While we may be misunderstood and maligned in everyday life, geeks have always been portrayed with a certain power, mystery and intrigue in movies. Practically since the word 'computer' entered the American lexicon, Hollywood and the public have been fascinated with the people who make these strange electronic boxes do such cool shit.

Without further ado:

20. Jack Stanfield, Firewall (2006)
firewalljack_stanfield_400

Famous Quote: "Honey, I need to borrow your iPod."

19. J-Bone, Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
jbone

Famous Quote: "Where's Spider?"

18. Lazlo Hollyfeld, Real Genius (1985)
lazlo

Famous Quote: "Did you wanna borrow my pajamas?"

17. Wyatt Donnelly, Weird Science (1985)
wyatt

Famous Quote: "A missle! A MISSLE! A MISSLE IN MY HOUSE GARY!!"

16. Milo Hoffman, Antirust (2001)
milo_400

Famous Quote: "This isn't a game! In the real world, when you kill people they die - for real! And in the real world you're fucked!"

15. Dennis Nedry, Jurassic Park (1993)
nedry

Famos Quote: "Ah ah ah, you didn't say the magic word."

14. Gus Gorman, Superman III (1983)
gus_400

Famous Quote: "I don't want to go to jail because there are robbers and rapers and rapers who rape robbers."

13. Kevin Mitnick, Takedown (2000)
mitnick

Famous Quote: "Should we fear hackers? Intention is at the heart of this discussion."

12. Boris Grishenko, Goldeneye (1995)
borisgrishenko

Famous Quote: "I am invincible!"

11. John 'Captain Crunch' Draper, Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)
crunch

Famous Quote: "Computers, systems, that's my bag. The phone company is nothing but a computer."

10. Michael Bolton & Samir Nagheenanajar, Office Space (1999)
michaelsamir

Famous Quote: Michael - "PC Load Letter? What the fuck does that mean?" Samir - "Back up in your ass with the resurrection."

9. Theodore Donald 'Rat' Finch, The Core (2003)
rat

Famous Quote: "You want me to hack the planet? Ok, if I decide to do this, I'll need an unlimited supply of Xena tapes and Hotpockets."

8. The Puppet Master, Ghost In The Shell (1995)
puppet_master

Famous Quote: "Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you."

7. Stanley Jobson, Swordfish (2001)
swordfish_400

Famous Quote: "You're fucking up my chi."

6. Jobe Smith, Lawnmower Man (1992)
jobe

Famous Quote: "I am God here!"

5. Kevin Flynn, Tron (1982)
flynn

Famous Quote: "I shouldn't have written all of those tank programs."

4. David Lightman, WarGames (1983)

Famous Quote: "Later. Right now let's play Global Thermonuclear War."

3. Dade 'Crash Override' Murphy, Hackers (1995)
crash

Famous Quote: "Angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night. Ginsberg."

2. Martin Bishop, Sneakers (1992)
bishop

Famous Quote: "Ah. You're the guys I hear breathing on the other end of my phone."

1. Thomas 'Neo' Anderson, The Matrix (1999)
neo

Famous Quote: "I know kung fu."

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30 Comments

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rabagley

Neo? What happened to the actual uber-hacker in "The Matrix" movies? Trinity was all over that power plant system using nmap to find an unpatched vulnerability and then exploiting it in less time than it took the rest of us to figure out she was using nmap!

All the computer hacking Neo did occured off screen. Definitely non-1337. Written on 8/12/06

My Comment:

agota

wow, neo a hacker? that doesn't sound right. the core dude is the best hacker in my opinion. True hacker is that move from last year's move where he and maggie Q controlled everything in US. what was that movie again.

i enjoy my life with Adult Sex Toys Written on 1/9/08

My Comment:

roger23234

My Vote is for Milo Hoffman

Signature: Play With Sex Toys Today. Written on 10/11/08

My Comment:

boris

rab... is rite...
instead of neo u should consider adding trinity in the no.1 place.
she doesn't deal in meta-physics all the time and does some real code by crc exploits.
that's one of the rare cases when u actually get to c a real-code in reel-life.
thanks
the list is nice.
thanks again :) Written on 9/12/06

My Comment:

webmate

What about the female hackers? #3 Kate 'Acid Burn' Libby in Hackers (Angelina Jolie); #2 Angela Bennett in The Net (Sandra Bullock); #1 Trinity in The Matrix (Carrie-Anne Moss). Written on 9/12/06

My Comment:

Bleve

One of the first cracker movies was the original (1960's) Italian Job, where Benny Hill hacks the Italian traffic control computer to make a huge traffic jam and one way through it.

Written on 9/12/06

My Comment:

joedoe

Hey what about Inspector Gadget's daughter. I think her name was Amy. She had that computer book that could hack anything. Written on 9/12/06

My Comment:

rpg

Her name was Penny ;) Written on 20/12/06

My Comment:

hpsaturn

nice list, but 23?, the most wonderful movie of all times.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126765/ Written on 9/12/06

My Comment:

acart

what about luther stickler in mission impossible? Written on 9/12/06

My Comment:

Magicmerlin

Luther is one of the best in MHO , As for benny hill he was one of the best in england for a long time really do not think he is a good hacker tho. Now the matrix is the best film ever and is based on astral projection thats a big thing in Ca at the moment do a search on google, Matrix rules !

Signature: "Love is Plain without fun adult sex toys."
Written on 2/8/08

My Comment:

unasimple

Bishop(android) from Aliens! That guy could remotely code/pilot a ship in at 200 wpm. Written on 9/12/06

My Comment:

bugmenot

I expected Trinity, she actually earned some real hacker respect.

But now I suppose they weren't ranked by skill but by sex appeal. So I s'pose Kevin Flynn goes way on top there ;-P Written on 11/12/06

My Comment:

kuriharu

That kicks ass that you included Ghost in the Shell, especially so high up on the list.

Did anyone actually see that "Firewall" movie? Written on 11/12/06

My Comment:

scandata

I saw Firewall. It was better than I expected it to be).

[SPOILER BELOW]
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I thought it was cool when he used the reader from a FAX machine and taped it to a monitor to digitally store some code (or something like that). I don't know if that would work in reality, but it was a creative idea anyway. Written on 18/3/07

My Comment:

elfidomx

The guys in 13th floor, they created a whole AI world in which you actually felt be part of it. Written on 15/12/06

My Comment:

AlohaKid

Best hacker I ever saw on da silver screen, actually DVD, was Kayla Kleevage in "Is That A Computer In Your Pocket, Or You Just Happy To See Me?"

Aloha All! Written on 18/3/07

My Comment:

zeroCool

Dade Murphy's famous quote should have been "Listen, I'm in big trouble, you know anything about computers?" Written on 24/12/07

My Comment:

Carimbo

First, Trinity should be here, yes.

Where's the Merovingian?

Where's R2-D2?? Written on 25/12/07

My Comment:

chiefbutz

You really ought to see Trinity Blood. Father Abel Nightroad, he can do some hacking. Written on 1/1/08

My Comment:

Magicmerlin

Trinity is lovely but neo is the one for me. Not realy hackers on this
one but a great film seen them all a few times and can still watch them again and again.

Signature: "Love is Plain without fun rabbit Vibrator Written on 3/8/08

My Comment:

MacZultr

You don't need a Rabbit Vibrator if you have a tool like Neo. Written on 1/12/08

My Comment:

GloryConway

Yeah ... these hackers are all cool but wait till you get a load of computer hacker Jimmy Mitner, aka: "Condor" (a black-hat cracker) in the upcoming novel, Karakal (Lost Horizon-The Return).
On the lam from the Feds as the creator of The Melissa Virus and The Love-Bug virus, he accompanies The Image Expedtion to the world's tallest mountain, Mt. Karakal.

In this sequel to James Hilton’s 1934 classic, it is the fall of 1997, some sixty-years after Hugh Conway was shanghaied from Baskul and disappeared without a trace. A team of confident climbers set out to summit the face of the world’s tallest mountain known as Karakal with notable celebrities and journalists. Not long into their journey, the climbers know they are headed for disaster. Rescue teams from all over the world race toward Karakal yet only one of the sixty climbers, Chicago journalist Tim Campbell, survives to face unfounded international accusations as he tells an amazing tale of visiting the mythical Shangri-La.

Sample dialogue between Mitner and FBI agent DiSalvo:

Look DiSalvo, I sympathize with your problem but you have the wrong guy. The worst you have on me is trying to obtain a driver’s license under false pretences and … oh wait! You didn’t even catch me with the documents. Sorry you had to stake out Kinko’s for a week. That must be hazardous duty for you fella’s. Now either charge me with something and let me get to my cell so I can have a sandwich or get me the hell out of here before I start screaming for my lawyer and the media.” Written on 12/2/08

My Comment:

syednakata

I want to add about the best hackers tv series are :
LEVEL 9
I hope you all agree with me.
Here the link to download. You need Torrent downloader like BitComet.
http://dl.torrentreactor.net/download.php?id=1787650&name=Level+9
Written on 9/7/08

My Comment:

Agata

And what about Morpheus? and his Bible quotes?

" If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain"
"What are you waiting for? You're faster than this. Don't think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me"

signature: "Nothing makes you forget about love like adult sex toys."
Written on 24/7/08

My Comment:

Misty

Nice to see Superman III, Firewall and Wargames on that list. I am a bit shock that The Net is not on there. They totally left the women out of the loop.

signature: "Add some spice of fantasy into your romance with sexy lingerie and adult sex toys". Written on 2/9/08

My Comment:

SassyLover

No doubt, # 1 is the best and sexiest among all the hackers!!!!

Signature: Its never too late to play with Adult Toys Written on 14/9/08

My Comment:

jasper

hackers was a cult classic

I bet Angie and Dade were the erotic couple to play with sex toys. Good on them for making nerds look sexy!

Written on 29/9/08

My Comment:

canadian

I expected Trinity, she actually earned some real hacker respect.
Signature: Its never too late to play with sex toys and also adult toys Written on 21/11/08