6 ms·

The movie is obviously technical garbage but one thing it did well was capture that early hacker counterculture spirit. I think a lot of us can appreciate that

The movie is obviously technical garbage but one thing it did well was capture that early hacker counterculture spirit. I think a lot of us can appreciate that for the warm blanket it is and forgive its technical accuracy and story flaws.

jghn 7mo ago
I find this and Starship Troopers to fit in a similar niche for me. When I first saw them I found them very cringey, horrible, couldn't stand it. Hackers for the reasons being discussed here. ST because of how bastardized it was from the source material. But over time I grew to love both of them. In both cases I started to appreciate how they weren't trying to be faithful representations, but rather capture a particular ethos in a cheesy & over the top way. And both of them I think hit their mark well in that regard.
- Sharlin 7mo ago
  Bastardized? It's satire and not at all subtle about it. You can of course argue that it's poorly executed satire, but judging it based on how faithful it is to the source material is rather missing the point.
  - jghn 7mo ago
    I think you're the one who missed the point, as in you missed *my* point. When I first saw Starship Troopers, I disliked it because it wasn't faithful to the book. Over time I came to appreciate it for what it actually was, and now think it is fantastic. Likewise, with Hackers I initially disliked it due to how inaccurate and unrealistic it was. I came to appreciate it for what it actually was over time, and now think it is fantastic.
    - Sharlin 7mo ago
      Yeah, my bad. For some reason I read your comment really carelessly.
    - stevekemp 7mo ago
      > I think you're the one who missed the point Yes, I would like to know more ..
      - sillysaurusx 7mo ago
        Ha, caught that reference. That brought back memories.
      - jghn 7mo ago
        I'm doing my part!
- wredcoll 7mo ago
  What is it with people feeling compelled to talk about starship troopers movie being different (lesser) than the book? Like, there's not that much to the book. It's a decently written "joins the military" story with a couple of well developed characters and one unique idea about sci-fi warfare (the suits spending most of their time jumping, which in retrospect would just make you a giant target...) None of this is bad, it's just like, there's dozens of other mil-sci-fi books and yet everyone has to jump in and go "but the book is better!!!"
  - deleted 7mo ago
    [deleted]
  - Der_Einzige 7mo ago
    Most people don’t want to admit that the author of the book wants you to take the book and movie at face value and thus the film/book are unironically right wing coded. A lot of liberals don’t want to admit that. Similarly, “they live” might have tried to pretend to be liberal coded and that might be the directors intention, but it’s schizo /pol/ right wing coded too in practice. After the Epstein stuff, we need reparations for /pol/ schizos.
    - int_19h 7mo ago
      Heinlein's political views are not exactly a secret among people who care for his books.
  - jghn 7mo ago
    I don’t believe I said the book was better. You misunderstood my point
- throaway54 7mo ago
  Starship Troopers is actually nothing like Hackers? Verhoeven's Troopers is a straight-up satire of the USA's industrial-military complex.
nickjj 7mo ago
> I think a lot of us can appreciate that for the warm blanket it is and forgive its technical accuracy and story flaws. This is how I feel about it too. I've watched it a good 8-10 times over the decades and enjoy it every time.
mpeg 7mo ago
It's surprisingly accurate in terms of how weird and cringy the 90s / early 00s hacker culture was, I too was obsessed with the movie and it led me to obscure irc channels, e-zines and eventually a whole career in tech
Sharlin 7mo ago
It's not really even technical garbage. From many throwaway lines it's clear that the writers actually knew their stuff. They just chose to not make a hacking movie based on realism (because boring) but based on the zeitgeist, the computer tropes of the 80s and early 90s, and the concept of "cyberspace" as envisioned by Gibson and made its way to the collective consciousness. In a time when virtual reality and 3D graphics were at peak cool, yet most people had no experience with computer networks, or even computers at all. "Cyberspace […] A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding." – Neuromancer
- chrisfosterelli 7mo ago
  Good point. By 'technical garbage' I largely meant the dated visualizations it associated with all the hacking scenes (the rapid hacking speed I can forgive for the sake of story) but TBH I never fully made the connection between 'the gibson' and william gibson -- I kind of like the idea of the hacking scenes as an exploration to gibson's ideas around cyberspace.

jghn 7mo ago

I find this and Starship Troopers to fit in a similar niche for me. When I first saw them I found them very cringey, horrible, couldn't stand it. Hackers for the reasons being discussed here. ST because of how bastardized it was from the source material. But over time I grew to love both of them. In both cases I started to appreciate how they weren't trying to be faithful representations, but rather capture a particular ethos in a cheesy & over the top way. And both of them I think hit their mark well in that regard.

Sharlin 7mo ago
Bastardized? It's satire and not at all subtle about it. You can of course argue that it's poorly executed satire, but judging it based on how faithful it is to the source material is rather missing the point.
- jghn 7mo ago
  I think you're the one who missed the point, as in you missed *my* point. When I first saw Starship Troopers, I disliked it because it wasn't faithful to the book. Over time I came to appreciate it for what it actually was, and now think it is fantastic. Likewise, with Hackers I initially disliked it due to how inaccurate and unrealistic it was. I came to appreciate it for what it actually was over time, and now think it is fantastic.
  - Sharlin 7mo ago
    Yeah, my bad. For some reason I read your comment really carelessly.
  - stevekemp 7mo ago
    > I think you're the one who missed the point Yes, I would like to know more ..
    - sillysaurusx 7mo ago
      Ha, caught that reference. That brought back memories.
    - jghn 7mo ago
      I'm doing my part!
wredcoll 7mo ago
What is it with people feeling compelled to talk about starship troopers movie being different (lesser) than the book? Like, there's not that much to the book. It's a decently written "joins the military" story with a couple of well developed characters and one unique idea about sci-fi warfare (the suits spending most of their time jumping, which in retrospect would just make you a giant target...) None of this is bad, it's just like, there's dozens of other mil-sci-fi books and yet everyone has to jump in and go "but the book is better!!!"
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
- Der_Einzige 7mo ago
  Most people don’t want to admit that the author of the book wants you to take the book and movie at face value and thus the film/book are unironically right wing coded. A lot of liberals don’t want to admit that. Similarly, “they live” might have tried to pretend to be liberal coded and that might be the directors intention, but it’s schizo /pol/ right wing coded too in practice. After the Epstein stuff, we need reparations for /pol/ schizos.
  - int_19h 7mo ago
    Heinlein's political views are not exactly a secret among people who care for his books.
- jghn 7mo ago
  I don’t believe I said the book was better. You misunderstood my point
throaway54 7mo ago
Starship Troopers is actually nothing like Hackers? Verhoeven's Troopers is a straight-up satire of the USA's industrial-military complex.

nickjj 7mo ago

> I think a lot of us can appreciate that for the warm blanket it is and forgive its technical accuracy and story flaws. This is how I feel about it too. I've watched it a good 8-10 times over the decades and enjoy it every time.

mpeg 7mo ago

It's surprisingly accurate in terms of how weird and cringy the 90s / early 00s hacker culture was, I too was obsessed with the movie and it led me to obscure irc channels, e-zines and eventually a whole career in tech

Sharlin 7mo ago

It's not really even technical garbage. From many throwaway lines it's clear that the writers actually knew their stuff. They just chose to not make a hacking movie based on realism (because boring) but based on the zeitgeist, the computer tropes of the 80s and early 90s, and the concept of "cyberspace" as envisioned by Gibson and made its way to the collective consciousness. In a time when virtual reality and 3D graphics were at peak cool, yet most people had no experience with computer networks, or even computers at all. "Cyberspace […] A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding." – Neuromancer

chrisfosterelli 7mo ago
Good point. By 'technical garbage' I largely meant the dated visualizations it associated with all the hacking scenes (the rapid hacking speed I can forgive for the sake of story) but TBH I never fully made the connection between 'the gibson' and william gibson -- I kind of like the idea of the hacking scenes as an exploration to gibson's ideas around cyberspace.