Top 10 Hacking Movies You Need to Watch

Movies about hackers exploded in popularity at the close of the 21st Century. They ranged from classics like The Matrix to OG hacker films like Sneakers or WarGames. The films offered viewers an insider’s view into the enigmatic hacker world. Although this list of all-time hit hacking movies is a good start, we’d love to hear what you consider to be the top all-time hacking movies!

Top 10 Hacking Movies You Need to Watch

1. WarGames (1983)

In the list of top hacking movies, WarGames is also the longest running movie in the hacking movie list.

It was released during the peak in the Cold War, WarGames follows the story of a student at a high school who accidentally enters the US Air Force’s rocket launcher system. In the wake of this astonishingly easy find the protagonist is thrown into a tangled web of danger that ranges from FBI agents detaining him, to being questioned as an alleged Russian double agent who is trying to destabilize and undermine the United States.

The film is a great combination of hacking details particularly at the beginning and middle of the story, all while making sure to balance this with an engaging overarching story. If you’ve not seen WarGames but, it’s worth watching despite being almost forty years old.

2. Sneakers (1992)

The entire story is focused on the computer hackers, who are referred to in the movie as Sneakers but are referred to in the film as penetration testers. It’s one of the most popular hacking movies of all time. The story is told through Martin, who is the leader of a group of experts who provide penetration testing for businesses.

Through his work, Martin finds himself in danger after he has robbed the tool that’s just too strong for anyone to gain access to. The story follows him and his crew while the antagonist seeks to make them vulnerable through manipulation or direct physical force.

Although the film provides an overall description of how crucial cybersecurity is, rather than demonstrating specific hacks, it has stood the ages and is one of the top films about hackers ever made.

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3. The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix is the most watched film in the list. Although it definitely captures the mass public attention across the world, it does not show hacking in handful moments.

*Spoiler Alert*(Seriously, but who hasn’t seen The Matrix yet? Do yourself a favor and go see it!) A large portion of this film is devoted to the complex “neurological man-in-the-middle attack” created by computer-controlled tyrants to get humans to pay for energy. Although it’s a more sophisticated scam that could be conceivable in the present (or would it be? ), the film highlights a handful of interesting hacking scenes.

One instance of this is related to the possibility of transporting themselves inside as well out of Matrix by using a mobile. This is akin to the old-fashioned phreaking attack that were popular during the early days on the web.

Additionally, The Matrix offers audiences one of the most effective movie hackers through Trinity, the main character. In some of the most important scenes in the film, she does a great job of highlighting exploits based on code. The sequel to the film was very well-received for this particular aspect.

4. Hackers (1995)

While it wasn’t initially a hit, Hackers released in 1995 gradually became an iconic cult. It follows the adventures of a team teenagers who hack into their school as they make their way through a nefarious corporate extortion plot.

This hacking movie captures the 90s’ general public’s attitude toward computers and the realm of hacking, portraying them as young nerds exploring this emerging technology to its limits. Furthermore, numerous noteworthy hacker ideologies from that era, such as those presented in The Hacker Manifesto, were released in the late 80s.

5. CitizenFour (2014)

This documentary traces the scandalous story about Edward Snowden and his first public disclosure of the controversial NSA spying program to journalists.

The documentary provides a thorough description of the process by which Snowden initially only known on the internet as CitizenFour and contacted journalists to reveal the shocking findings of widespread surveillance by the American government.

Prior to the revelation, Snowden worked as an infrastructure analyst at the National Threat Operations Center where Snowden witnessed for himself the shocking amount of data gathering occurring in authorities of the US Government. With this alarming revelation of excessive government surveillance, Snowden decides to become an informant and warn to the public.

Although the film offers an overall overview instead of specific hacking scenes however, it does cover one of the most crucial issues that is relevant to the field of cybersecurity and hacking mass surveillance. Additionally, with an impressive 96% satisfaction score at Rotten Tomatoes, this is a fantastic film for anyone who is interested in cybersecurity, hacking or personal freedoms.

6. The Fifth Estate (2013)

It is a film, a semi-fictional thriller that follows the tale about how Julian Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg worked together to create one of the most robust digital watchdog organisations — WikiLeaks.

A large portion of WikiLeaks focused on the release of data that was stolen from anonymous sources or hacking attacks that have succeeded or people who are not trusted due to excessive access and a willingness to share their information publicly.

This hacking movie highlights a lot of the steps that occur after hacking occurs, but the film does a good job of conveying what it is pits of people who work closely with hackers.

Although WikiLeaks is still a source of debate throughout its long existence, many believe that it offered the world an interesting counter-narrative that was a stark contrast to the dominant narrative by publishing classified documents. One of the downsides was the disclosure of private information of non-malicious actors that prevents WikiLeaks from being widely celebrated today, despite various other motives.

7. Takedown (2000)

Perhaps one of the movies on this list that a lot of people aren’t aware of, Takedown was riddled with controversy, accusations of falsity, and even a lawsuit following its release. The story follows one of the most well-known hackers, Kevin Mitnick, and his eventual detention.

With this in mind, it is clear that the story’s details fit more into a Hollywood story of fantasy than a fictionalized reenactment of Mitnick’s detention. There are a variety of reviews for this particular film on hacking that are varied, with some claiming it’s an inaccurate depiction of hacking, and others pointing out the thrilling scenes that are featured throughout the film.

An unpopular film on hackers that deserves to be on this list, but an intriguing story of one of the most famous hackers of all time.

8. Tron (1982)

Tron is a retelling of a hacker who fights the powerful evil corporation to the top of the mountain. The story follows the exploits of a brilliant computer engineer whose work was used to gain the trust of the executive of the company.

To to stop this, the protagonist of the story attempts to penetrate the system to find evidence to support this idea, but instead is taken to a virtual world in which he has to combat the story’s antagonist but only digitally.

This thrilling story is worth watching in its original form, or when it is remade with Tron Legacy in 2010 (the Daft Punk soundtrack is also 10/10).

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9. Blackhat (2015)

Before Chris Hemsworth playing the legendary god Thor, He also played Nicholas Hathaway, a convicted hacker of computers in Blackhat.

The movie begins with a cyber-attack against the Chicago Mercantile Trade Exchange. This attack leads to FBI involvement, which leads to a conviction hacker, named the character of Mr. Hathaway, being brought into this team to stop hackers.

In the film, Hathaway leads the series depicting the rise of the fallen hero. With the skills needed, Hathaway may be the only one who can be capable of stopping the dangerous motive behind these cyberattacks.

10. The Italian Job (2003)

Although hacking was only an insignificant part of The Italian Job, it provided the 21st century with an early and exact representation of how hacking functions.

Spoiler warning! In this hacking movie, one of the main characters, Lyle, breaks into the city’s traffic control systems. This allows him to manage all traffic and clear the road for escape vehicles in the film’s well-known heist sequence.

The film follows the three getaway cars that cut back and forward between this fast-and-furious style film to Lyle working on his laptop, accompanied by flashes of the office of the traffic controller that gradually becomes chaotic.