robert-temple-1 This is very much a television movie, a big idea made on a miniscule budget. Made in 1999, and set in the awesome future (everything distant is awesome) of 2005, it is still relevant, and some of its points mean more now than they did then. Tom Clancy obviously researched his subject well for his novel, and some of that made it onto the screen. In order to save money on extras, we are not shown a key funeral scene, but instead see two people sitting in a church afterwards talking about it; at the next funeral scene only two people are present, so that is cheap too. So many corners are cut, the film could be described as 'in the round'. Apart from a powerful and excellent performance by Judge Reinhold as a megalomaniac IT genius and entrepeneur, a larger than life 'down home' performance as the President's buddy by Brian Dennehy, and the super-cool acting of Kris Kristofferson, the rest of the cast are as colourless as wax dummies. The cinematography is atrocious, attempting to create dark brooding atmosphere with low lighting, but instead looking like it was all shot in an old fish tank which someone had forgotten to clean. When one is trying to follow a complex plot, it helps if one can see. Having said all this, the film deals with big issues. It also specifically names 'the evil behind the problem' as 'the New World Order', which is a surefire way not to be given a big budget, so maybe that is why this had to sneak onto the TV screens and not get the full treatment. It is more convincing than less realistic films like 'The Matrix', and has more to say about the real issues as opposed to big screen fantasies. Sometimes the lack of a budget concentrates the mind wonderfully, as Val Lewton proved. If you think about it, it is what we don't see in this film because they couldn't afford it, that we ought to be really worried about. The story was certainly ahead of its time in addressing the deadly issue of the monopolistic bundling of software, and it appears to be a savage attack on Bill Gates, while being careful to avoid getting sued by mentioning him explicitly as someone we don't see, so that they could not be accused of Judge Reinhold's character being a direct portrait of him. However, the messages are there. As one of the main characters says: 'the net has become a means of spreading greed and lust'. If that's what people have inside them, then that is what the amplifier of the net will blast back at us. All of human reality is basically a feedback loop in which we see ourselves for what we are. Maybe the only way to see that truth and still live with it is to see it shot inside a fishtank, so that we can dismiss it. After all, Planet Earth's budget is also too small.

no-skyline Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap's Sam Beckett) and Kris Kristofersson (Blade, Pat Garett and Billy the Kid) star in this below average TV movie. It seems quite a lot of money (for a TV movie) has been thrown at this but the pace at times is down to a crawl and Bakula's character seems to have become head of Netforce with a total lack of any computer knowledge. It's dated fairly badly but all movies about computers do that look at Wargames or Tron! But it's main problems are down to a flabby script, pedestrian direction and lack of tension as for the ending i'm not even going to go there! Let's just say it ain't great, I gave this film a 4/10 as it's not a total lost cause but i cant recommend spending 2+hours watching this when there are better films out there. If you want a hacker movie War Games (Mathew Broderick) or Sneakers (Robert Redford, River Phoenix) are better movies in the same sort of area or for a more MTV friendly teen hacker movie then go for Hackers (Angelina Jolie & Tommy Lee Miller).4/10 - If there's nothing better on a rainy Sunday it might pass the time but thats about all, we can only hope the Quantum Leap movie gets off the ground to save Scott Bakula!

bandwidthboy Hmm, a tv movie that tried to do interesting things. I am not a fan of cop shows or their ilk, but thought I'd give this a chance as I find Scott Bakula rather likeable. I haven't read any of Tom Clancy's books and it is unlikely I will do so. Real life is more interesting!I thought overall that the garnish was somewhat better than the meal. The many pop cultural and tech references were fine with me, if one didn't think too hard. If you like the odd glass of fermented fruit or vegetable drink with your viewing, this may improve your palate after the credits roll. I don't think it would fare so well on a re-screening, at least with me. The decision to set this in 2005 seems a compromise dramatically -- too soon and it seems laughable but too far out and it seems too hard to relate to. Add 20 to 30 years at least for most of the tech, though I don't know about Star Wars 7! Some links between the NSA and Netforce seem clear, given the overlap in computing power and cryptographic muscle. And just why folks were still using CRT monitors probably stems from the budgetary constraints of being a tv movie. The tea-strainer VR interface looked pretty silly which added a certain charm for mine. But the rebooted 'dead guy' just sucked, far too out of place for the near contemporary tale that this was meant to be.Probably there could have been mileage for a series here, albeit one that would need careful scripting and direction. But in tv, such things are all too often a luxury and I wouldn't have been surprised if this became bogged down in blah real fast.I was also pretty bothered by the idea that the rest of the world would just sit and accept the idea that the USA had the unilateral right to destroy the Internet any time it so chose, however that was to be achieved. (That was rather important to the plot, but the details on just how this trick were to be achieved -- short of nuclear weapons -- were pretty darn vague, and thus unconvincing.) This can't possibly be legal, by its own laws or the international ones it so often ignores when it feels force is better suited to achieving its objectives.The villain's motivations therefore for me were very tedious and unappealing, a real disappointment. I had hoped that he would be willing to die to remove the threat to the Internet posed by the weapon he helped to give to his government. Instead he came across as another self-righteous neoluddite, but given his government connections I suppose that was probably a job requirement. So much for moral ambiguity, for doubt, for provoking thought, for drama! Were that present, Netforce could have made for far more rewarding viewing.As ever, your mileage may vary but if you liked this film you may enjoy Ray Kurzweil's books and his site.

Chris Quigley An average run-of-the-mill action/thriller about a Bill Gates type person who tries to monopolise internet access. This film has all the usual cliches and plots of an every day action thriller but does has some interesting views on how the internet may develop. Could have been a lot worse but still better than a lot of dirge out there at the moment. Why doesn't Scott Bakula get better scripts?