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Visitors Review

cwrdlylyn 2012-05-24 13:21:30

THE NET : Irwin Winkler Wastes The Film's Potential...

THE NET I certainly didn't expect this movie to be classic when I put it inlast night. I was thinking it would be a "no-brainer" stupid littlethriller starring Sandra Bullock. Essentially... I was right.THE NET had the potential to be a better film. The storyline actuallycreates situations of immense suspense and is paced rather well. Thewhole computer virus storyline is so confusing to someone not toofamiliar with computers... and I'm sure there are plot holes in there,but I didn't notice.What keeps THE NET from being truly good is terrible direction. Lately,I've started to notice how easily a bad director can destroy a film andthis was a good example... certain moments in this film are justcomically bad.The scene of Sandra Bullock's boat get away and her impending crashlooks terrible. And normally I can forgive obvious special effects...but I'm sorry, the obviously fake rocks, the poorly edited stunt woman,the ridiculous close ups on Bullock's face. This moment is so terribleand just acts like a giant speed bump in the growing action.Aside from this, Jeremy Northam is god awful in his role. He goes sofar over the top trying to be this seductive threat in Bullock's lifethat I was laughing many times when I wasn't supposed to be. The morethreatening, angry, and sexual he tries to get... the less frighteninghe becomes. Not an ounce of nuance or subtlety. Where was a directortelling him to hold back? Or just to tell him... get off my set... yousuck! Otherwise, the director, Irwin Winkler, takes far too long attimes when he doesn't need to. I liked the Dennis Miller/Sandra Bullocklove story that started to develop. But in the end, the scenes arepointless and they come to an abrupt end. And anytime Sandra Bullockwas on the run, Irwin Winkler just keeps the camera rolling. There isno example of tightly constructed... suspenseful editing.On the plus side, despite the flaws, the movie still can be exciting atpoints... and Bullock has some good moments that show some deeperpotential. Had this film been done by a director with a keener eye,perhaps both Bullock and the film could have been much better.As is, it's the kind of film that's easy to sit through... but that'spartially b/c it's so bad it's good. It's not the worst film that everwas, but it could have been far better.... C/C- ...

2012-05-24 08:00:55

medicore

Sandra Bullock- you either love her or you hate her. I must love her, because I can sit through even her worst movies, this being one of them. She gets into trouble with some computer crap, guys try to kill her blah blah blah. Boring and unoriginal but if youre a Sandra fan like me youll grin and bear it

2012-05-21 20:51:17

Broken dvd case

This review is from: The Net (DVD) When I recieved this dvd I opened it up and the dvd was rolling around inside the case because the middle part that was supposed to have held it in was broken. The dvd was scratched up and when I read the return policy of course it said I can't return opened dvds so I'm stuck with it. Great movie though.

2012-05-21 12:55:58

A Net with too many holes

The cover of this movie is probably very misleading. We were promised wild action and a captavating ride. Unfortunately this stretched to setting off a fire alarm and knocking over a clown ! Very slow to begin with and a little confusing. Sandra, as usual is great, and together with a thought provoking plot makes up for the short fallings. It's OK to see once, but only once.

2012-05-16 16:59:38

An Urban Legend for Our Times

The movie begins with the suicide of a government official. Next it shows a young woman who spends time playing computer games for profit, and dines on pizza and chocolate candy. Her life is solitary, communicating mainly thru telephone lines. (An earlier incident in Angela's life made her withdrawn.) A package is delivered, and she runs the enclosed diskette. Because of the diskette's secret, great danger enters her life.The story tells how her identity can be stolen, and official records created, to make her a wanted criminal. She survives many attempts to kill her, but her close friends do not. All because of that diskette, whose secret is slowly revealed.The secret of the diskette is how a "bug" was installed into protection software to create a 'trap door' that can be used to allow a person to access any computer, and then browse, create, or modify the data. This is NOT fiction - some software does come with defaults to allow access. (I once heard a person boast that his former firm had a tradition of doing this.)Angela discovers that a deliberately incorrect medical diagnosis was created to induce the suicide of that government official. After escaping dangers, she succeeds in sending the information to the FBI, and the plot is uncovered. (Did you note the resemblance of 'Jeff Gregg' to the fictional 'Will Styles'?)The movie's style and scenes reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock: an innocent on the run due to a mistaken identity, or stumbling into a secret plot. The parade scene recalls "Blowout", the ending on the catwalk recalls "The Parallax View". Some criticize this for copying, but I would call it "best practices". But all ends well to make it a successful movie.

2012-05-16 03:46:27

Excellent Film

I, like most of the reviewers here, seem to find myself worrying about realism in computer movies. This movie was different. It didn't take long to find myself getting lost in the movie and forgetting about the technological 'failures'. Sandra was great at demonstrating the fear of someone getting into your files (as a manager at a comms firm, that IS a REAL fear!). The only bit that was REALLY over the top was the 'melting screen' when a virus is infecting a computer in the film but that will be for effect as there is really NO OTHER WAY that I can think of to suggest a virus to the non-computer people (and we all know QUITE how many of them there are!). All in all, a great film

2012-05-11 20:36:45

THRILLER, SUSPENSE Flick!

This review is from: The Net (DVD) If you're into computers and you like a suspense movie, you'll probably love The Net. It combines the two quite well and Sandra Bullock does one of her best movies imo. In the film, she lives alone, spending most of her time fixing her company's computers on line. She seems to rarely go out or socialize except with others by computer. She even orders her food over the computer, and it's delivered. Because she keeps to herself, hardly anyone knows her personally, and her mother is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's Disease, so she doesn't remember her. Her only friend is an ex boyfriend, who happens to be a psychiatrist, and she's broken up with him. The fact that she's so incognito has a lot to do with the film. Before leaving for her first vacation in years, she get's a call from a friend in her company who is confused about a weird disk that's come into his possesion, and wants her to help him. Not willing to figure it out over the phone or on the computer, he tells her he needs to see her in person and he's flying to her home in LA. He never arrives. She takes her vacation, but while at the beach she meets a hacker. Both are lying on the beach with computers clicking away. He seems like a nice enough guy, but beware, maybe he's not. The real plot actually begins at this point. From then on it's a mystery and a chase. This hacker works for a shady crime syndicate whose trying to take over the government by hacking into their computers. She's chased all over the movie by this underground bunch, and I won't tell you the ending, but it's pretty exciting. Bullock is really good in this one.

masselass 2012-05-11 16:28:08

There are worse films.. but not many!

When I started watching it I did not know I was going to witness one ofthe worst movie experiences of my life.The movie is made in 1995 so in some way it is excused. But still, ittries to be high tech in a time period when high tech did not exist!The movie is so far of when it comes to what was possible back then.This was at the birth of Java, Internet as we know it, USB etc. butstill not one part of the movie is believable. How someone can rate this film up to 7 or 8 is beyond my comprehension.They were either drunk, asleep during the film, keen on Bullock or werewatching another movie. Because this movie is not worth more thanmaximum 3 stars. And that is just because of Sandra's black bikini.Im sorry Winkler, but you made a film that deserves to be on the Bottom100 here on IMDb. And Im also sorry to all of you who are going towatch this film during your lifetime!

Ishmael 2012-05-09 01:02:59

By analyzing the user rating level of this movie...

We can conclude that there are 10 types of people in this world.Those who understand binary and those who do not. Those who understandbinary put this movie to its grave along with hackers, while those who doenjoy this movie for the sake that none of this crap could happen. Ever. For a movie to attempt to be a modern movie with fiction applied to it. Ithas failed. Horribly. Only a 11yr old and below can enjoy and only 30yr andup could be scared to have their identity taken. It losses out on the mainmarket for a resale value(i watch it now it is more boring than when it wasfirst released).

Ray Simard 2012-05-08 11:52:04

Gripping, disturbing drama

While many of us dyed-in-the-wool techies will briefly notice someimprobable items and circumstances here and there in this film, they won'tdetract from the gripping suspense and tension it skillfully builds.SandraBullock is impressive and convincing as Angela Bennett, a sociallyreservedwork-at-home systems analyst whose reclusiveness is so extensive that whenher identity has been stolen and replaced with another, she can find nooneto vouch for her but her mother who suffers from Alzheimer's disease andcannot remember who she is and a former therapist who considers herterrifying story to be merely delusions.Though it's highly unlikely that a conspiracy such as the one in The Netcould penetrate the world's institutions to the extent this one did, theissues of identity theft and Trojan-horse infiltrations are by no meansfar-fetched. The extent to which our dependency on computer-based dataleaves us all vulnerable to those who can find ways to corrupt it is aquiterealistic aspect of this film. Makes you appreciate those who insist thatplain old paper records be kept around, just in case.There are a number of factual improbabilities and impossibilities in TheNet, but by and large they are of the sort that one excuses for the sakeofdrama. After all, this is a movie, not the Discovery Channel. And therearea few rather formulaic predictabilities: when she's had sex with the guy,you can be he'll either turn out to be dirty or doomed; much the same forthe therapist.But no matter. It's a great film. If you haven't seen it, see it. If youhave, see it again.

2012-05-08 08:26:45

Good Movie for the Computer Lover, and Wannabe Hacker!

This movie is good, though at times boring, I have watched it at least 10 times, and love it. Great for computer lovers, even though "fake" at times still fun. Rent/buy it today! :¬P

Dave Nottingham 2012-05-08 02:24:41

A technically acurate thriller

Out of the recent genre of "Big Brother" computer plots this one has to bethe most believable. No fancy whiz-kid hackers that break into FBImainframefiles in seconds. Irwin Winklers ability to bring reality into a thrillergives it the credibility that says "This could happen - this could beme!"Full marks for a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat based justongood scriptwriting and acting alone!If you like this one, "Enemy of the State" is worth looking at aswell.

2012-05-03 22:08:44

Painful cliches abound

Normally I would never admit that I watched this movie. I do so only to issue a warning: if you value your brain, do not watch this!The plot is a series of cliches and illogical events. The "bad guys" are mind-numbingly stupid.If it appears on television, watch something else. If someone offers to sell it to you, run far, far away...

jbels 2012-05-03 18:22:05

Kind of silly

This film aged as well as a carton of milk. It is obvious that the lovelyMs. Bullock has no idea what she is talking about when she spouts hercomputer jargon. And the continuous use of the Mozart's Ghost device growsreal tired real quick. Dennis Miller is completely annoying as he chucklesafter every line he delivers. Yet the movie can hold yourinterest!

2012-04-29 22:29:04

A very average thriller

So Sandra Bullock is such a computer geek that no one knows who she really is? If you can swallow that premise then you may be able to enjoy this standard offering from producer irwin Winkler. To be honest the premise of the young woman who has her identity wiped and has to go on the run is fine, if slightly implausible; the overall effect is just not that exciting. Jeremy Northam is suitably slimy as the bad guy and Sandra does a fair scared but fiesty routine. But the film makers don;t seem to be aware that typing on computers is not a thrilling thing to watch. Sandra Bullock running around is, but not when her efforts are not done justice. Overall this ticks off all the required perils but if you've seen The Pelican Brief, then this is pretty much the same thing.

2012-04-29 04:00:57

Sandra and Suspense! Killer Combo! Bad DVD move for Columbia

I am a really big fan of Sandra Bullock and the Net, let's get that out of the way right now. I liked her in Speed. Fell in love with her in While You Were Sleeping and fell for her again in Miss Congeniality. But there was one movie that made me die for her. That movie was the Net. The thing that makes me look like I don't like Sandra is the fact that I bought the movie-only version over the special edition. Well first of all, I believe in value over pleasure. ...P>Yes, I know that if I fork out 10 more dollars, I can get a couple features, but is it worth it. I bought the M-O version and it's a great DVD. Good picture quality. Great sound! Okay menus, (at least there are menus) WIDESCREEN or FULL-FRAME presentations. How can you not like that! Columbia needs to say to themselves, "hmm, does the consumer want features or just the movie?, or 'Should we charge more money for a SE?" No charge the same amount for both and let the DVD fans choose. So, that ticked me off. I am sticking with the single edition which is probably better. I will only buy the SE if it has like a director's cut or has 1 hour of deleted scenes. But hey, buy this movie. It is Sandra's best!

2012-04-26 13:31:25

It was provactive, edgy, and so much fun to watch.

I'm looking for anyone else out there who loved this movie. I'm even more interested to know if anyone out there loved "The Net" t.v. series based on the movie on USA network. I did. It has recieved a lot of really bad criticism especially right before the show went off air and I would like to know if someone agrees with me that this was unjust. If anyone knows if the series will air again please tell me! :)

Mr. Bennett 2012-04-26 03:22:30

One of the most "terrifying" films i have seen.

When i first saw THE NET, cos i have seen it 2-3 times, it really impressedme (it became one of my favorites, that's why i use Bullock's name as anickname). First of all, i enjoyed watching it, because i work oncomputers,and i tend to like any film that features computers. As the story unfolds,ubegan to realize that this movie is more than a hacker's movie. Youactuallyfeel her fear, as you watch her whole life turn upside down, you're gettingterrified to the idea that IT CAN HAPPEN 2U, and you don't have a clue forthe ending.Manages to "keep" the viewer all the way to the end, and before you go tobed, you remind yourself not to chat to strangers...

2012-04-25 10:40:21

the net

This review is from: The Net (DVD) i injoyed the movie very munch it show how in reel life that identy thef could happen to any one.Sandra bulic did a great job of acting.

2012-04-24 15:35:36

The Net

This is a great movie it has twist is extravagant but yet never goes to over the top. Its great for those who want action computers and death all in one tape or disc and you can watch it as many times as you want but every time you get more out of it I ve watched it 38 times and still not bored. Give this Movie a try I personally guarantee you wont regret it!!!