Retro '90s Techno Thrillers That Predicted Our Digital Future
The 1990s were a wild time for technology. The internet was taking off with AOL's popularity, computer-animated media was becoming more common, and Windows 95 changed how we viewed operating systems forever. As our technology changed, so did films that utilized everything from computers to virtual reality.
With so much innovation, movies either tried to match our current tech or look towards the near future of our next big discovery. That curiosity led to some of the wildest tech thrillers ever made, with incredible ideas, whether they came to fruition or not. There's nothing like a 1990s techno thriller, and these ten are the best ones to boot up.
Existenz
David Cronenberg took a whack at video games and virtual reality with the trippy thriller Existenz . But, in true Cronenberg fashion, his virtual reality video game console is a living organism composed of flesh. The development of this console makes game designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) a target of assassins, tossing her into a tech conspiracy where she's never sure who to trust or what is real.
Existenz is one of the more mind-bending tech thrillers because it takes place in a realm that may or may not be virtual reality. It taps into the more compelling idea that we might not fuse ourselves to technology, but that technology will adopt our most human traits. It's also just a trippy thriller, considering the scene where a gun is manufactured out of bones.
The Net
Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) is a computer programmer who has acquired a strange floppy disc. As her programming peers mysteriously die, her identity is erased from databases, and her house has been emptied. As she loses herself amid a digital conspiracy, she must uncover who is targeting her and what is so vital about the disc that makes her the victim of cyberterrorists.
The Net attempted to use the proliferation of the internet and computer viruses to stage a Hitchcock-esque conspiracy thriller. Part of making this type of story work relies on paranoia and how little audiences knew about tech then, where the prospect of floppy discs being identity-destroying devices seemed entirely believable. It's easy to laugh at it now, but if you're willing to suspend our current reality of tech, there are some decent thrills and a capable performance by Sandra Bullock.
Mission: Impossible
As a theatrical adaptation of the 1960s spy TV series, Mission: Impossible features government agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) taking on dangerous espionage missions. But when his latest mission ends with the death of his mentor, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), Ethan is unjustly accused of murder. Cracking this conspiracy will require Ethan to go against the CIA in an explosive and thrilling case of action and intrigue.
While the first Mission: Impossible movie still had the daring action the franchise later became known for, this film remains one of the most intricately plotted. The plot revolves around Ethan recovering computer files, where hacking has never looked more intense when portrayed through being suspended by wires. Keep your eyes open during the shots of computer screens for some dated absurdity in the depiction of websites.
The Lawnmower Man
Based on Stephen King's short story, The Lawnmower Man explores the idea that virtual reality could improve or worsen one's mental state. Scientist Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan) thinks he can make this work with humans and decides to test it out on the intellectually disabled gardener, Jobe (Jeff Fahey). The experiment works too well, as Jobe intends to use his increased intelligence to ascend beyond our reality and dominate the digital realm.
The Lawnmower Man framed virtual reality as a bulky and clunky experiment, given the heavy headgear and gyroscopic devices for movement. It also gets incredibly supernatural for how Jobe's digital abilities become nightmarish, where he can obliterate people in realities both mortal and virtual. Despite its age, there's something still nightmarish about Jobe's CGI form with his furious expression and a chilling aspect to his sentience being announced by every phone in the world ringing at once.
Enemy of the State
Lawyer Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) has come into possession of a videotape that captures the assassination of a congressman. The murder was carried out by Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight) of the NHS for the purposes of expanding surveillance laws to be more intrusive. Now on the run for being accused of murder, Dean's only hope to prove his innocence and reveal the actual murderer is to rely on the expertise of former agent Brill (Gene Hackman).
Enemy of the State addressed the late-90s concern of increased tech surveillance that was growing as much as our technological innovations. There's still some dated realism in the plausibility of the tech utilized, but, much like The Net , it's still an entertaining romp thanks to a great cast and some brisk direction from Tony Scott ( Top Gun ). It's also a somewhat cathartic film, especially realizing how much government surveillance has spread since the 1990s .
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
As the sequel to James Cameron's 1980s techno-horror film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day takes the fight for the future by targeting the present tech. When the murderous machine known as the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) targets the future revolutionary leader John Connor (Edward Furlong), a reformed T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and the imprisoned Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) are the only hope for saving humanity. They'll have to stop the coming war of man versus machine by protecting John and dismantling the technology developed by Skynet.
While T2 does boast some fantastical technology involving the liquid metal of the T-1000, it also features a lot of fascinating 1990s technology. Everything from John's method of hacking an ATM for money to Mile Dyson's computer work at home paints a more believable idea of a tech thriller. Of course, the real draw is the incredible action sequences, but having more believable technology of the present surrounding the mesmerizing tech of the future paints a more vivid and engrossing picture.
Virtuosity
Set in the not-too-distant future of 1999, Virtuosity poses a future where criminals have taken a digital form. Parker Barnes (Denzel Washington) is a cop hired to venture into a virtual reality program to stop the evil computer program, SID 6.7 (Russell Crowe). But when SID escapes virtual reality, Barnes must hunt down this program that aims to kill as many people as possible, given that he was programmed with the personalities of dangerous criminals.
With giant TV displays, mid-90s 3D graphics, and clacking keyboards, Virtuosity has a charm for pairing wild visions of the future of virtual reality with the incredible performances of Washington and Crowe. It works well enough as a cat-and-mouse game of cop versus serial killer, but the extra dose of dated CGI and intimidating tech makes this techno-thriller admirable for how much bravado is placed in its bombastic staging. It's a bizarre movie that becomes such a retro treat if you're willing to accept its bonkers premise.
Sneakers
Martin (Robert Redford) is a computer hacker who leads a team of security-testing experts. The NHS has tasked his group with stealing a new type of decoder that can break any encryption. The entire mission, however, is a setup to accuse Martin of murder through a conspiracy concocted by rogue agents.
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson ( The Sum of All Fears ), Sneakers was surprisingly clever as the merging of a thrilling tech conspiracy and cunning caper. Taking great inspiration from real-life hackers and conceived by the writers of WarGames , the film had a natural flow for its caper story that was so richly developed that the actors could improvise fairly well with the material. And what a cast it is for boasting the talents of Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, and David Strathairn.
Strange Days
As another near-future scenario, Strange Days occurs during the millennium's final hours in a world where memories and feelings can be captured with the device known as the SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device). Black market dealer Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) sells these virtual recordings to those who want to experience the lives of others. When his latest bootleg footage contains a murder, Nero enlists his bodyguard friend Mace (Angela Bassett) to help solve this case and uncover a conspiracy involving the police.
Strange Days is one of the more believable futures in which technology records everything. Bodycam footage has become standard for current police departments, and a conspiracy involving covering up that footage feels weirdly prophetic. That said, the film still boasts CRT monitors and a SQUID viewing device that looks rather odd in how it attaches to the head.
Unfortunately, Strange Days is not currently on any streaming services, so set your reminder lists to get notified when it is. In the meantime, if you must see it, you can grab it on Blu-ray .
Hackers
Hacking never looked more rebellious than it did in the uproarious Hackers . Cyber-criminal Dade Murphy was formerly banned from computers after a successful hack of Wall Street, but he's ready to get back in the game after the ban lifts when he reaches 18. He teams up with a new band of punk hackers that includes Acid Burn (Angelina Jolie), Lord Nikon (Laurence Mason), and Cereal Killer (Matthew Lillard), targeting their biggest hacking theft yet.
Hackers has such a lively spirit that it's hard to chant along with the battle cry of "Hack the planet!" For as weird as the film gets about depicting cyberspace and hacker culture, there's this inspiring tone for how the Internet seemed like a new frontier that the next generation was bound to dominate. All quite fantastical and frantic, the energy of Hackers remains unmatched, making nearly every film about hackers look dry by comparison.
The 1990s techno thrillers hit differently than the ones made in the 21st century. It's not just the nostalgia of futuristic visions or the apt speculation of where we ended up that made these films such a treat to return to. The general inspiration of our world's obsession with computers, the internet, and virtual reality made these films such a treat to return to for the boundless paths humanity could head towards next.
