
Algorithm: The Hacker Movie - dveeden2
http://www.thehackermovie.com/
======
wynsh
This movie is bad. 1\. poor acting 2\. constant proselytizing about fairly
superficial hacker culture ideas 3\. plot isn't executed well. tries to create
twists at the end but it simply doesn't come together. 4\. lack of character
development as well. a large portion of the movie is the main character giving
various monologues about how cool he is as a hacker, but it still doesn't
create some sort of human connection with the viewer(or at least with me). He
was forgettable. The other characters were boring too. 5\. the worst part was
when there was an overt need for one of the characters to quite
uncharacteristically tell the main character to stick to his ideals and fight
for something bigger than himself. this cliche moment made me cringe. I stuck
through the movie mainly because my brain still refuses to account for sunk-
cost fallacy for time. I know I'm making a lot of claims here--frankly I don't
want to spend anymore time substantiating with examples. Just take my word or
go watch it. Hope this helps others decide where to allocate their time
though.

~~~
wj
I liked it. Everybody's tastes are different.

Having made a feature length film, for what I imagine to be a similar budget
or less, I might also be able to appreciate the effort that was put into this
better than most here.

I think the general HN rules regarding criticism when people post a Show HN
should be applicable here.

~~~
wynsh
Originally, I was going to add in the following: "Nonetheless, I realize the
people behind the movie probably put forth a lot of effort into making the
project and commend them for that. I am but a critic. I hope these comments do
not deter the people behind the project from pursuing what they want to do but
is rather taken as feedback and impetus for improvement." However, I took it
out because I think that it seems almost implicit that those who make products
or art for the public are subject to criticism. I did not make any outrageous
claims or have ad hominem attacks. Given that I was focused on the content and
I spent the time to watch through it, I thought the criticism was fair, I
wanted to write this additional comment because I did struggle with being
diplomatic versus just being more indulgently blunt. Perhaps I should have
added something that showed some nuance or awareness, but then this leads to
my having to do so for ever criticism or review. But maybe that is kinder and
perhaps more helpful for people. Who knows. Your comment is duly noted.

------
Remiii
Be careful the movie is available for free on Youtube/Vimeo for a very limited
time! After the 24hr free-view period, the movie will be offline (see.
[http://www.thehackermovie.com/about/](http://www.thehackermovie.com/about/)
).

~~~
jason_slack
is it on YouTube? Maybe I just have to many search results

Edit: There is a short pitch and some teasers on YT
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI8rbvoMOnw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI8rbvoMOnw))

------
j2kun
Do they actually discuss or mention an algorithm in the movie?

~~~
jdbernard
Nope

------
Mandatum
Movie was well done, bit cringey at times but it's what you expect made for a
non-tech audience.

Fun lines: "I am a god" (The protagonist) "She's a lightning god" (Talking
about a girl who chips Xbox's)

~~~
brasky
Covering the whole room in foil so the wifi wont leak. Major cringe. One of
many.

------
acePgmr
Did anyone figure out who the guy was -- his original client? Was he CIA or
was he in the black ops commercial company -- the one that wrote Shepard? Are
we to presume that Timothy joined the organization the same way Will does? Is
Timothy in the CIA or the company, or does it many any difference? Was part of
Timothy's reward the hooker he was playing doctor with? High risk reward there
-- torture on one hand, and money and hookers on the other. Did he steal
Will's girl too?

Then at the end -- his client tells Timothy that he has been there for 3 weeks
and they were closing that facility. Does that mean that Timothy was in charge
of how long Will was held? Which friends picked him up at the end?? -- does
that mean some of then really survived? And what info were the interrogators
after? If it was how Will did it, why is he suddenly best friends with a guy
who set him up and will reveal all? Is it implying that the CIA/black ops uses
these techniques as a standard recruitment procedure?

I personally don't think that fear based people are very smart. And I think
that a little moral fiber also enhances IQ. This character said he didn't care
about rules of nations, and then says that he has to continue because it is
wrong. Doesn't compute. He doesn't even seem to register that he was
endangering his friends. Not that people like this don't exist. Maybe that was
the point, that power is in the hands of narcissistic children with crippled
moral fiber. If so, there's nothing new in the computer age about that one.

------
Mandatum
It seems they've taken the movie down, was supposed to be up for 24-hours but
given the response here, maybe they thought that wasn't a good idea. To be
fair this wasn't the greatest audience for it, we're the type of people to
pick things apart and we're collectively pretty clued on "hacking".

The production quality was good, the fact that it's an indie film is pretty
cool. I think we're expecting too much from it, although given it's SF roots
you'd think they'd target the extremely tech-savvy audience rather than the
average movie-goer.

Could be an interesting weekend project. :P

------
yardape
I give these indies a lot of praise. With no money and very little artistic
support, the director pulled off a B class movie. Which is extremely
admirable. The plot needs alot of work, but the idea of an overlord ei
"Sheppard" is rather mesmerizing. It was a Sunday afternoon flick, and I sat
through the whole movie. The mention of tor, wireless hacking with something
like an raspberry-pi running xubuntu in a can on a battery. It was totally
feasible, I might even put one together tonight. But for Geeks, this movie is
something like a carrot on a stick for 24hrs.

------
k2enemy
It definitely took stylistic cues from pi, The Social Network, and Hackers.
There were some good ideas and a few good scenes, but overall it was pretty
bad -- as many other commenters have detailed.

------
Albuca
Now if only I wasn't at work right now...

The premise of the movie seems pretty interesting I love the profit-share
model, and the motivation behind creating the film:

"At the core of ALGORITHM’s plot are the questions that are shaking up the
tech world to it’s very core, and the nations of the world right along with
them: privacy, human rights, the place of government in the lives of citizens,
the value and power of technology."

~~~
anigbrowl
_The business model for ALGORITHM is based on the models of tech startups as
described in The Lean Startup. It’s a profit-share agreement, giving everyone
who works on the movie a vested interest in the success of the project. All
profits get shared by the artist who actually made it happen._

Lots of indie movies are put together this way. It's industry code for 'work
for free.' I own a percentage of several feature films, none of which are
actually worth anything. That's not an altogether bad thing, it can be a good
way to gain experience or burnish your credentials, eg I will sometimes work
on a project for free because it creates a connection with a particular actor
or gives me the ability to call in a favor in the future.

But you should know that it's kind of an indie/student film marketing trick.
It's much easier to find talented folk than the money to pay them.

~~~
Albuca
Fair enough, thanks anigbrowl!

I can definetly understand finding people is easier than paying them. I guess
I didn't really factor the economy and indie movie scene into my response.

Experience never hurts - so long as you learn from it (and it is benifical to
you (eg. connections and favors; as you pointed out)

------
huhtenberg

                    Sorry
    
      Because of its privacy settings, 
      this video cannot be played here.
    
    

Yuppie!

~~~
phit_
it's only available if you watch the embedded version on their site

[http://www.vincepergolizzi.com/2014/01/how-to-download-
priva...](http://www.vincepergolizzi.com/2014/01/how-to-download-
privateembedded-vimeo.html)

~~~
huhtenberg
No, that's the message I get in the embedded player when I open the homepage.

~~~
jason_slack
Another reader posted this link below:
[https://vimeo.com/100672072](https://vimeo.com/100672072)

------
slang800
The descriptions of "hacking" techniques were cringe-worthy, the character
development was just about non-existent, and the plot was pretty basic.
However, I liked that they spent some time trying to explain why privacy is
important, even if you aren't a criminal.

------
cji
I did like the main character's name: William (Gibson) Vernor (Vinge) (Neal)
Stephenson.

------
mratzloff
I bought the soundtrack. It is very reminiscent of the more atmospheric _The
Social Network_ tracks, but doesn't hit the highs of that album (as one might
expect). Still recommended for people who like synth-y atmospheric background
music.

------
ajarmst
Video cannot play with your current setup. On my Linux box. Aaaaand we're
done.

~~~
ckdarby
It is a html5 video player; I don't understand ._.

~~~
Houshalter
I got the same error on Chrome on Windows. None of the videos work.

------
emingo
Was it any good?

~~~
louthy
Poor man's 1984 really; I felt no emotional link with the characters at all.
It's a shame, it would be nice to see a take on 1984 with today's tech.

------
jason_slack
does anyone have a direct link to the vimeo or youtube version? Original site
is very choppy.

~~~
sp332
Is this it? [https://vimeo.com/100672072](https://vimeo.com/100672072)

~~~
Remiii
THX. We can download the file with this link. :-)

~~~
aluhut
This is the HD version:
[http://pdl.vimeocdn.com/44915/609/269043775.mp4?token2=14053...](http://pdl.vimeocdn.com/44915/609/269043775.mp4?token2=1405377814_9f96571dfbaae8ff1a2b018a7dd8a2d0&aksessionid=8f3967070510e0a2)

~~~
im_dario
Shouldn't we play fair with them? Although you can use that link to download
it (yep, it works), where is the point to don't keep it to ourselves?

Heck, I understand we all want to see when we want because we have better
things to do now or not enough time. Regardless, I don't think we should ruin
from starters their commercial project.

I mean, it's not even a DRM. Just a weak misleading protection layer from
Vimeo for deterring little noobs that don't know how to use their browser's
debug console.

Let's give the creators some advantage before gaming the system.

~~~
sp332
Well, downloading the video from Vimeo doesn't cost the project anything. And
if I like the video, then I can support them by paying. I don't see any upside
to taking on the risk myself.

Also, if someone genuinely can't afford the price, they can still enjoy the
video. That seems like a net win for society.

~~~
im_dario
Yes, you can download it and support them by paying later. I agree.

But... I see no point into publishing the direct stream link. Although it's
funny due what the movie is about, I think it creates some disadvantages for
them.

I hope they took in mind this and they don't feel threatened by this behavior.

~~~
sp332
The stream link will go down at the same time that the movie gets pulled from
vimeo.

~~~
im_dario
I know but it doesn't invalidate my point.

No matter how long, more "leechers" are going to abuse the system instead of a
few "geeks" with the knowledge.

Sure, if the timespan is short, almost no damages will be taken. Unless it
gets distributed through other networks. If they didn't expected this, they
may be upset.

Hey, even maybe this was the main purpose, to go viral. Who knows. I just
wanted to share how I felt to see the stream link published.

~~~
aluhut
Ripping a stream is not hacking.

I did it through FlshGot. This is no science. It's just a rightclick.

This is not some hidden elite treasure you need to hide here.

~~~
im_dario
I didn't say that. Nevermind.

~~~
aluhut
You were talking about keeping things to ourselves and "geek" knowledge.

~~~
im_dario
I didn't say it was hacking. There is a little difference and they are not
equal.

~~~
aluhut
It changes absoultly nothing in this context here. However you call it. You
wanted to keep some knowledge to yourself because you thought it may be some
kind of special thing. It's not. Especially not here.

------
IBalic
worth watching?

~~~
KhalilK
The fact they considered an IP address to be ONE number grinded my gears..

~~~
NSCFType
Well, technically, IP addresses can be represented by a single integer:

2130706433 == 127.0.0.1

~~~
gweinberg
Technically, anything you can name can be represented by a single integer.

~~~
staz
Yeah but technically in the protocol it's just one number, we show it as 4
numbers because it's easier for humans to manipulate

------
jimktrains2
I guess I don't understand how the title and subtitle are linked. The synopsis
and trailers don't talk about algorithms at all.

Also, a lot of the trailers focus on cracking, it appears, and not hacking as
in doing creative things and using things in ways not expected? Why would
someone aiming at the tech community use a word so wrongly, and in a way that
riles some of us up?

While I understand that mono uses the .exe suffix, not many other things do in
the *nix ecosystem, but the screen shot they use shows what appears to be ls
-l output and all the files have a .exe suffix.

EDIT: Fair enough, I'm being a bit too critical of the exe files. (I don't
think there is a strike-out markup supported?)

~~~
nawitus
>Also, a lot of the trailers focus on cracking, it appears, and not hacking as
in doing creative things and using things in ways not expected? Why would
someone aiming at the tech community use a word so wrongly, and in a way that
riles some of us up?

Because most of 'us' stopped complaining about that ten years ago. The meaning
of words change.

~~~
pyre
Yet you hang out on 'Hacker News' without fear of being associated with black
hats?

~~~
modfodder
because "Crack the Planet" doesn't have the same ring...

