Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 16, 1995                   TAG: 9509170010
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LOG ON TO SOME MINDLESS FUN

Power Rangers?

Try, "Hackers," the ultimate computer-nerd movie that makes booting up look like, um, something we try not to write about in a family newspaper.

It really is a credit to the director - Iain Softley - and a bass-heavy soundtrack that there isn't a dull moment in this story about a reformed (sort of) hacker named Dade, fresh off the plane from Seattle, and how he gets involved with a bunch of other hackers. They've got names like "Cereal Killer," "Nikon" and "Phantom Phreak," but it's not until Dade - aka "Crash Override" - confronts "Acid Burn" that he really meets his match. And she's a GIRL - Angelina Jolie (daughter of Jon Voight), who apparently did not inherit Dad's talent.

The real find here is Jonny Lee Miller, who plays Dade. He looks like Chris O'Donnell but is far more interesting. As Dade, who got in big trouble hacking when just 11 years old, Miller is utterly right on - blinking up at the sky, startled by the rain, for example, like a guy who just spends too much time closeted with his computer.

You know from the get-go that this story is going to force Dade to choose between keeping his record clean and proving that he is one of the "elite." Lucky for him, the cool thing to do and the right thing to do end up being one and the same.

Expect nothing but mindless fun and lots of absurdity, and "Hackers" won't disappoint. Expect something more and, well, this program is definitely not for you.

Hackers **1/4

A United Artists release showing at Valley View Cinema and Salem Valley 8. 112 minutes. Rated PG-13 for profanity.