Hack This: 16 Best Computer Whizzes in Movies

In 'Blackhat,' Chris Hemsworth joins Hollywood's ranks of impossibly good-looking computer whizzes who are as adept with a modum as they are with a semi-auto. Before you see Michael Mann's latest thriller, check out a few more of the movies' best hackers. 

Kevin Flynn in 'Tron' (1982)

Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a brilliant software engineer and video game designer who, after hacking into the mainframe of his ex-employer, finds himself beamed inside the digital world of his own video games. Although the film’s effects are somewhat dated, the concept of total immersion in the digital world seems more relevant than ever. Also: Lightcycles are never not cool. 

David Lightman in 'WarGames' (1983)

Matthew Broderick stars in this seminal cyber-thriller as David, a teenage computer whiz who unwittingly hacks into the Pentagon’s defense system and sets in motion a possible nuclear conflict between America and Russia. With help from his girlfriend ('The Breakfast Club’s' Ally Sheedy) and an older computer whiz, David finds himself in a race against time to stop World War III.

Gary and Wyatt in 'Weird Science' (1985)

Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) use their computer skills to make love, not war, in this sci-fi comedy about two high school nerds who hack into the government’s mainframe in order to steal enough power to design the perfect woman on their computer. With the help of a lightning strike (naturally), their design comes to life in the form of ‘80s supermodel Kelly LeBrock.

Martin Bishop in 'Sneakers' (1992)

Robert Redford stars in this high-tech crime caper as Bishop, a former ‘60s computer anarchist-turned-security expert. He's hired by folks claiming to be government agents to hunt down an elusive black box, one that's capable of breaking any code and accessing any computer system. The search for THE codebreaker puts Marty and his team up against an old anarchist buddy (Ben Kingsley).

Dennis Nedry in 'Jurassic Park' (1993)

Nedry's messy work station should have been a clue that his tenure at Jurassic Park would not end well. After taking Dodgson's customized shaving cream can to smuggle out dino embryos, Nedry crashes the system to make his escape -- right into the mouth of one very spit-happy dinosaur.  

Lex Murphy in 'Jurassic Park' (1993)

With Dennis Nedry wreaking havoc on the computer systems governing this dinosaur-infested park, it's a good thing our heroes had a computer whiz of their own to call upon. Because Lex knew her way around a Linux system, she was able to set things right and prevent mass death by raptor.

Kate Libby/“Acid Burn” in 'Hackers' (1995)

Years before online gossip sites tracked her every move, Angelina Jolie starred in this cyberpunk thriller as Kate Libby, aka “Acid Burn,” the lone female in a pack of genius high school hackers. Although the sexy Kate can date any guy she wants, like most computer geeks, she’d rather stay in and play video games.

Max Cohen in 'Pi' (1998)

Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky made his feature film debut with this low-budget psychological thriller about a reclusive computer scientist and numbers theorist, Max Cohen (Sean Gullette), who builds his own supercomputer in order to decode the mysteries of the universe. Just watching him work makes us feel smarter.

Neo in 'The Matrix' (1999)

Keanu Reeves stars as Thomas "Neo" Anderson, a part-time hacker who spends his days stuck in front of a computer at work until he swallows a little red pill and discovers that humanity is stuck inside a computer program called The Matrix. Small price to pay to learn kung-fu. 

Stanley Jobson in 'Swordfish' (2001)

A year after appearing as Wolverine in the first 'X-Men' movie, Hugh Jackman played ex-con-turned-hacker Stanley Jobson, who is coerced by John Travolta’s CIA operative into stealing $9 billion from a DEA slush fund. Stanley is arguably the pater familias of hunky hackers. 

Mark Zuckerberg in 'The Social Network' (2010)

Jesse Eisenberg restored the computer whiz back to its twitchy geek glory with his Oscar-nominated performance as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. 

Lisbeth Salander in 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (2011)

A year later, 'The Social Network' director David Fincher introduced moviegoers to another socially-awkward computer whiz -- Lisbeth Salander, played by Oscar-nominee Rooney Mara. But whereas the geeky Zuckerberg navigated the world in flip-flops and sweatshirts, the chic Salander does it on a motorcycle and with a fierce goth/punk style.

Boris Grishenko in ‘GoldenEye’ (1995)

'GoldenEye’ dragged James Bond kicking and screaming into the modern age, so it's only fair that one of his new enemies would be a computer-hacking terrorist. Thanks to his sleazy personality and tendency to shout “I am invincible!” with every hacking victory, Boris is arguably the film's most entertaining villain.

Henry Gupta in ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ (1997)

Once again, 007 squares off against an evil mastermind with a genius hacker under his employ. Gupta, a self-proclaimed “techno-terrorist,” used his GPS encoder to cause all sorts of mischief -- at least until his contract ran out.

Napster in 'The Italian Job' (2003)

This computer whiz claimed to be the real inventor of the Napster file-sharing system. He certainly had skills, as he controlled an entire team of elite racers and even redirected the flow of traffic from his workstation. We bet the original ‘Italian Job’ crew wishes they had a Napster back in 1969.

Matt Farrell in ‘Live Free or Die Hard’ (2007)

Bruce Willis' blue-collar action hero John McClane always needs an unlikely partner if he's going to save the day. This particular sequel paired him with Justin Long's hacker extraordinaire, a man who found himself the target of rival cyber-terrorists while wooing McClane's own daughter. Yippee-ki-yay, indeed.