not convinced Like another viewer, this was a painful experience. Unlike that viewer, I was unable to make it to the 30-minute-mark. Fortunately, Kris Kristofferson was killed off in the first half hour. That, to me, is the climax of any film. I don't care what happened after that. Of course if you like clichés, bad acting, awful story-line, cheesy acting, grade school art project like special effects then this movie is for you. Kristofferson delivers his lines in such a distracting way, that you don't even hear what he is saying. He delivers his lines worse than Back to the Future's George McFly (George McFly: Lorraine. My density has popped me to you). Move on and find something better.

ptarmigan We're here! Where's my videophone? This movie is not as bad as some of the critics here say. It is reasonably entertaining, if you can get past the first 15 minutes. It is Tom Clancy, so there is some twists and turns to the plot, which keeps it interesting. I think it is best to compare it to some of the lamer James Bond movies; on that score it looks reasonably good.What was going through my mind as I watched it was that I bet the computer security folks have watched the movie as a warning of what could happen, sort of, if they don't do their job. And I bet some of the hackers watch it with dreams of glory.Obviously, the problems with the Internet described in the movie haven't happened, for the most part, so the movie looks a bit foolish. Actually, I see from the book review that while the novel was written in 1999, it was set in 2010. But we have been learning in the past year or so about the dangers of spyware that abound. In that sense, the premise was remarkably prescient. Corporations just love to get their hands on all sorts of information about you, without your knowledge. And the government is not so different; often they work hand in hand, as in the airline passenger data collection. So the movie, as science fiction, is not entirely far fetched.I'm a fan of Scott Bakula and his great work on Quanum Leap. Frankly, the TV show had better writing, not to mention better cinematography. And the critics who bemoan all the boilerplate about asschewing are right. Another point that bothers me, especially given Clancy's general penchant for veracity, is the absurdity of they guy's wife covering him on the news. No reputable news organization would allow this incest, except perhaps FOX.But the ending is interesting enough to make it all worthwhile.Fans of Ayn Rand should find this movie especially interesting. It follows the same theme as Rand McNally Shrugged. And the quality of writing is about equal. Who is Steve Day???

DrK0H This movie is actually pretty watchable if you are a bit technical and don't mind viewing a film to laugh at its inherent badness. The script repeatedly uses networking lingo out of context and demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of networking principles. My favorite scene is when they're searching logs for traces of a computer break-in and the hero exclaims when no traces are found "There's not even a cookie?!?". I expect even a non-tech should be able to find a couple of laughs about the overwhelming lack of technical advisement. Some understanding of distributed attacks and viruses might have helped, but I guess the idea of two hackers trying to out type each other works better for Hollywood. The cinematography is low-average for a made for TV. I liked Judge Reinhold's acting, and Kris Kristofferson, Bakula I found to be often flat or alternately overacted. Conclusion: Don't rent it unless you're into bad movies, worth catching on Cable on a slow day.

AllisonLVenezio In the year 2005, not to far in the future, computer will be dominant in society. Those who can handle them will control the world. However, power like this can slip into the wrong hands. That's where Netforce comes in.The FBI has established a team known as Netforce, a division that specializes in internet crime. Heading up the team is Commander Steve Day (Kris Kristoferson), followed by Deputy Commander Alexander "Alex" Michaels (Scott Bakula). When Day dies under unusual circumstances, Alex is given the Commander post, and appoints Toni Fiorella (Joanna Going) as his Deputy Commander, or Dep. Comm. Also on board is Jay Gridley (Paul Hewitt) a virtual reality whiz kid and his team, and Colonel John Howard, who heads up the military branch of Netforce. The team is on the case of a Bill Gates-esque computer genius named Will Stiles (Judge Reinhold). IT's up to Alex and his team of computer geniuses to stop his crimes.The film, though it looks like a television movie (I know it is, you just can't shake that feeling) is really well-done. The action scenes are pretty fast-paced, and the plot is easy to follow. To me, it wasn't too predictable, and was able to withstand the test of time (2 hrs and 40 min). Scott Bakula, one of my favorite performers, never has ceased to amaze me in his work (ok, fine--I didn't like "Lord of Illusions"). I found him particularly appealable, much different from how the novel describes Alex Michaels (lady-wooer). Bakula embodies that typical average-guy look that I love, and those biceps and pecs in the tigh t-shirts drove me wild. Joanna Going, as Toni, was also great, and comes from a typical Italian family (I'm Italian, so the dinner scene interested me). I've never seen her in films before, but I'm sure I just haven't looked. I actually didn't really know who Scott Bakula was until I stumbled on "Quantum Leap" last September. Chelsea Field was wonderful as Alex's ex-wife Megan Michaels (in the novel, Megan is a pompus b**ch, in the film, she is actually very civil to Alex). You can see they get along ok, a departure from the books. Jay Gridley is EXACTLY what I expected, not too nerdy looking, but certainly smart (the part in the VR Brothel was hysterical). What really suprised me was Judege Reinhold, as Will Stiles. How much weight did he gain to play this part?? Jeez, he looks like an evil Bill Gates here after letting himself go.My favorite line from this film was when Alex met his new driver and told him he was perfectly capable of driving himself, at least till that day. When the driver kept saying sir to him, Alex asked him if he could make a suggestion, the driver said "Sir yes sir" and alex said "Lighten up." You don't get much more comic timing than that. Bakula actually had some really funny lines, but you gotta break the tension somewhere. My favorite scenes were the action scenes, particularly Alex's fight with the paid femme fatale.This is a great film with a great plot, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish I saw more positive comments on this movie, because it was outstanding. Acting was good on all parts and the storyline was fun. I'm reading "Netforce: Nightmoves" (3rd in series) now, so seeing this film was a real treat.Who said computer technology can't make a good movie?