Does a hacker protagonist immediately make a movie cyberpunk? Can a movie be cyberpunk if it takes place in the modern day?
I had an online argument once with someone who thought Sneakers wasn't just a cyberpunk movie but essential viewing for the cyberpunk genre. I don't consider Sneakers to be cyberpunk, or even a very good movie, so that argument was crazy to me. But maybe I was being too much of a gatekeeper; maybe other people consider Sneakers to be cyberpunk.
At least WarGames had a curious high schooler hacker rather than a bunch of old guys in suits hacking, but I wouldn't really consider either movie to be cyberpunk. Are they cyberpunk-adjacent though? Are cyberpunk fans likely to enjoy WarGames or Sneakers?
Here's a trailer for WarGames. You can watch it on Max. Fun fact: when Ronald Reagan watched WarGames, he asked his staff whether something like that could actually happen. They looked into it and came back to say "The problem is much worse than you think." This led to the creation of the first National Security Directive regarding computer security.
Here's a trailer for Sneakers. I'm not aware of any presidents having watched this movie. I don't think it's streaming anywhere either.
Yes with a however…
Gibson-esque cyberpunk no. But Wargames 80s proto cyberpunk yes. Sneakers has that early 90s version.
They were not looking to explore the depths of cyberpunk; but showing the unwashed masses that the computers and the geeks who use them are out there. They both do a great job in showing that those computer things like any tool could have a negative use Trying to explain that to Bob from Iowa you’ve got to go slow and use small words. Not because Bob is stupid rather because Bob has no idea about any of it.
Today you’d assume that people know about the internet and that computers talk to each other.
I’d go with a proto cyberpunk/ mass market intro cyber label