Sandra Bullock Movie:

				Salesrank:
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
The Net, the first of Hollywood's big cyberthrillers of the mid-1990s, was also the most successful, thanks in large part to the natural appeal of star Sandra Bullock. Still riding high from Speed and While You Were Sleeping, Bullock plays a computer expert victimized by sinister cyberforces who steal her identity for reasons unknown. It's a clever combination of high-tech paranoia and Hitchcockian references (including Jeremy Northam as a romantic stranger named Devlin, after Cary Grant in Notorious). Film historians may look back someday on films like this--Roger Ebert calls them "hacksploitation"--to see what they reveal about our society's reaction to the increasing role of technology in our lives, just as we now study the fears of Communism and the atom bomb reflected in films of the 1950s. Dennis Miller and Diane Baker costar. --Jim Emerson

The Net [Region 2] Reviews:
Internet Ancient but a Good Chase film Nonetheless
2009-11-23 - OK: so it is not Hitchcock. It is still an entertaining thesis and a suspenseful chase. Sandra Bullock looks good and plays the hounded computer expert well. The villain is suitably villainous. The theme of lost identity is more relevant than ever. Yes, some of the action seems contrived, not so good, but to enjoy any such film one has to be able to suspend disbelief. I suppose I saw this one on television whenever it was made available, fifteen years ago, more or less, but it held up well for me. I should think most buyers (renters or what have you) will find it worth the watching.

Entertaining, but requires suspension of disbelief
2009-10-04 - The Net is an entertaining thriller based on a genuinely interesting plot idea. The technical aspects of the film were fairly comical at the time, on a par with the movies in which crackers need nothing more than type "hack password" in order to break the most advanced security systems. Increased computer literacy probably helps the film appear more unintentionally funny that it was back in the day. The notion that an evil bunch of super-hackers would choose to hide themselves by sticking links to themselves on web pages seems a bit odd, as does the notion that identify theft of this magnitude is possible.

In order to accept the premise that Bullock's character has become an "unknown", we must assume that she has had literally no interaction at all with the outside world - except for her ex-boyfriend, and we're left wondering why she didn't meet at least one of his friends? It also appears that she has not visited a dentist, doctor, bank, grocery shop or anything else in four years.

The plot would have worked better if placed in a futuristic world, since there's just too much implausibility to overcome. Enjoyable thriller for luddites, and a good comedy for the technically-minded.

Way better than I expected
2009-07-03 - I'm not normally a big fan of Bullock and the rest are unknowns to me - but the plot was pretty good (and I'm a computer xpurt) and the editing very good, and the suspense really well handled.

playability
2009-06-02 - Unfortunately when I came to play this is was not possible on my DVD/VHS combi - I didn't know there was region 1/region 2 info on the DVD and my combi is only films region 2 and it told me to eject. Was unable to find details of my order to return and also the delivery note and packaging had been shredded before I attempted to play this. However, I have now seen the film and rate this excellent suspense and content and also I am a fan of Sandra Bulloch. Would have wanted to know the above playing info before purchase as I know some items are from USA. Can return it to you for onward sale if you so require and advise me accordingly.

One of Sandy's BEST films!
2009-04-09 - I love Sandra Bullock but some of her films are hit and miss with me. This is my favorite one so I wanted to write a brief review. I think she should take a break from comedies and do another really great suspense thriller like this. Sandra Bullock plays Angela Bennett and the film makes you go through the nightmare that she does if one day your identity was suddenly deleted. And let's face it, we are living in a time where technology is moving at such a rapid pace and everything is so easily accessible on the internet. All our information is stored in the computer and with a few clicks of the keys, you can become someone else. It's really scary to think about. And that is what happens to Angela after she stumbles upon a conspiracy involving a high-powered, rich CEO. Before she knows it, she's running for her life trying to prove to everyone who she really is while uncovering the truth. Angela is a smart, strong woman and you really feel her frustration at what is happening. You are rooting for her the entire way to win out in the end and for the bad guys to lose. I highly encourage people to check this film out. It may seem slightly dated, but still has a lot of merit about how dangerous computers can be if they fall into dangerous hands. You may also want to check out some other Sandra Bullock thrillers, Murder by Numbers and Premonition.