★★☆☆☆

Boy is Hangmen dated.

Acoustic coupler modem image

Acoustic coupler modem

Acoustic coupler modem. Ancient computer. If you want to see just how horrible roles for women were in the 1980s rent this flick. Sandra Bullock has to play the screaming emotional teenage girlfriend. It’s a B grade movie and even knowing that it comes off weak.

I suspect the studio changed the Hangmen cover when releasing the DVD. Between the time of this movie and the release of the DVD Sandra Bullock had become a big name movie star. According to this article DVD players didn’t become mass market until 1996. By then Love Potion No. 9 and Speed had both been released.

From a purely geek perspective it was nice to see all of the ancient hardware. It was also nice to see they didn’t cheat when it came to computer capabilities. I get a little bit offended when movie makers give computers capabilities they don’t have and won’t have during the time period in question.

Sometimes the audience is the problem when it comes to tech. If you search around online you might still find a review of The Pelican Brief ranting about opening a laptop, turning it on, and connecting to the Internet without plugging in a thing. That tech was new and free wifi was only at high end hotels back then.

Other than that, there isn’t much reason to rent or watch this movie, unless you want to be fully aware of the uphill struggle Sandra Bullock endured to become who she is today.

For more movie rental ideas please see list one and list two.