MovieChat Forums > Hackers (1995) Discussion > Rollerblading - why?

Rollerblading - why?

posted 15 years ago by zalazalnik
37 replies | jump to latest

Hi all!
I just finished watching this movie. One thing I didn't get is: what's the connection between hackers and rollerblading? I mean what's the point in showing them move around on inline skates? I guess they have to move from one place to another on/with something but still ... I had some geeky computer friends in 90is and they weren't very athletic ;).

Besides I didn't find the skills that impressive. At one point, before they make traffic jam, I was thinking - wow I hope no one falls and brakes his/her laptop *evil grin*. If inline skating was a big part of hacker's life, he/she would look less wabbly blading down a road. I think :)

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] tramlaw301 13 years ago

It was the 90's...that was just trendy. The worst trendy thing of the 90's had to be piercings and tattoos. There was a record number of tramp stamps given in the 90's.

~~~~
I'm the Most Special.
Benoit......BALLS, nailed it.
See You Soon.

[–] Druff (1845) 3 years ago

Tramp stamps... 90s? 1999 maybe. I def think of them as more of a 2000s thing. No doubt they existed in the 90s, but they weren't a popular trend yet.

[–] thelaunchofsputnik 12 years ago

>> Besides I didn't find the skills that impressive. At one point, before they make traffic jam, I was thinking - wow I hope no one falls and brakes his/her laptop *evil grin*. If inline skating was a big part of hacker's life, he/she would look less wabbly blading down a road. I think :)

Personally I liked the idea of the hackers rollerblading around, but you're right in the fact that they looked like they were terrible at it. They should have either made sure the actors could pull it off without looking inept first, or had doubles do those scenes instead, but I still kind of liked it in a cheesy way I guess. ;)

[–] surgecess 11 years ago

There's no real connection between hackers & rollerblading. None of them had a car and they needed to get around the city fast, so I think that was their only option, besides public transportation lol.

.. I am, in a word, terse.

[–] FeistyCadavr 10 years ago

I was doing inline skating from the mid 90's all the way to early 00's. But most around me were skate boarders and would call me "fruit booter." My best friend was way into learning to hack (also a skate boarder) I was just a gamer.

[–] Uberlim 10 years ago

Hehe me too, but i was also somewhat into social engineering (highest form of hacking if u believe the hype ;) but lucky enough to roll with a "gang" on some memorable adventures xD

Feel free to check out https://vimeo.com/124603963 ,it's an indie promising upcoming game "On a roll".

[–] mojorecords 9 years ago

It's not the highest form, just the most effective.

[–] Cinemapocalypse 9 years ago

Rollerblading why? Because 90's, that's why. Rollerblading was to 90's movies what breakdancing was to 80's movies.

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You can get away with most anything. All you gotta do is try.
--Bad Grandpa

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Whiskyfeet 9 years ago

They should have skateboarded instead. I don't think rollerblading was ever considered "cool". They just got made fun of all day by skateboarders.

Hence why rollerblading is now dead while skateboarding is still extremely popular and probably always woll be

[–] vocklabruck 9 years ago

They did not use skateboards for the very reason skateboards were always and will always be popular. Anyone could ride a skateboard, while rollerblades were not that easy to find, and if you rollerbladed you were considered a weirdo, the same way you were considered a weirdo if you spent the whole day in front of computers hacking systems. That was the whole point of them rollerblading and not skateboarding. I don't think people who rollerblade were considered "cool" but instead were considered odd or a member of an elitist fraternity or something.

By the way, rollerblading is not dead. If it was there would not be new companies creating new models. I do think skateboarding will always be more popular though.

[–] Oblivioid (1555) 2 years ago

At its peak, inline skating dwarfed skateboarding, bmx, and surfing combined. The X Games were started all due to the popularity of 'Rollerblades'. In fact, rollerblading was in actuality the 'cool thing to do' for a period of time.

This is why it was rejected by the original extreme sports enthusiasts such as skateboarders, who viewed rollerbladers as hitching a ride on the backs of the people who developed the street freestyle form of sports.

29 million people were inline skating during the 1990's. BMX and Skateboarding never could dream of that level of participation. I'm not praising rollerblading here, I never cared for it either as a BMX rider myself. This is just a fact though, rollerblading was hella popular.