Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Konterr
Brilliant and touching
Kodie Bird
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
Walter Sloane
Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
missismiggins
The evil disgusting piece of filth John Markoff of the Jew York Times ruined this guys life. He conspired with a disgusting Jap Dog to ruin Kevin Mitniks life.Mitnik did virtually nothing, but was indicted and jailed because of fear generated by the scum Jews in Hollywood and the Jew vermin in the Jew York Times.The Dog Markoff never even met Mitnik, but because of the usual GREED for money from these filthy parasites, it set out to write a book before Kevin was even arrested - check out the book TAKEDOWN, written by scum to take this guy down.
zergis
This is an interesting documentary about a subject that is often ignored - the court's and police's lack of knowledge about anything connected to a network, and medias habit of twisting or ignoring facts when they see they can make more money. As a non-American, there are some things that I don't get, but over all the film is very good at telling us how things work, and in my country (Sweden), the events in this film might get another point of view, since the police raid on the pirate bay in April 2006, where many things got eerily similar to what happened to Mitnick.In a film making point of view Freedom Downtime is lacking though, the editing could be better, and the sound mixing got some flaws (but I must say it was a long time since I saw the film, so I could remember incorrectly). Still, this is a must see for anyone interested in the hacker community, or the odd behaviour of the "justice".
Slug-3
Freedom Downtime is basically a personal video record of the "Free Kevin" campaign to free notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick. It's not really about hacking at all and the comparisons to Michael Moore are only appropriate in that the filmmaker confronts those who have been deemed as bad guys. Other than that, Freedom Downtime shares nothing in common with Michael Moore films and is an interesting, albeit scary, look at the justice system in the USA.It should be an interesting film for anyone who remembers the "Free Kevin" campaign that was once so prevalent on the internet. It's full of that dry humor so appreciated by hacker culture, which adds a little hacker flavor to an otherwise serious subject. Those not familiar with Mitnick may not appreciate the film as much, but they'll still come away with an inside glimpse into serious problems with the justice system and the corporate media's willingness to ignore the truth when it wishes to do so. Of course, this won't come as a big surprise today, when trust in the corporate media is at an all-time low and people have turned to the internet as a result.
Walter Bennit
I was fortunate enough to see this film at its first screening at HOPE2000 in New York City. The first release was not the final and it had some minor problems. I watched the finished version at the NY Film and Video Festival at the Sutton Theatre. There were many interesting changes, mostly for the better.The movie is about the life of "SUPER HACKER" Kevin Mitnick. It explains why his case was flawed and the propaganda the media released about the trials. The narrator, Emmanuel Goldstein, goes on an adventure with some of his friends from NYC to various places relating to Kevin or the Hacker world.There are scenes thrown in just for fun and also very serious messages about the government's misuse of power. An X-Con, Bernie S, explains his chilling experience in jail and how it nearly cost him his life. All of this over a box of crystals that could be used to steal telephone service.The movie is funny and educational. It should appeal to all members of the hacking community and those who wish to become informed. The film doesn't end at the credits.