NetForce (TV)

Set in the year 2005, a division of the FBI, called "NetForce" has been initiated to investigate internet crime. A Bill Gates-type character (Reinhold) finds a loophole in his new web browser which enables him to gain control of the internet. Net-Force, headed by Kristofferson and Bakula's characters set out to stop him. Essentially a cautionary tale of slightly futuristic cyberterrorism, Netforce carries Tom Clancy's heavyweight name as the executive producer (but not writer). Don't expect a drama on the level of Patriot Games, however: Netforce is a blunt and somewhat rushed thriller with little time for character or relationship development. What it does offer is a scenario for the prospect of organized crime uniting with computer geeks and malevolent industrialists to sabotage national security through attacks on the Internet. Scott Bakula plays the FBI agent in charge of the Netforce division of the bureau; he takes charge after his mentor (Kris Kristofferson) is murdered and the investigation points to the involvement of a Web pioneer (Judge Reinhold). The hero's romance with a colleague (Joanna Going) grows a little trickier after he promotes her to the number two spot behind himself, but with the president's chief of staff (Brian Dennehy) breathing down their necks, that's the least of their professional problems. The action bounces around from good guys to sundry bad guys, but there's no question that a creeping paranoia about Net vulnerability and its disastrous implications grows on this production--and the viewers. --Tom Keogh (from amazon.com)