P.U.N.K.S.

P.U.N.K.S.
P.U.N.K.S. DVD Cover
Directed by	Sean McNamara
Produced by	Bill Barnett Harel Goldstein Patrick Peach
Written by	Mark Cramer Sean McNamara
Starring	Tim Redwine Jessica Alba Brandon Baker Kenneth A. Brown Patrick Renna Randy Quaid Cathy Moriarty Louan Gideon Roger Clinton Henry Winkler Megan Blake
Distributed by	Ardustry Home Entertainment
Release date	January 5, 1999 (1999-01-05)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

P.U.N.K.S. is a 1999 film about a group of bullied teens who find a suit created by a scientist. The suit provides whoever wears it superhuman strength, as well as leaving the wearer open to having their body controlled by someone else via wireless computer signals. After learning that Drew's father, who has a serious heart condition, is required to present the prototype to investors, and after soon discovering that the suit would cause Drew's father to die of massive heart failure, the group goes on a mission to save his father and shut down the company responsible for building the incomplete and dangerous device.

A research and production company is performing a live human trial for a machine called the “Augmentor 1,000.” The device is designed for medical use, with an ancillary benefit of enhanced strength. The machine’s creator, workaholic Pat Utley, objects due to potentially lethal side effects. Edward Crow, the company owner, overrules him. The Augmentor is successfully activated but the subject suddenly goes berserk until Pat literally pulls the plug on the device.

Drew, Pat’s teenage son, meets up with friends Miles and Lanny after school. All three are bullied by jocks; they later commiserate at Drew’s house and decide to form a club to defend themselves. The next day, Drew and Miles hang out at Pat’s work, and hack into the computer systems for fun. While Miles browses classified files, Drew overhears Crow demanding that Pat prepare for a motion control Augmentor demonstration. To ensure his compliance, Pat is ordered to wear the machine for the test or be taken off the project. Pat reluctantly agrees, despite a problematic heart condition. Drew concludes they’re trying to get rid of his dad, so Miles tries to find out more about the machine, but they need Crow’s superuser password.

To get it, the three of them recruit Jonny, the school hustler, for their club. Together, they trick a system supervisor out of the superuser password and download the Augmentor schematics. Miles determines that an Augmentor user will fry their nervous system in 20 minutes, but Drew’s dad would be dead in only five. They determine the best way to save Pat is to steal the machine. To help break into the building, Jonny’s cousin Samantha, a skilled car boost and lockpick, is enlisted. The team calls themselves the “P.U.N.K.S.,” an acronym formed by the first letters of their surnames, and also stands for their mantra ("to Protect the Underdog with Nerve, Knowledge, and Strength"). During a night raid, they successfully infiltrate the building. Miles copies and deletes the Augmentor files while Drew and Sam plant an audio bug and tap into a camera feed for surveillance from their “master control.” A silent alarm attracts guards, and Miles crashes the system with a virus before the teens narrowly escape with the Augmentor.