My review was written in December 1987 after watching the movie on Prism video cassette.
"Access Code" is an unsatisfactory pasteup job in which one waits in vain for the explanatory exposition to end and the real film to begin. Pic was shown as a work-in-progress at the 1983 American Independent Film Market's video sidebar in Gotham and now has been released direct-to-video.
Feature's key action scene is omitted, namely the U. S. on the brink of launching its nuclear weapons when some unknown organization has infiltrated our computer system. Instead, we get guest stars Martin Landau (who later was featured in filmmaker Mark Sobel's "Sweet Revenge"), Michael Ansara and MacDonald Carey sitting around in front of a black background discussing the film's events.
Actual footage is very dull indeed, as former CIA agent Barnes (Michael Durrell) is tapped to save the nation, and he fortuitously is contacted by the baddies who use ordinary tv sets as surveillance monitors (a la "1984"). He disappears halfway through the film (in an idiotic "simulated" scene of driving into the desert in which the actor does not appear) and his sister takes over the investigation (she happens to be a computer expert), teaming up with new characters.
This hodgepodge involves frequent discussions of surveillance and two evil groups out to get us in a needlessly complicated script. As sci-fi, the matter was handled in classic fashion almost 20 years ago in "Colossus: The Forbin Project".
