I don't even know how many times I've watched this movie.

Starting from the video tape era around 1999, I've watched it on DVD, cable, and streaming, switching mediums along the way.

People who love movies know this: once you get hooked on a film, you just keep watching it for life.

When I first saw Enemy of the State, it was just an action-packed thriller.

But after watching it a second or third time, it starts to feel like a commentary on the American system, which is a bit unsettling. And at some point, you realize that this movie is actually a prophetic warning about the future.

First, I have to talk about Will Smith. In 1998, Will Smith was just beginning to rise to the status of the ultimate box office draw.

He had just starred in Bad Boys, Independence Day, and Men in Black, and he came into this film with that momentum. Everyone knows what happened to him after that.

He turned a mediocre romantic comedy like Hitch into a $180 million blockbuster and elevated a lukewarm sci-fi film like I, Robot into a global hit.

While Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson were struggling with increasingly odd images, and Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt were starting to look their age, Smith had it all: charm, wit, action, and most importantly, credibility.

In the early part of this movie, there's a scene where the protagonist goes into a high-end women's store to buy sexy lingerie for his wife.

It's just a character-building moment, but the moment Smith walks in, it becomes comedic.

His awkwardness combined with his smooth delivery carries the entire film.

That's why it's worth every penny, even if you pay ten or twenty million dollars. He makes even an ordinary movie worth watching.

The plot is simple. A lawyer living a normal life suddenly finds himself targeted by government agencies.

The reason? He accidentally comes into possession of a video that captures a political assassination.

But because of that one thing, his life falls apart in an instant. His cards are blocked, his phone is tapped, his location is tracked, and his family relationships are shattered.

And there's a scene that's funny every time I watch it. The protagonist suddenly changes clothes and throws away everything he has while running away, and as a viewer, you keep thinking, "Why was he holding onto that until now?"

Even though it's tense, there's a strange sense of realism. Plus, every time he shouts, "I didn't do anything!" the situation gets more complicated. I often think, "If only he had just thrown away that tape in the first place, wouldn't that have solved everything?" But that's just how life is. When you're flustered, no one makes the best choices. That's what makes it funnier and more uncomfortable.

We can't forget about Tony Scott either. Honestly, many people don't like his style. He whips the camera around, cuts quickly, sets the mood with music, and doesn't give you a moment to breathe. In short, it's MTV-style direction.

But that consistency is also appealing. When you go to see a Scott film, at least you know what you're going to get.

However, in this movie, he tones it down a notch compared to his usual style.

It seems he wanted to pay homage to 70s political thrillers like All the President's Men and Marathon Man.

It's an old-school style that shows how an ordinary person gets caught up in a massive conspiracy but ultimately proves that justice still exists.

So the dramatic parts are surprisingly subdued, while the action sequences unleash Scott's signature flair.

That balance makes this film one of the most enjoyable thrillers in his body of work.

And when Gene Hackman appears in the latter part of the film, it elevates the movie to a whole new level.

Hackman's character, Brill, is clearly a twist on the cop character from the 1971 film French Connection.

What's more interesting is the character Harry Caul, the wiretapping expert from Coppola's 1974 film The Conversation.

Brill's office in the movie is a direct homage to Caul's workspace, and the photo of Brill in the NSA files is actually a picture of Hackman from The Conversation.

Knowing that the lineage of wiretapping and surveillance in American cinema connects through one actor from 1974 to 1998 makes it clear that this film is more than just an action movie.

And the chemistry between Hackman's gravitas and Smith's energy is the real engine of this film.

Yes, Jack Black is also in this movie.

He's not a lead yet, just a minor role. He plays a character who helps with government communications and equipment.

His role isn't huge, but there's a moment when you think, "Wait, isn't that Jack Black?"

But the truly scary part is something else. It's the surveillance technology shown by the Black Ops teams in the movie.

Tracking locations via satellites, listening to phone calls, pulling in CCTV footage to follow movements. Back in 1998, many people reacted with, "No way that's possible!"

But after Edward Snowden exposed the NSA's massive surveillance program in 2013, the atmosphere completely changed.

People started revisiting this movie. Reactions like, "This wasn't just a movie!" began to surface.

It's truly remarkable that this scenario was envisioned back in 1998.

After 9/11, with the passage of the Patriot Act, smartphones becoming commonplace, and everything stored in the cloud, watching this movie again feels less exaggerated.

It's not that the movie caught up with fiction; reality has caught up with the movie.

In the end, there's a twist. As an action fan, that makes it even more satisfying. But even after the twist, it leaves a lingering feeling.

It doesn't just end with, "The villain was punished." How far can personal privacy and state power go?

These days, just having a smartphone records everything from location, consumption, searches, to relationships. Thinking about that while watching this movie makes it eerily realistic.

When I first saw it, it was an action thriller; the second time, it was a political film; and from the third time on, it became prophetic.

Watching it again now will likely reveal something different. That's the true power of a great old movie.