Last week I had occasion to see this movie again, and I was surprised that it wasn't as offensive as I remember. The Lawnmower man came out in 1992, the year before the Internet hit the big time. Now that these 'VR futurists' have been shown wrong (and you can tell from the interviews that they were serious), one can watch it as a fantasy, rather than science fiction. In this respect it holds up: the computer graphics are beautiful, if a little dated, and a couple of restored scenes (in the director's cut or the DVD) make the story more compelling. Perhaps VR will deliver on its promises someday; meanwhile, there's a fairly good story here.
p.s. Stay far away from the sequel. It was just plain bad.
p.s. Stay far away from the sequel. It was just plain bad.