Sneakers

Plot synopsis:
In 1969, students Martin Brice and Cosmo are sneakers who hack into computer networks using university equipment, to redistribute conservative funds to various liberal causes. The police burst in and arrest Cosmo while Martin is out getting pizza, and Martin becomes a fugitive.
In the present day, Martin, now called Martin Bishop, is running a team of security specialists in San Francisco, including Donald Crease, a former CIA officer and family man; Darren "Mother" Roskow, a conspiracy theorist and electronics technician; Carl Arbogast, a young hacking genius; and Irwin "Whistler" Emery, a blind phone phreak.
Martin is approached by NSA officers Dick Gordon and Buddy Wallace, who know of his former identity. In exchange for clearing his record, he's asked to recover a "black box" from mathematician Dr. Gunter Janek, who has developed the box under the project name "Setec Astronomy" supposedly for the Russian government. Martin is hesitant but agrees to help. With help from his former girlfriend, Liz, Martin and his team secure the box, which is disguised as a telephone answering machine. During their subsequent celebration party, Whistler, Mother, and Carl investigate the box, finding it capable of breaking the encryption of nearly every computer system. Martin works out that "Setec Astronomy" is an anagram of "too many secrets", and issues a lockdown until they can deliver the box the next day.
Martin hands the box to the NSA officers, but quickly leaves after Crease discovers that Janek was killed the night before. He contacts a friend named Gregor in the Russian consulate, who confirms that the officers were rogue agents, and that Janek was working for the NSA. Before Gregor can elaborate further, fake FBI agents kill him and kidnap Martin to a remote location where he's reunited with Cosmo, who Martin thought had died in prison. While in prison, Cosmo developed ties with organized crime, allowing him to escape and become wealthy. He explains his plan to use Janek's box to destabilize the world economy, and offers Martin the chance to join him. Martin refuses, whereupon Cosmo uses the box to break into the FBI and connect Martin's current identity with his former name. Cosmo has Martin knocked out and taken back to the city.
Martin contacts his team and they relocate to Liz's apartment. They contact NSA agent Abbott, who wants the box but cannot offer assistance without it being in Martin's possession. Whistler analyzes the sounds that Martin heard during his kidnapping, and is able to identify the geographic area where Martin was taken. They find a toy company at that location, which is a front for Cosmo's operation. They track down Werner Brandes, the employee whose office is next to Cosmo's. They set Liz up with a fake computer date with Brandes to get his keycard and vocal recognition codes, while the others identify other security features of Cosmo's office. The team successfully get into the building to recover the box.
Brandes begins to suspect Liz during the date, and alerts Cosmo to a possible break-in. Once Liz mentions the computer date in Cosmo's presence, he realizes that Martin is responsible and locks down the facility and holds Martin at gunpoint. Again he tries to convince Martin to join him, but Martin refuses and instead turns over the box. The team escapes before Cosmo realizes that he is holding an empty duplicate of the box's case.
Back at their offices, Martin's team is surrounded by agents led by Abbott. After Martin points out how important the secrecy of the box is to the NSA, who could use it to spy on other agencies, Abbott agrees to clear Martin's record and grant the requests of the rest of his team. After Abbott and the agents leave with the box, Martin shows his team he has rendered the box useless by taking out the main processor.
In a postscript, a news report describes the sudden bankruptcy of the Republican National Committee, and the simultaneous receipt of large anonymous donations by Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and the United Negro College Fund.

Tags: comedy, suspenseful, murder, stupid, cult, intrigue, flashback, psychedelic, revenge, entertaining

Review:
The soundtrack is arguably the best of James Horner's film scores pre-dating Braveheart, with an ethereal jazzy feel that sets the mood from the opening credits.For an early nineties movie, Sneakers was remarkably forward thinking in its script and plot.
It is, perhaps, the last good "hacker" film (well, 23 (1998) also comes to mind, but that isn't widely available in English).The math is believable (Janek's lecture makes sense), as is the technology (except for the Hollywood-ish decryption displays -- but that's forgivable).
The techniques they use are the techniques of the business, especially in that era.Now that computers have become such a big thing, I don't think it would be possible for Hollywood to produce another movie like this.
It's easily the most frequently used tape in my limited video library.Mainly it's the cast; quality names down the length of the list, and each one, from Robert Redford heading the motley crew of good guys (Dan Ackroyd and Sidney Poitier especially good) to Ben Kingsley as a deliciously cool but insecure villain.
Seven years have passed since this movie came out, which is a long time in the gadget world in which this film is based, but none of their equipment or techniques (except a brief glimpse of a now outdated version of Windows but that's REALLY nitpicking) seem out of date; it could still be today.And then there's the moments.
Sneakers is still fun to watch after 12 years and it was a great look at the time in which it was made.
Sneakers captured that mood perfectly and kept things tense with the soundtrack, locations and set work.It's got the best balance of technical accuracy verses ease of viewing that I've ever seen on film.
Actors have fun with their roles although it's obvious that Sidney Poitier, Robert Redford, Ben Kingsley and James Earl Jones are not delivering their A-Game.
I like Phil Alden Robinson's camera movements; don't forget to look for the long, low slide across the Scrabble pieces right in a pivotal moment of the plot.The movie still retains some relevance today.
"Sneakers" is without a doubt such a movie.It is a lightweight caper which gets into a higher division thanks to the acting: Redford is always good, as is Strathairn, Kingsley and McDonnell.
The other actors do a really good job as well, but these four stand out in my opinion.There are twists and turns in the script, Great San Francisco locations and lots of underplayed humor in this film, all contributing to that the movie can be seen several times.Take it for what it is, and you'll have a really good time in front of the TV..
For a movie like this to work it has to be believable, and this is believable.Sneakers is original in its ideas and the characters are very likable.
However, I found this movie to be more along the lines of a caper film.Robert Redford is the leader of a team of experts who break into security systems so that institutions (such as banks) can see how good their system is.
The group has great chemistry and often this leads to some fun humor.Redford and his team are hired by the government (so they believe) to retrieve a black box that can decode encrypted computer firewalls.
It is a fun film and is enjoyable to watch, but if you are looking for a true spy film, then you may want to pass.This film more closely resembles recent movies like Ocean's 11 or The Italian Job, popcorn films that have some laughs, some danger, and some suspense.Redford is really great in this movie as is Straitarn; Mary McDonnell is also very good.
Although far from their best roles, Poitier, James Earl Jones, Ackroyd, and Ben Kingsley are decent.Overall an enjoyable film which incorporates computer hacking before it was mainstream.
Twenty years later, Cosmos has died in prison and Brice use the alias Martin "Marty" Bishop (Robert Redford) to run a company that tests security systems with the specialists Donald Crease (Sidney Poitier) that is a former CIA agent; the blind Irwin 'Whistler' Emery (David Strathairn) that is specialist in sounds; Darren 'Mother' Roskow (Dan Aykroyd) that is an awesome technician that believes in theories of conspiracy; and Carl Arbogast (River Phoenix) that is a young genius.
Without giving too much away, because I'm an advocate of the second type of viewing, Robert Redford is the head of a secret group of hackers, including Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn, and River Phoenix.
Everyone has skeletons in their closet, Robert Redford in particular, so when they're threatened to take on a particular case, they've got no choice but to accept.The entire team has great comic timing and chemistry together.
Sneakers is a fantastic movie with a perfect blend of humor, action, suspense, and romance.
Starring: Robert Redford, Dan Akroyd, Ben Kingsley, Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell, David Straithairn This movie is just so good, it's almost hard to sum up the greatness in a review.
At this point it's kind of hard to not wonder how important the box is, but unfortunately, the box is already in the NSA's hands before they find out about Janek, and so they drive away with no money and no little black box.It's around this point where the plot of the movie really takes off and it gets very interesting.
Fun, tongue in cheek performances from Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell and James Earl Jones - quite a stellar ensemble cast - are entertaining and whilst not worthy of high acclaim and showers of awards, they are to the point and ideal.
I recommend anyone sees it, and it's one that really does stand up to repeated watching, and you'd never know it was over twenty years old as it's still relevant and pertinent today as ultimate codebreakers for hackers are still the holy grail of governments, mega-corporations, organised crime, terrorists, conspiracists and freedom fighters the world over..
Mostly overlooked and underrated this is a fun and engaging movie about a group of free-lance computer crackers, hackers, conspiracy theorist and others with geek/spy cred from diverse backgrounds, all with secrets and pasts of their own.
Whatever the reason, this movie is filled with great performances, many classic lines and performances, and a good mix of laughs and suspense to keep you interested the entire way through.I wil have a website launching soon at www.favoritefilm.com where people can write about anything and everything to do with their favorite films, and this movie is already, rather high on the list..
Robert Redford and Sidney Poitier play hackers, with an entire syndicate made up of Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn and River Phoenix.
Its all very well confronting Redford 20 years on and talking about a promise not to get into trouble but lets be clear about this, Cosmo's imprisonment and subsequent subservience to organised crime is the direct result of his laziness in going out to get that Pizza in the movie's opening scenes.
It's so much fun to watch a movie with computers and cryptography in it that doesn't make me grind my teeth and want to throw things at the screen.
Redford's weird change of loyalties in that scene, from his alleged employer to his alleged subject of investigation, have no ring of truth, and I still can't see how the woman, even distraught, could have fallen for it.Taken all for all, the film is a fun techno-thriller with an amazingly good cast and unprecedented technical accuracy..
You've got to catch at the very end where on a news broadcast it's said that Republican National Committee has gone broke overnight and Greenpeace is overflowing with money for its good work.Now maybe that's Robert Redford's secret fantasy, but this isn't Never-Never Land..
While it has the basic recipe for an enjoyable movie (strong cast, good premise, quirky characters), the movie is often predictable, the technological stuff makes no sense sometimes (even for computers of that time), a lot of characters are unbelievably clichéd (like the conspiracy-theorist on the team, which does basically nothing besides play his minor part in pulling their various heists or deliver conspiracy theories one-liners - supposedly to provide some comic relief).
All in all, a movie that tries to be tech-savvy, suspenseful, funny and make you ask some questions, but is riddled with believability and logic holes, very little humor, and terribly clichéd characters (plain cartoony at times).
Naturally this is hyperbole from the marketing department, but it's stuff like that that can make or break the chance of a viewers expectation level being achieved.I opened this write up with a funny line spoken by Robert Redford because having just finished the film I feel all jolly, and that is a priceless thing after watching one of the most suspenseful films ever!
Sneakers is an entertaining, suspense filled film with an excellent cast.
The level of sophistication of the electronic tools used in the intelligence community was surprising then and made me wonder what kinds of things were really possible at the time.If you're looking for blazing guns, car chases and repelling wires in watches, this isn't your movie.
It's a nearly perfect blend of plot, visuals, score, and a cast of characters that you come to know and love by the end.
I think a great movie is one you can watch over & over again, which I have done with Sneakers, and one which you recommend to others as a "must see," which I've done so many times I can't count.
The movie is great fun, enjoyable most when the actors (Redford, Aykroyd, Poitier, Phoenix, Kingsley, among others) are deciphering codes, unscrambling words, and delicately breaking into computer systems.
This movie is indeed fun, bolstered by some really strong performances, that of Strathairn, the much lost Phoenix, and the much underused Poitier, while I did like Ackroyd's hairdo.
In fact my only criticism of Sneakers is that too much time may have been devoted to getting the details right, since some of the cast's performances have a real first take look about them, as if the acting was a secondary consideration.
When I first saw this film advertised on TV a few years back now, I remember thinking: "Why is this the first time I've heard of this movie?" I mean for one, the cast is absolutely amazing: Robert Redford, River Phoenix, Dan Ackroyd, Ben Kingsley, Sidney Poitier...
As well as this, Mary McDonnell plays the love interest for Redford brilliantly - indeed she becomes much more than a love interest when she gets involved with the teams operations: the scene where she dates a man as part of the sneaking is an absolute classic.
But neither of those Cold War films are relevant today, while SNEAKERS still is.Watch this movie again in the new millennium.
Great Cast, Good Plot and the action is actually well scripted.
It had some neat high-tech gadgetry and had a big-name cast of Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, River Phoenix, David Straithairn, Mary McDonnnel and Sidney Poitier.THE BAD - More of the tiresome and typical Liberal propaganda that tells us the U.S. Government is the "bad guy'" the radical Left are the good guys (yes, the same ones who blew up a lot of buildings and killed people in the name of peaceful protest).
Average comedy/thriller that has a very good cast,a good promising start,but a sloppy ending.The sloppy ending was probably done to water down the very serious topic of INFORMATION COLD WAR so as not to rattle the mainstream movie goer.An apology of sorts usually employed by movie producers for quicker,short term profit returns at the box office.This movie is a cult masterpiece to a lot of HACKER FANS and big fans of COMPUTER TECH who believe that the world has shifted into the hands of COMPUTER TECH people.They have a strong case for this argument and in this regard,SNEAKERS is ahead of it's time (1992).But stll,to a true impartial movie expert,the movie was too watered down to the level of average........
Having just watched this early '90s suspense thriller about computer hackers (I think) for the first time, I was partially confused about some scenes though overall, I was a little entertained by some of the comedy elements that were sprinkled throughout.
This movie had some of the best one liners, like when Martin said that he wanted to join the NSA, but he couldn't because "his parents were married" or when "Mother" would tell Crease his US Government conspiracy theories because Crease was an ex-CIA agent and he could easily antagonize him.
A pair comes to Martin's (Redford) team of professional electronics security experts with NSA credentials and a request to steal it.An all star cast and an awesome film score flesh out this excellent, if somewhat breezy, spy thriller..
An interesting "What if" senario allows actors like Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix Mary McDonnell and Ben Kingsley to play around with some great scenes.
who has played more prominent characters recently in films such as THE PATRIOT.The best thing about this movie however, is it inspired me in the use of anagrams, an interest which I've still kept to this day..
I can watch this movie over and over again, still enjoying little scenes here and there, and overall, I recommend this to anyone who wants a good laugh, likes espionage, cloak and dagger and so on, computers, spies, Robert Redford and one liners that just zing past you.
Sidney Poitier - River Phoenix - Dan Ackroyd - Mary McDonnell - Robert Redford - James Earl Jones...
and Ab-uses.As head of this band of electronic robin hoods, Redford as 'Marty' Bishop is tricked into stealing a piece of technology and handing it over to Bad Guys headed by "Cosmo" aka Gandhi/Ben Kingsley - And this piece of Tech can literally shout secrets over rooftops...
The item in question actually deals with encryption algorithms that are still in use today.In an attempt to re-acquire this little gadget, Redford assembles his team and with the help of girlfriend Mary McDonnell, attempts to infiltrate the Marin County "fortress of solitude" of criminal Ben Kingsley.The technical and comedic situations which arise in this caper make a wholly fun and interesting film.
Small throw-away lines give us insight into the minds of the people in this movie.A special word must be said about Ben Kingsley's Cosmo.
I had a great time watching great actors like Redford, Poitier, Ben Kingsley, etc., just enjoying being in a great popcorn movie.
(a scientist invented something that "any government in the world would kill for" and guess where he keeps it!?!?!?)However, the film is redeemed by a riveting 2nd half, and performances by a near-legendary acting ensemble, all of whom have done their best work elsewhere, but are still fun to watch.
Cosmo (Ben Kingsley) returns into Marty's life with a truly villainous plan for the box.Redford and Poitier are two veterans doing a lighter movie.
Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Ackroyd, Ben Kingsley, River Phoenix, David Strathairn, and Mary McDonnell star in "Sneakers," a film about security guys who get involved in a scheme to steal for the government.
It has a clever, realistic script and a fine supporting cast - Dan Ackroyd, Ben Kingsley, Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, and David Straithairn giving the best performance I've ever seen of a blind person - and his blindness is dealt with in a human and realistic manner, without being in the slightest bit patronising.Some other obvious recommendations (also starring Robert Redford) would be "All the President's Men" and "Spy Game".
Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell, Ben Kingsley, and David Strathairn go above and beyond the limits of their characters.
A movie that reminds you of "Mission:Impossible" and "Oceans Eleven",this one came before them.Good cast and a simple story with some funny moments along.You`ve seen this before;there`s nothing new to it,but the movie is engaging and exciting all the way.Many good actors:Robert Redford,Sidney Poitier,Dan Aykroyd and River Phoenix(who tragically died one year later).But the one who makes the most impression on me is Ben Kingsley.He fits his part perfectly.
The all-star cast is brilliant, especially Redford, Poitier, Strathairn and a very quirky River Phoenix.
Sneakers i think is a fantastic movie to watch.
This movie was made in 992, starring Dan Akwaord, Robert Redford.
All actors work incredibly well together, and the internal conversations in the film just make you laugh at the same time as it's an exciting movie to watch.
This is one of those few movies that you can watch over and over again, without fast-forwarding even one scene, since they are all so great.
Robert Redford is one of those people who get on your nerves; he is usually not very good, but he seems to win over all the 40+ women and hence gets more work.To be fair, this wasn't all that bad as far as thrillers of this type go, although it's not in the class of Enemy Of the State as far as conspiracy theory films go.Predictable ending [well, it _is_ Hollywood] but not bad in the realm of movies to watch on TV rather than when they're on screen..
Most of the techonology used in the film is now a bit outdated, but that doesnt spoil the fun whatsoever.Acting is great as well, let's not forget, that we have Robert Redford, Ben Kingsley, Sidney Poitier, Dan Akroyd and River Phoenix in one picture.
I've read that the cast had a great time shooting the movie.
So, Redford and his team Dan Aykroyd, Sidney Poiter, River Phoenix, David Strathairn and ex-gal Mary McDonnell plan and go about their heist.It's a breezy movie with the cast exchanging cute one-liners with one another.