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We were trying to think of something fun to watch on the holiday yesterday and we decided on Sneakers, a 1992 "techno-thriller" that is one of my favorite movies. I never get tired of watching it, but my wife had only seen it once, about 15 years ago.
This is a movie that would really be a good one to re-make, because at the time it came out it had all the "latest and greatest" techno-equipment in it -- in fact that's probably the reason it wasn't a big hit, it sort of flew over people's heads and they weren't sure they'd understand it. Or maybe from the title they thought it would be a boring movie about shoes, I dunno. Maybe it would go over better in these tech-savvy times. The story would have to be tweaked a little to fit with today's tech, but I'm sure it could be done if they resist the temptation to turn it into a standard action flick.
Anyway the movie is about a guy named Martin Bishop, who, as a college student, discovered (with a friend named "Cos") how to hack into computer systems, but unlike the usual Ferris Bueller type of hacker who uses such tactics to change his grades, Bishop and Cos use their talents to move money from one place to another -- specifically, from places like Richard Nixon's checking account to the United Negro College Fund. So they're basically being Robin Hoods, at least in their own minds.
At one point the college-aged Bishop decides to run out for pizza, and just as he's safely out of sight in his van, here come the cops descending on the building to haul the hackers away. Cos gets hauled off to prison, and Marty disappears into the ether.
Cut to the present day, and Bishop has turned his talents into a career. He's assembled a team of like-minded hackers and they hire themselves out to banks and such to try to find ways to "sneak" into their computer and alarm systems.
Into this scenario comes a couple of government agents who say they work for the National Security Agency, and they're looking for a "black box" that's been created by a Russian mathematician. They want to know what it does, just in case it goes against U.S. interests. They hire Bishop's company to find the box, and when they find it, Bishop's team discovers that it's the ultimate code breaker; it can decipher any encryption they throw at it. As one of Bishop's crew says, "There isn't a government in the world that wouldn't kill us all for that thing."
Upon delivering the black box to the NSA guys, Bishop discovers that they're not real government people after all -- well maybe they are, but definitely "not ours." Bishop barely escapes with his skin but has turned over the box, so the mission now becomes one of getting the box back again.
All of the above happens before the movie is half over. There are plenty of tense moments and surprises in the second half, including a couple of fun "surveillance" segments, and a thoughtful scene about how the world isn't controlled by money anymore, it's "all about the information." This film pre-supposes a lot of what's happening right now, in fact.
The movie has a terrific ensemble cast. Bishop is played by Robert Redford, and his various cronies are Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd (as a conspiracy theorist), David Straithairn (he's blind, but he's got "the best hands in the business"), River Phoenix, James Earl Jones, Ben Kingsley, and Mary McDonnel as Redford's "old girlfriend" who gets coerced into helping the heroes out with various scams along the way. It is a great deal of fun and is really well written, with edge-of-seat moments interspersed with dialogue that also manages to be intelligent and light-hearted at the same time.
There are a couple of plot holes, as there usually are with this kind of movie. Why didn't the bad guys kill Bishop when they had the chance, etc. But the story is so intriguing that these are easy to overlook, at least for me.
As icing on the cake, the movie has one of the coolest soundtracks ever, featuring a lot of saxophone work by Branford Marsalis, and the '70s tune "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" sung by a Chinese vocalist, among other esoteric music.
It's also got a really cool opening credits scene, which starts out as nonsense words but then the letters anagram themselves into the credits -- such as "FORT RED BORDER" becomes ROBERT REDFORD, and so on.
If you're a fan of any of the cast (especially Redford, Kingsley, Poitier or Aykroyd, but they're all good) or if you like thrillers with a techno side, this movie is for you. 4.5 out of five stars for me.
This is a movie that would really be a good one to re-make, because at the time it came out it had all the "latest and greatest" techno-equipment in it -- in fact that's probably the reason it wasn't a big hit, it sort of flew over people's heads and they weren't sure they'd understand it. Or maybe from the title they thought it would be a boring movie about shoes, I dunno. Maybe it would go over better in these tech-savvy times. The story would have to be tweaked a little to fit with today's tech, but I'm sure it could be done if they resist the temptation to turn it into a standard action flick.
Anyway the movie is about a guy named Martin Bishop, who, as a college student, discovered (with a friend named "Cos") how to hack into computer systems, but unlike the usual Ferris Bueller type of hacker who uses such tactics to change his grades, Bishop and Cos use their talents to move money from one place to another -- specifically, from places like Richard Nixon's checking account to the United Negro College Fund. So they're basically being Robin Hoods, at least in their own minds.
At one point the college-aged Bishop decides to run out for pizza, and just as he's safely out of sight in his van, here come the cops descending on the building to haul the hackers away. Cos gets hauled off to prison, and Marty disappears into the ether.
Cut to the present day, and Bishop has turned his talents into a career. He's assembled a team of like-minded hackers and they hire themselves out to banks and such to try to find ways to "sneak" into their computer and alarm systems.
Into this scenario comes a couple of government agents who say they work for the National Security Agency, and they're looking for a "black box" that's been created by a Russian mathematician. They want to know what it does, just in case it goes against U.S. interests. They hire Bishop's company to find the box, and when they find it, Bishop's team discovers that it's the ultimate code breaker; it can decipher any encryption they throw at it. As one of Bishop's crew says, "There isn't a government in the world that wouldn't kill us all for that thing."
Upon delivering the black box to the NSA guys, Bishop discovers that they're not real government people after all -- well maybe they are, but definitely "not ours." Bishop barely escapes with his skin but has turned over the box, so the mission now becomes one of getting the box back again.
All of the above happens before the movie is half over. There are plenty of tense moments and surprises in the second half, including a couple of fun "surveillance" segments, and a thoughtful scene about how the world isn't controlled by money anymore, it's "all about the information." This film pre-supposes a lot of what's happening right now, in fact.
The movie has a terrific ensemble cast. Bishop is played by Robert Redford, and his various cronies are Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd (as a conspiracy theorist), David Straithairn (he's blind, but he's got "the best hands in the business"), River Phoenix, James Earl Jones, Ben Kingsley, and Mary McDonnel as Redford's "old girlfriend" who gets coerced into helping the heroes out with various scams along the way. It is a great deal of fun and is really well written, with edge-of-seat moments interspersed with dialogue that also manages to be intelligent and light-hearted at the same time.
There are a couple of plot holes, as there usually are with this kind of movie. Why didn't the bad guys kill Bishop when they had the chance, etc. But the story is so intriguing that these are easy to overlook, at least for me.
As icing on the cake, the movie has one of the coolest soundtracks ever, featuring a lot of saxophone work by Branford Marsalis, and the '70s tune "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" sung by a Chinese vocalist, among other esoteric music.
It's also got a really cool opening credits scene, which starts out as nonsense words but then the letters anagram themselves into the credits -- such as "FORT RED BORDER" becomes ROBERT REDFORD, and so on.
If you're a fan of any of the cast (especially Redford, Kingsley, Poitier or Aykroyd, but they're all good) or if you like thrillers with a techno side, this movie is for you. 4.5 out of five stars for me.
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