Sneakers (1992)

A security pro finds his past coming back to haunt him, when he and his unique team are tasked with retrieving a particularly important item.

Director:

Phil Alden Robinson

Writers:

Phil Alden Robinson, Lawrence Lasker

Stars:

Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Sidney Poitier

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jo Marr	...	College-Aged Cosmo (as Jojo Marr)
Gary Hershberger	...	College-Aged Bishop
Robert Redford	...	Bishop
Sidney Poitier	...	Crease
David Strathairn	...	Whistler
Dan Aykroyd	...	Mother
River Phoenix	...	Carl
Bodhi Elfman	...	Centurion S&L Night Guard
Denise Dowse	...	Bank Teller
Hanyee	...	Bank Secretary
Timothy Busfield	...	Dick Gordon
Eddie Jones	...	Buddy Wallace
Time Winters	...	Homeless Man
Mary McDonnell	...	Liz
Jun Asai	...	Piano Prodigy

Storyline

Martin Bishop is the head of a group of experts who specialize in testing security systems. When he is blackmailed by government agents into stealing a top secret black box, the team find themselves embroiled in a game of danger and intrigue. After they recover the box, they discover that it has the capability to decode all existing encryption systems around the world, and that the agents who hired them didn't work for the government after all.

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Plot Keywords:

computer | cryptography | security | nsa | encryption | 

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Taglines:

We could tell you what it's about. But then, of course, we'd have to kill you.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief sexual references

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Chinese

Release Date:

11 September 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Héroes por azar

Filming Locations:

400 California Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,031,145, 13 September 1992

Gross USA:

$51,432,691

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$105,232,691

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min 118 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie deals with the impact of a factoring breakthrough on encryption, a reference to the RSA algorithm, the most popular public-key encryption algorithm in use today. Professor Len Adleman, one of the co-inventors of the RSA algorithm, provided some technical guidance on this movie, in exchange for giving his wife a chance to meet Robert Redford.

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Goofs

In the credits and the subtitles, Dr. Elena's surname name is consistently spelled "Rhyzkov," but pronounced correctly by everyone as "Ryzhkov." "Rh" is not a phoneme that occurs in Slavic languages, and, in those languages, "Z" and "Zh" are separate letters, not interchangeable..

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Quotes

Martin Bishop: Carl?
Carl: The, young lady with the... Uzi. Is she single?
Martin Bishop: Uh, Carl? Excuse us.
[pulls Carl aside]
Martin Bishop: This is the brass ring. Haven't you got any bigger thoughts?
Carl: I just want her telephone number. Please?
NSA Agent Mary: Wait a minute... you can have anything you want, and you're asking for my phone number?
Carl: Yes.
NSA Agent Mary: 273-9164. Area code 415.
Carl: I'm Carl.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

After the Universal logo, the first words on screen are A TURNIP CURES ELVIS; the letters then jump onto another line one by one, solving the anagram to form UNIVERSAL PICTURES (and PRESENTS is then added).

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Alternate Versions

The line "Who's going to save the world Marty? Greenpeace?" in the dubbed Spanish version (DVD) becomes "Who's going to save the world Marty? The military?"

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Connections

References The Manhattan Project (1986)

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Soundtracks

Waltz In E Minor
Composed by Frédéric Chopin
Performed by Jun Asai

User Reviews

Flawed but Entertaining

In 1969, the idealistic hackers Martin Brice and Cosmos use the computer to transfer funds from conservative politicians to liberal causes. Martin goes out of the building to buy a pizza for them and Cosmos is arrested. 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.

One day, the NSA agents Dick Gordon (Timothy Busfield) and Buddy Wallace (Eddie Jones ) visit Martin's office and he is blackmailed by them that know his real identity. They want that Martin and his crew retrieve a black box from Dr. Gunter Janek (Donal Logue), a mathematician that developed a cryptography system for the Russian government in a project called Setec Astronomy. In return, they would clear his name and give US$ 175,000.00 for Martin and his team. Martin asks his former girlfriend Liz (Mary McDonnell) to help him and soon they recover the box and deliver to the NSA agents. Soon Martin learns that he was lured by Dick and Wallace, and Janek that was murdered was working indeed for the National Security Agency in a system capable to break any computer encryption. Further, he has been incriminated in the murder of Janek and two other men and his only way out of the trap he is involved is recovering once again the black box.

"Sneakers" is an entertaining thriller with a promising beginning, good development and flawed and deceptive conclusion. Robert Redford and Ben Kingsley are too old for the role of two men that twenty years before were college students. It would be more logical to cast two actors of thirty and something years old. But they are great actors and the viewer may disregard this detail along the action and suspense of the movie. But the conclusion with the dangerous Wallace, Dick and Cosmos alive and free would be a constant threat for Martin and his team. NSA Director Bernard Abbott offers whatever they want and none of them request protection from Cosmos and the rogue agents. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil) : "Quebra de Sigilo" ("Break of Secrecy")