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Dom Robinson reviews
But then, of course, we would have to kill you.
Columbia TriStar
- Cert:
- Cat.no: UDR 90053
- Running time: 120 minutes
- Year: 1992
- Pressing: 2000
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 16 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
- Languages: 5 languages available
- Subtitles: 11 languages available
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Scene index, Cast and Filmmakers’ Notes, Trailer, Production Notes
Director:
- Phil Alden Robinson
(The Age of Aquarius, Field of Dreams, In the Mood, Sneakers)
Producers:
- Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker
Screenplay:
- Phil Alden Robinson, Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker
Music:
- James Horner
Cast:
- Martin Bishop: Robert Redford (All the President’s Men, Anthem, Barefoot in the Park, A Bridge Too Far, Brubaker, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Candidate, The Chase, The Great Gatsby, The Great Waldo Pepper, Havana,The Horse Whisperer, Indecent Proposal, Inside Daisy Clover, Legal Eagles, The Natural, Out of Africa, Sneakers, The Sting, Three Days of the Condor, Up Close and Personal, s)
Cosmo: Ben Kingsley (Bugsy, Ghandi, Maurice, Photographing Fairies, Schindler’s List, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Sneakers, Species, Twelfth Night)
Donald Crease: Sidney Poitier (The Greatest Story Ever Told, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, In The Heat Of The Night, The Jackal, Little Nikita, Shoot To Kill, Sneakers, They Call Me Mister Tibbs, To Sir With Love)
Irwin ‘Whistler’ Emory: David Strathairn (DoloL.A. Confidential)
Tom: David Strathairn (Bob Roberts, A Dangerous Woman, Eight Men Out, The Firm, Home for the Holidays, L.A. Confidential, A League of their Own, Losing Isaiah, Lost in Yonkers, Memphis Belle, Mother Night, Passion Fish, The River Wild,Shadows and Fog, Silkwood, Sneakers, Stars and Bars)
Mother: Dan Aykroyd (1941, The Blues Brothers, Blues Brothers 2000, Caddyshack II, Coneheads, Driving Miss Daisy, Feeling Minnesota, Getting Away with Murder, Ghostbusters 1 & 2, The Great Outdoors, Grosse Pointe Blank,My Fellow Americans, My Girl 1 & 2, My Stepmother is an Alien, Neighbors, Nothing But Trouble, The Rutles: All You Need is Cash, Sgt. Bilko, Sneakers, Spies Like Us, Trading Places)
Carl Arbogast: River Phoenix (Explorers, I Love You To Death, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Jimmu Reardon, Little Nikita, The Mosquito Coast, My Own Private Idaho, Running on Empty, Sneakers, Stand By Me, The Thing Called Love)
Liz: Mary McDonnell (Blue Chips, Dances with Wolves, Grand Canyon, Independence Day, Mariette in Ecstasy, Passion Fish, Sneakers)
Sneakersis the name given to the cast of good guys and a girl in this film about a group of computerhackers who are hired to test security systems. Led by Martin Bishop (a fun performance fromRobert Redford), the crew also features former CIA employee Donald Crease (SidneyPoitier), blind soundman Irwin ‘Whistler’ Emory (David Strathairn), gadgetswizard “Mother” (a portly, post-Ghostbusters II Dan Aykroyd), young geniusCarl Arbogast (the late River Phoenix) and Martin’s former girlfriend Liz (MaryMcDonnell).
The film starts in 1969 with Bishop and his college colleague Cosmo doing what they do best,until the FBI get wind by a twist of fate Cosmo is arrested. In the present day – well, 1992when the film was made – our heroes get hold of a black box which it’s discovered can breakinto any security system in the world. Of course, everyone wants to get hold of it and arewilling to kill to succeed. It’s no secret, apart from to those with their brains shut down,that amongst the interested parties is the pony-tailed Cosmo (Ben Kingsley), wantingto reap the reward after thinking he was framed at the time.
The company involved with the black box is one “Setec Astronomy”, but who are they?What do they do? Who do they represent? With a bounty of $175,000 up for grabs, will Bishoptake the Feds up on their offer? Well, like Don Corleone’s, this is the kind of offer thatyou can’t refuse.
The picture is presented in the original 1.85:1 ratio and it’s anamorphic, like the Region 1disc. There’s no obvious artifacts, but the print isn’t always perfect and there’s also anelement of grain throughout. The average bitrate is a superb 7.38Mb/s, often peaking over 9Mb/s.
The sound is Dolby Digital Surround for each language on the disc. There’s nothing here thatwill tax your speakers in any way, but it’s clear and has no problems.
Extras : Chapters :Only 16 chapters, the usual Universal-via-Columbia offering, so coulduse more. Languages/Subtitles :Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround) in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.There are ELEVEN subtitled languages: English, French, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish,Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, German, Polish and Czech. And there’s more… :But it’s the standard fare – a Theatrical Trailer, a few pages ofProduction Notes and the Cast and Filmmakers’ Notes are briefbiogs and filmogs for director Phil Alden Robinson and the other cast memberslisted atop this review. Menu :A static and silent menu with the group cover shot about – but with the blue replaced by whitefor some unknown reason since I’ve never seen it like that before – plus the basic options.
Overall, this is an entertaining piece of nonsense. Don’t expect it to change your life andit does have rather a questionable ending containing a cameo for James Earl Jones.I could tell you what happens, but of course, I’d have to kill you.
There’s no big reason why this film has a 15-certificate. At the time of video release, theBBFC hadn’t introduced 12-certificates for home viewing and the film only gained a 12-certon the big screen because of American film companies’ insistence to throw in an f-word tostop it getting a box-office-death PG-rating.
The line? Sidney Poitier muttering “Motherfuckers mess with me!”
One last thing, given the lack of extras that you’ll go back to time and again, the age of thisfilm and the averageness of the picture and sound quality and I think Columbia should introducea mid-price range of around £14.99 or less for DVDs like this, not charge a penny undertwenty nicker for each title.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.