Sneakers 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Sneakers 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 24, 2025

Phil Alden Robinson's "Sneakers" (1992) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include archival audio commentary by Phil Alden Robinson and co-writers/co-producers Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes; archival audio commentary by Phil Alden Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley; documentary film; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The box with too many secrets

Note: The text below was used in our review of the British release of Sneakers, produced by Universal Studios-UK in 2013.

Robert Redford leads a group of highly-skilled hackers who get hired to do security checks. Their clients are big banks and private corporations that want the best protection money can buy.

A U.S. government agency contacts Redford’s character, Marty, with an unusual offer -- if his team steals a black box with a universal code breaker from a brilliant mathematician (Donal Logue, Blade), the government will forget about his long criminal record and pay him a nice bonus that will allow him to retire. Without knowing much about his target, or the precious black box he has designed, Marty asks his team of 'sneakers' to help him. They are: Whistler (David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck), a blind sound expert, Crease (Sidney Poitier, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?), a former CIA operative, Mother (Dan Aykroyd, The Blues Brothers), a paranoid conspiracy theorist, and Carl (River Phoenix, My Own Private Idaho), a young prodigy. The 'sneakers' are also joined by Marty’s former girlfriend, Liz (Mary McDonnell, Donnie Darko).

Soon after Marty and his team steal the black box, they discover that with it, they can hack any security system in the world. With such a powerful device in their possession, the ‘sneakers’ instantly become targets for foreign governments with big ambitions, the mafia, and a crazy megalomaniac (Ben Kingsley, Shutter Island) with a ponytail who wants to change the world.

Sneakers looks somewhat dated now, especially when it tries to be too intelligent, but it still entertains quite well. It has a good sense of humor, and its different subplots are nicely linked to keep the audience guessing for as long as possible. A few of the big twists are somewhat predictable, but several also come with brilliant extensions that manage to surprise.

The narrative's biggest weakness is its enthusiastic promotion of random political speeches addressing social inequality and the upcoming New World Order. The various sequences where Marty’s old friend Cosmo (Ben Kingsley) recites his grand ideas are particularly annoying. The final act, where the ‘sneakers’ meet an unusually flexible government negotiator (James Earl Jones), also looks like an extract from a parody.

Redford is the most believable of the ‘sneakers’, but there are a couple of action sequences where he looks too relaxed and too old. Aykroyd is likeable but underused. Poitier and Strathairn manage their characters well, but at times they too look slightly underused. Phoenix is easily forgettable because the screenplay treats him almost like an outsider. McDonnell delights as Redford's ex-girlfriend, and at times even effectively overshadows some of the 'sneakers' around her.

Phil Alden Robinson's worked with cinematographer John Lindley (Phil Alden Robinson’s Field of Dreams, Joseph Ruben’s Sleeping with the Enemy), whose camera movement and choices of light and color make Sneakers appear a lot more stylish than it deserves to be. The soundtrack was created by James Horner (James Cameron’s Titanic 3D, Mel Gibson’s Braveheart).

*Professor Leonard Adleman, one of the three inventors of the RSA encryption system, which today is used all over the world, was consulted to ensure that the code breaker appears authentic.

Sneakers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Sneakers is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray disc and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-32 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #35-39 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces a new 4K makeover of Sneakers sourced from the original camera negative. In native 4K, the 4K makeover can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with HDR and later spent time with the 1080p presentation of it on the Blu-ray.

The 4K makeover is every bit as impressive as the recent 4K makeovers of Sea of Love and Uncle Buck. I suspect that all three 4K makeovers were prepared by the same party at Universal because they have identical crucial strengths. For example, even though Sneakers has plenty of darker/dark material where colored light and shadows interact in various tricky ways, its visuals convey tremendous delineation, clarity, and depth. The density levels of these visuals remain enormously impressive, too. Color reproduction and color balance are perfect. I am quite certain that an interpositive was referenced because the accuracy with which the primaries and supporting nuances are set give the entire film a flawless period appearance. The same accuracy ensures that the dynamic range of the visuals is optimal as well. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Image stability is fantastic. I did various comparisons between the native 4K presentation, the 1080p presentation, and the previous dated presentation of the film on this Region-B release, which is the only one I have in my library. The 4K makeover looks great in native 4K and 1080p, and offers massive improvements in every single area that we scrutinize in our reviews. The gap in quality between the 4K makeover and the older presentation of the film is so big that the former ensures a drastically different viewing experience. The gap in quality between the native 4K and 1080p presentations of the 4K makeover is much, much smaller. However, the expanded color gamut and superior dynamic range of the visuals on the native 4K presentation are undeniable as well.

Sneakers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed a good portion of Sneakers with the 2.0 track and liked it a lot. It has a great dynamic range and is very, very healthy. The 5.1 track is good, too. However, I have always felt that it could have had more surround movement to impress as a 5.1 track. Some of the action sequences throughout the film create great opportunities for impressive surround movement, but there is hardly anything meaningful happening there. The dialog is clear, sharp, stable, and easy to follow.

Sneakers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - this archival audio commentary was recorded by director/co-writer Phil Alden Robinson and co-writers/co-producers Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes. The commentators reveal a lot about various phases of the conception and production of Sneakers, some developments in the original screenplay that did not make it to the film, the type of technology that was supposed to be the key piece in the narrative but was altered, the balance between the secrets and clues that are part of the narrative, the casting choices that were made, etc.

• Commentary Two - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Phil Alden Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley. The bulk of the comments here address the various locations that were used in Sneakers (some were in Los Angeles, and some in San Fracisco), particular lensing choices, the management of light/natural light and color, and even various editing decisions that affected the pacing of the film.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - this archival audio commentary was recorded by director/co-writer Phil Alden Robinson and co-writers/co-producers Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes. The commentators reveal a lot about various phases of the conception and production of Sneakers, some developments in the original screenplay that did not make it to the film, the type of technology that was supposed to be the key piece in the narrative but was altered, the balance between the secrets and clues that are part of the narrative, the casting choices that were made, etc.

• Commentary Two - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Phil Alden Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley. The bulk of the comments here address the various locations that were used in Sneakers (some were in Los Angeles, and some in San Fracisco), particular lensing choices, the management of light/natural light and color, and even various editing decisions that affected the pacing of the film.

• The Making of Sneakers: Documentary - this archival documentary takes a closer look at the production of Sneakers. Included in it are clips from interviews with director Alden Robinson, writer/producer Walter F. Parkes, writer/producer Lawrence Lasker, Robert Redford, and inventor/hacker John Draper a.k.a. "Captain Crunch", amongst others. In English, not subtitled. (41 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Sneakers. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Sneakers 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Less comedy and political preaching would have helped Sneakers age much better. It is still an entertaining film, but it juggles two very different personalities in ways that at times kneecap it and make it look like a parody. Given the quality of its cast, I think that it would have been a vastly superior film had it been scripted to impress like No Way Out. Kino Lorber's combo pack introduces an outstanding 4K makeover of Sneakers, almost certainly prepared by the same perfectionist party at Universal that delivered the recent 4K makeovers of Sea of Love and Uncle Buck. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.