Sneakers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Sneakers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 16, 2013

Phil Alden Robinson's "Sneakers" (1992) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios-UK. There are no supplemental features on this release. In English, with optional English SDH, French, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, German, Italian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

What am I looking at?

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 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.84:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Phil Alden Robinson's Sneakers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios-UK.

The disc's main menu can be set in one of the following languages: Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin America), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Mandarin.

The high-definition transfer has been struck from a dated master, which was most likely used for previous DVD releases of the film. Unsurprisingly, depth and clarity have a tendency to fluctuate. The entire film also looks quite dark (which is a regular side effect on transfers struck from older masters) and soft. Even daylight sequences have a tendency to look subdued and flat (see screencapture #2). Color reproduction also does not impress - instead of a wide range of healthy colors, there is a limited range of elevated browns, reds, and blues. The good news is that unlike so many high-definition transfers Universal Pictures has used for catalog releases, this high-definition transfer isn't overwhelmed by edge-enhancement. Additional degrainig corrections have not been performed either. Lastly, there are no large cuts, debris, damage marks, stains, or warps. However, there are various tiny flecks that can be seen throughout the films. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Sneakers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are eight standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), Japanese DTS 5.1 French DTS 2.0, Italian DTS 2.0, German DTS 2.0, Spanish DTS 2.0, Portuguese DTS 2.0, and Spanish (Latin America) DTS 2.0. For the record, Universal Studios has included optional English SDH, French, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, German, Italian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track has a good range of nuanced dynamics. However, do not expect any serious surround movement. Only during a few of the action sequences overall dynamic intensity and movement is improved. The dialog is crisp, stable, and easy to follow. Also, there is no heavy background hiss, pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review.

Sneakers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

Sneakers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Phil Alden Robinson's Sneakers has not aged particularly well. Parts of the film are still very entertaining, but the random political speeches and prophetic warnings that pop up from time to time now feel very awkward. The film looks mostly decent on Blu-ray, but it is easy to see that there is plenty of room for very serious improvements. A new scan and a brand new transfer will provide Sneakers with a drastically different look. Consider adding this release to your collections only if you find it on sale.