Sneakers [Collector's Edition]

Director: Phil Alden Robinson Phil Alden Robinson

Overview

"Phil Alden Robinson's Sneakers finally gets the treatment it deserves on this Collector's Edition release, five years after its first appearance on DVD and 11 years after its original release. The disc comes loaded with so much material that it represents almost a technological jump over the old release -- except that this technology was there, just not used. Among the bonus features, the most enjoyable is the 40-minute featurette ""The Making of Sneakers,"" which reveals the movie's origins a decade before its release, during the making of WarGames. Robinson, Lawrence Lasker, and Walter F. Parkes tell of the ten years it took (while working on other movies) to get the film written and then produced, while moving from one studio to another (Paramount lost it, Universal ultimately got it). In the course of getting it made, they all got to be older than the oldest character in the script -- an irony that wasn't lost on them. There are also interviews with various experts in such fields as number theory and telephone hacking (the legendary John Draper (aka ""Captain Crunch"") who was partly the basis for the Dan Aykroyd character), and cast members Robert Redford, Mary McDonnell, and David Strathairn -- we find out that Carl, the youngest of the hackers, was the character with which the filmmakers most identified. There's a certain sadness in seeing River Phoenix in his interview sequences, but the making-of film is still an unabashed delight. The audio commentary by Robinson, Lasker, and Parkes offers its own enjoyment, although it will be of slightly more interest to professionals -- filmmakers, screenwriters, producers, actors, critics, etc. -- than to the casual viewer. In the first two minutes, we learn that there was a major change made in the plot because the original story had the Redford and Ben Kingsley characters accidentally killing a man, which they realized would make Redford's character irredeemable in the eyes of filmgoers. Instead, they changed his indiscretion to hacking into Richard Nixon's personal bank account and transferring funds to the Black Panthers and other leftist organizations of the late '60s, and that change linked the movie's opening to its finish. The discussion is filled with little bits of information like that, all presented in a lighthearted tone; unlike some writers and directors discussing their work, these guys never fool themselves into thinking they were writing, or even pondering, +Hamlet. As for the film-to-video transfer, the newer disc's image does seem to offer a lot more picture information -- and a generally brighter picture -- than the original DVD release; both are letterboxed in the non-anamorphic ratio of 1.85:1. There is also a trailer. The only thing missing from this new edition is some acknowledgement of James Horner's excellent score. The producers have used the same 16-chapter breakdown that was utilized for the 1998 edition."

Product Details

Release Date:	06/03/2003
UPC:	0025192330421
Original Release:	1992
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:06:00

Special Features

Feature commentary with writer/director Phil Alden Robinson; "The making of Sneakers" featurette; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robert Redford	Martin Bishop
Sidney Poitier	Donald Crease
River Phoenix	Carl Arbogast
Dan Aykroyd	Mother
Ben Kingsley	Cosmo
David Strathairn	Whistler
Mary McDonnell	Liz
Timothy Busfield	Dick Gordon
George Hearn	Gregor
Stephen Tobolowsky	Dr. Werner Brandes
James Earl Jones	Bernard Abbott,Buddy Wallace
Gary Hershberger	College-Aged Bishop
Jojo Marr	College-Aged Cosmo,Actor
Bodhi Elfman	Centurion Night Guard
Denise Dowse	Bank Teller
Donal Logue	Dr. Gunter Janek
Juel Bestrop	Actor
Lee Garlington	Dr. Elena Rhyzkov
Hanyee	Bank Secretary
Time Winters	Homeless Man,Male NSA Agent
Jun Asai	Piano Prodigy
John Shepard	Collidge Institute Guard
Ellaraino	Mrs. Crease
Shayna Hollinquist	Melissa Crease,Melissa Crease
Jacqueline Brand	Kiev String Quartet Member
Julie Gigante	Kiev String Quartet Member
Victoria Miskolczy	Kiev String Quartet Member
David Speltz	Kiev String Quartet Member
Leslie Hardy	Gregor's Date
John Moio	Gregor's Chauffeur
James Craven	FBI Agent
RC Everbeck	2nd FBI Agent
Ernie Tetrault	TV Anchorman
Lori Hall	NSA Phone Operator
George Kee Cheung	Chinese Restuarant Singer
Hayward Soo Hoo	Chinese Restaurant Waiter
Michael Kinney	Playtronics Desk Day Guard
Rudy Francis Nementz	Playtronics Desk Day Guard
Ralph Monaco	Playtronics Lobby Day Guard
Paul Jenkins	Playtronics Lobby Night Guard
Al Foster	Playtronics Desk Night Guard
George Hartmann	Playtronics Stairwell Guard
Jeff Daniel Phillips	Playtronics Perimeter Guard
Michael Boston	Playtronics Perimeter Guard
Jeff Joy	Male NSA Agent
Amy Benedict	Female NSA Agent
Cheryl Moore-Gough	Actor
Roger Callard	NSA agent (uncredited)
Michael Milhoan	Russian Driver
Richard Lawrence	Actor
Ryal Haakenson	Actor
Shawn Flanagan	Actor
Dan Ackroyd	Actor
Ella Edwards	madame Crease
James Horner	Composer

Technical Credits

Phil Alden Robinson

Walter F. Parkes

Phil Alden Robinson	Director,Screenwriter
Lawrence Lasker	Producer
Walter F. Parkes	Producer,Screenwriter
Lindsley Parsons Jr.	Executive Producer,Producer
Brett Bentley	Special Effects
Bill Baldwin	Sound Effects
Milton C. Burrow	Sound Effects,Sound Effects,Sound Effects
Willie D. Burton	Sound Effects
William M. Elvin	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Ackroyd, and Ben Kingsley headline a star-studded cast for this clever, suspenseful thriller that plays upon the dawn of the information age. Redford, taut and intelligent, delivers one of his more definitive modern-day performances. Set in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the shadow of Silicon Valley, the film explores the infinite possibilities of computer advancements -- both positive and negative -- in a very sleek manner. With a careful hand, Phil Alden Robinson achieves a commensurate level of tightly wound thrills in direct proportion to the sharply detailed script. The one drawback is the rather uneven pace: at times lightning quick, sacrificing clarity, at other points slow and lackadaisical. River Phoenix and James Earl Jones lend support to the already capable and eclectic cast. The appropriately technocratic tone of the film rivals or surpasses later attempts at the same subject matter (The Net, Hackers).