When hackers wore “Sneakers” – the latest Kino Lorber 4K UHD

4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS

(1) Robert Redford stars as Martin Bishop, aka Martin Brice, a computer expert who’s been on the run from the FBI since the late ‘60s. (2) Bishop heads a security firm based in the Bay Area, including, left, Carl Arbogast (River Phoenix), Darren ‘Mother’ Roskow (Dan Aykroyd), Donald Crease (Sidney Poitier), and Irwin ‘Whistler’ Emery (David Strathairn).

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4K screenshots courtesy of KL Studio Classics / Universal Pictures - Click for an Amazon purchase

“SNEAKERS”

4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray; 1992; PG-13 for profanity and brief sexual references

Best extra: The carryover 40-minute ‘Making of’ documentary

AFTER HIS baseball classic “Field of Dreams,” writer/director Phil Alden Robinson jumped into the world of microchips and spies.

The term “sneakers” was discovered by co-writers Walter Parkes and Lawrence Lasker while researching their ‘80s cataclysmic thriller “WarGames.” It defined young computer programmers who wore tennis shoes instead of brown shoes. Parkes and Lasker also reveal the more devious meaning: A subculture of hackers, security experts, ex-criminals, and telephone freaks – hired to break into top secret compounds (military, government, and financial institutions) to expose security risks. The script was passed around between the three writers in a nearly 10-year process before the storyline and its squad of characters was finalized.

Robert Redford (Martin Bishop aka Martin Brice) plays the computer expert who’s been on the run from the FBI since the late ‘60s. That seems a little far-fetched, yet he’s quite convincing as the leader of a San Francisco-based industrial security specialists’ group. The outstanding supporting cast includes Sidney Poitier (Crease) as an ex-CIA man; Dan Aykroyd (Mother), a gadget wiz who believes everything is a conspiracy; David Strathairn (Whistler), a blind sound-man; River Phoenix (Carl) as the boy genius, and Mary McDonnell (Liz), the ex-girlfriend, recruited into a covert operation that might get Bishop out of hot water with the Feds. Or so we think.

(1) Martin picks up a cashier’s check after breaking into the Centurion Bank and exposing their weaknesses. (2) NSA officers Buddy Wallace (Eddie Jones) and Dick Gordon (Timothy Busfield) blackmail Martin to steal the ‘Black box,’ from mathematician Dr. Gunter Janek (Donal Logue). (3) Martin’s team tries to decipher the password to Janek’s computer from surveillance video. (4&5) Janek gives a lecture on codes, with Martin and his ex-girlfriend Liz Ogilvy (Mary McDonnell) in the audience. 

EXTRAS

The 4K and Blu-ray include two commentaries. One with Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley (“Field of Dreams,” “Pleasantville”) who disclose that the opening winter sequence was filmed at Universal Studios’ famous “Back to the Future” courthouse set. It required tons of artificial snow, which ran out and had to be brought in from next-door neighbor Warner Bros. during a midnight raid.

On the second track, Robinson, and co-writers Lasker and Parkes, reveal an early draft of the script in which hackers Martin and Cosmo, played by Ben Kingsley, bomb a college building and accidently kill a custodian worker. “Wow, you’re right,” they say as they remember that devastating plot twist. “It would’ve put a pause over the movie. And we would’ve never forgiven the two characters,” Robinson said. So, they rewrote the scene, focusing on a plot where “sneakers” hack into President Richard Nixon’s checking account and transfer funds to the revolutionary Black Panther Party and legalizing marijuana.

During the ‘Making of’ documentary, Robinson, Lasker, and Parkes sit around a dining table recalling how the project was first attached to Paramount. Even so, Universal got fully behind “Sneakers,” once Robinson and Redford signed on. “It stunned us, we didn’t actually think it would ever get made,” Robinson explains. For years he believed he wasn’t the right director for the project.

(1&2) Crease and Whistler communicate to Martin via an earpiece, as he tries to keep Dr. Elena Rhyzkov (Lee Garlington) quiet after she finds him in Janek’s office. (3) Whistler lights up when he discovers the Black Box can break the encryption of every computer network. (4) Martin communicates with friend Gregor Ivanovich, of the Russian consulate, about the Black Box. (6) Ivanovich’s limousine is stopped by the FBI.

VIDEO

Universal scanned the original open matte 35mm camera negative in TRUE 4K, and framed it in its theatrical 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The opening flashback sequence is framed 1.33:1, but overall, the clarity is excellent from start to finish. HDR10 and Dolby Vision grading provide a much more natural color palette, especially in facial toning. The previous Blu-rays were dialed way too red in many scenes.

The film grain is well defined, but we did find a couple times where the digital restoration was not perfect, showing dirt marks and a vertical scratch. Still, overall, it looks very clean. The Kino Lorber video rate consistently runs over 75 Megabits per second, and everything was encoded onto a 100 GB disc.  

AUDIO

The previous six-channel DTS HD soundtrack was ported over, which still provides a wide soundstage, with dialogue front and center, and James Horner’s (“Titanic,” “Avatar,” “Glory”) rich, underappreciated orchestrated score showcasing a striking saxophone soul assist from jazz virtuoso Branford Marsalis.

“Sneakers” is currently the most recent addition to the growing 4K physical media library of 1990s films released by Kino Lorber.

 — Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer

(1) Ben Kingsley plays Bishop’s old college partner, Cosmo. (2) Liz comforts Martin after being kidnapped. (3) Whistler provides Martin with audio clues to pinpoint the route he was taken during the kidnapping. (4&5) The team ends up at the headquarters of a toy company, and they set up surveillance. (6) Liz is recruited and sent on a fake computer date with Werner Brandes (Stephen Tobolowsky) to get his keycard and vocal recognition codes. (7) Cosmo discovers that Martin is behind the break-in.

Additional ‘90s films on 4K Ultra HD from the KL Studio Classics series: “Daylight” (1996) was released last month for two days but was pulled by Kino. No details are provided on its odd removal.

Still available and forthcoming: “Cry Baby” (1990), “Graveyard Shift” (1990), “Internal Affairs” (1990), “Kindergarten Cop” (1990), “Misery” (1990), Body Parts” (1991), “Career Opportunities” (1991), “Silence of the Lambs” (1991), “Bad Lieutenant” (1992), “Hard Target” (1993), “Indecent Proposal” (1993), “Needful Things” (1993), “Wayne’s World 2” (1993), “Blown Away” (1994), “Nobody’s Fool” (1994), “Sudden Death” (1995), “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead” (1995), “Black Sheep” (1996), “Kingpin” (1996), “The Usual Suspects” (1996), “Face/Off” (1997), “In & Out” (1997), “Mouse Hunt” (1997), “The Peacemaker” (1997), “Turbulence” (1997), “Out of Sight” (1998), “Ronin” (1998), “Snake Eyes” (1998) and “Mystery Men” (1999).