Sneakers (1992)

[theologica]

So, sat down to watch "Sneakers", recently.

Those of you who have seen it'll know Dan's in it, though that wasn't my primary motivation for watching it (). For those who haven't seen it, Dan's in it, along with Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, River Phoenix and Ben Kingsley.

The film's about a "tiger team" (i.e., security experts who break into buildings, computers, etc., in order to help companies pinpoint their security weaknesses) -- though it is referred to in the movie as "sneaking", hence the name -- headed by a character named Martin Bishop. Also on the team are: conspiracy theorist Darren "Mother" Roscow (Danny), blind pitch-perfect genius/phreaker Erwin "Whistler" Emory (Strathairn), ex-CIA agent Donald Crease (Poitier), and boy hacker Carl (Phoenix). Mr. Bishop is a fugitive whose real identity is uncovered by a pair of gentlemen claiming to be from the NSA, blackmailing him and his team into a mission to recover a, "black box" from a renowned mathematician under the auspices of breaking the Russians' codes. This black box turns out to be an all-powerful encryption breaker which, in the wrong hands, could do some mighty terribly things...

I've watched the movie twice now, and I absolutely love it. Despite two watchings, I still get a surge of adrenaline during the action sequences, and also any scene with Ben Kingsley (holy crap, he's creepy o.o He has the stare-y eyes! He plays the villain of the movie). But there's also some real gems amongst the comedy, as well. Plus, we get to see Danny dancing, and doing a wonderful job of it (he was dancing with Bishop's girlfriend, Liz)!

I think I may also have a minor crush on Whistler. <3

... and did my eyes deceive me, or were the computers used by the lads running Windows 3.1? *g*

I'll also admit that Kingsley's character, and in particular, a speech he makes about the world not being run by money, oil, or weapons, but rather, by those who control information, the little ones and zeroes... in fact, for that matter, the entire film at times... is actually kind of chilling, when you consider the advances of technology, with information increasingly ever-present and available, when you consider the noise about privacy issues we hear coming from detractors of Facebook (if you don't want it on the web, don't put it there), or Google Buzz's recent issues with accidentally revealing contacts' email addresses -- heck, the entire mess that is social networking mediums. It's eerily prescient.

Dan was... well, given his background in spiritism and UFOs, it seemed appropriate for him to be playing a conspiracy theorist. xD But his character is, despite this, just as competent a technician as the others on the team, from running the audio-visual equipment right through to rigging up a device to detect voice stress, like a form of polygraph. Plus the fact we get to see him dancing xD.

So, if you haven't seen it, go see it. ^_^ If you have seen it, discuss!

~Theo.

[Bismo]

Buster & I just watched that again (well, first time for him!) a couple of weeks ago, yeah, I've always liked that movie and I was happy to see that it holds up fairly well for the time. Noticed the Windows 3.1 in that, also in "True Lies" that we re-watched recently too... my, how did we do anything with computers in those days?

[Steam McQueen]

Originally Posted by theologica

Dan was... well, given his background in spiritism and UFOs, it seemed appropriate for him to be playing a conspiracy theorist.

Lol.

[Mother (the conspiracy theorist) is reading a tabloid]
Mother: Cattle mutilations are up.
Donald Crease: Don't.
Mother: Sorry.



I saw this movie at the theatre.



Dan sharing top billing with Robert Redford!

[theologica]

Originally Posted by Steam McQueen

Lol.

[Mother (the conspiracy theorist) is reading a tabloid]
Mother: Cattle mutilations are up.
Donald Crease: Don't.
Mother: Sorry.

Haha, yeah. xD I love how Mother totally winds up Crease. That moment when Mother is trying to convince Crease's wife that aliens exist:

MOTHER
But the key meeting took place July
1, 1958, when the Air Force brought
the space visitor to the White House
for an interview with President
Eisenhower. And Ike said, hey, look,
give us your technology, and we'll
give you all the cow lips you want.
So that's when...

CREASE
Honey, don't listen to this man.
He's certifiable.

MOTHER
Your husband knows about cattle
mutilations, he's ex-CIA!

CREASE
He's touched!

MOTHER
He knows the government's been
suppressing for years.

*grins*

And Bismo -- I know. I remember when my dad installed our first CD drive into our computer, running Windows 3.1. It also came with an electronic encyclopedia, Grolier. Which had a tendency to crash 'cause Windows 3.1. couldn't cope with some of the media elements. *g*

This said, I have fond memories of Windows 3.1. That was a time when bitmaps were *huge*, and could easily eat up the computer's hard-drive space (I used to have fun in paint, making what my childish imagination thought were nifty wallpapers), and when the colour schemes had names like "Hotdog Stand" (yellow and varying shades of red and brown). When you had to type in "win" at the command prompt to start up the desktop. And nearly EVERYTHING came on numerous floppy disks.

(Prior to our Windows 3.1. machine, I also had an Atari 520 ST. Oh man, I loved that thing. The grink-gronk of the floppy drive as it loaded the programs. The hiss of white noise when you turned it on. The static that tended to develop around the vents, and the heat that would come off it when it'd been on for a while. The simple lime green and white gui... <3 I could go on for ages. That machine was my first love.)

[elizabeth]

I want to see this film because it has Robert Redford in it. And Danny, of course

[theologica]

*Laugh* Yes, I thought you might be interested, Liz. I remember you liking Mr. Redford, and was uncertain as to whether you'd seen it or not. :3

[elizabeth]

I'm more into his younger films, of course, but the guy's talented, like, for real.

[takkuneg]

I found it....okay. Did anyone catch a glimpse of the crystal necklace Danny is wearing? Totally want one. (I found a pendant just like it once but was so broke at the time.)

There's never really a good clear shot of it, but here.

Aykroyd_Dan_Sneakers_085.jpg
Aykroyd_Dan_Sneakers_109.jpg

(Wow, I never realized how dark those screencaps turned out.)

[theologica]

Originally Posted by takkuneg

I found it....okay. Did anyone catch a glimpse of the crystal necklace Danny is wearing? Totally want one. (I found a pendant just like it once but was so broke at the time.)

There's never really a good clear shot of it, but here.

Aykroyd_Dan_Sneakers_085.jpg
Aykroyd_Dan_Sneakers_109.jpg

(Wow, I never realized how dark those screencaps turned out.)

I was trying to get a good look at it, as well. It looks like a quartz crystal with a metal cap, attached to... perhaps a length of leather cord?

[takkuneg]

Originally Posted by theologica

I was trying to get a good look at it, as well. It looks like a quartz crystal with a metal cap, attached to... perhaps a length of leather cord?

Yep, you nailed it. At least as far as I could ever tell.

[Metropolitangel]

I love Danny here. Seem a teenager in this movie!.

[theologica]

Ooookay, just necroposting to here 'cause there be fanfiction written for it now, and not entirely sure where to put it. xD

Title: The Best Hands in the Business
Author: fiona_conn
Fandom: Sneakers
Characters: Liz and Mother. Appearances by Crease, Whistler, Karl and Martin.
Spoilers: Yes, as it's set during the movie.
Rating/Warning: Gen, none.
Author note: Something I always notice is that Mother usually seems fairly unflappable. Whether that's owing to his strong belief in conspiracy theories or not is another matter, but... he wears a quartz crystal pendant, which made me wonder if maybe he's at least spiritual, and from there, came the idea that maybe he'd have some knowledge of meditation and reiki.
Summary: "Don't take this personally, Liz, but... you were the only one who knew Martin's secret, and somebody talked. So make yourself comfortable. We're all staying here tonight." Liz and the boys stay overnight at the team lab after Whistler, Mother and Karl probe Janick's little black box.

( Perhaps Martin's description of Mother having, “the best hands in the business” wasn't solely technical... )