Sneakers

Rating:
Summary: Just Fun to Watch.
Review: SNEAKERS is about a group of security analysts led by Martin Bishop (Robert Redford) who are hired by the National Security Agency to steal a special black box, created by a world renown mathematician, that has the capability to breaking all cryptographic codes. However, the group soon discovers that they weren't working for the NSA and instead are caught up in a twisted game of espionage with a man who wants revenge against Bishop.

SNEAKERS is a really entertaining movie to watch. The plot is somewhat far-fetched, despite being more realistic than the typical spy-thriller movie. The movie is made even more enjoyable because of top quality acting from an All-Star cast: Robert Redford, Ben Kingsley, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, Timothy Busfield, and Mary McDonnell. Besides the acting, another element that makes this movie just a notch above the typical spy-thriller is it's score. The music really elevates the movie and helps hide some of the minor discrepancies with the plot.

A very enjoyable movie.

Rating:
Summary: Just plain bad...
Review: This has got to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I really don't understand how it got all these reviews. First of all, to call this movie a thriller is an insult to the genre, and it is a misnomer. The only way to enjoy this movie, if is it is possible at all, is to call it what it is: a comedy. It really is a comedy. But the problem is that it is even a bad one at that. This movie starts out as a thriller, so we don't know it is a comedy, until half an hour or so into it. When you first see the comedy scenes, you think it is a flaw, but keep on watching. But after an hour or so, it totally degenerates. And at the end, the writer or the director must have decided that it is not possible to pull this together anyway, so why not make it a complete comedy? The finale gives the impression that they wanted the movie to be a satire may be, but it is too late for that. I mean it is not possible to make anything of this movie. It is not possible to say it has a plausible or consistent plot. There are gaping holes in the plot. And then it is too serious at times to be a comedy. I would nonetheless put it in that genre. If you want a good thriller, there are very good ones out there, don't waste your time with this. If you want satire on government, or conspiracy theories, don't waste your time with this either. Watch this movie if you can't sleep and there is nothing on TV. Totally disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: A strong, intellectually intriguing movie
Review: When I first saw this movie I was expecting something completely different. Being a software developer, I was expecting the standard stereotype of eccentric not-in-touch-with-reality radical leftist computer nerds. What I got instead was a bunch of really fun characters that I thoroughly identified with and who covered the gamut of personality types. The plot was somewhat believable (the core plot device notwithstanding) and the choices the characters made to come out on top were also fairly enjoyable, such as the sightless gentleman driving the van down a steep embankment to save his buddies with only radioed instructions to keep him on track. What few persons have mentioned, however, in these reviews is that the movie also has a winning soundtrack. Its theme is quite catchy and emminently memorable. Pay no attention to the gentleman who says the movie isn't worth anything. This movie was meant to be a cut above the rest and it succeeded. If someone was unable to enjoy it, then I unashamedly chalk it up to his small mind.