© 2006 William Ahearn

“Sneakers” was the first of a new genre of computer films utilizing geeks and hackers that would use what could be called the “give me the disk” scenario. “The Net,” “Hackers,” “Enemy of the State,” and numerous others also rely on this dramatic device but none of them get close to the fun of “Sneakers.”

By 1992, computers had become so commonplace with the introduction of personal desktops and then laptops that evil supercomputers bent on world dominance had lost its credibility. This was the year that Microsoft released Windows 3.1 and Apple Computer introduced OS 7.1 and a built-in CD-ROM on its computers.

The story is that Martin Bishop runs a company that gets hired to test the security of banks and other sensitive entities. His coworkers are an ex-CIA officer, a paranoid conspiracy freak, a young computer hacker and a blind audio specialist. Bishop had been a hacker in his college days with a friend and they were electronically transferring funds from the telephone company to the Black Panther Party when the friend gets busted and Bishop escapes.
The friend dies in prison or does he?

Hired by the National Security Agency (well, maybe they’re the NSA) – that can’t legally operate in the US (Bush isn’t president yet) – Bishop’s company has to steal the ultimate code breaker created by a math genius. This is the typical “holy grail” concept of a unifying magic key that will grant access to the arcane and the obscure. It’s a pretty funny concept for a culture that can’t create compatible computer systems or even a universal vacuum cleaner bag.

Part heist caper, part hacker film, “Sneakers” introduces the concept (in computer films) that technology is defined by how it’s used and that it is always vulnerable to itself or a good swift kick. An excellent cast and a fun script has made “Sneakers” a geek classic much like “WarGames.” And it deserves it even if its politics bend toward the knee-jerk liberal.