Thomas Beckett is a no-nonsense Marine. He is a gunnery master sergeant "Gunny," with lots of wear and tear, specializing in carrying point on two-man sniper teams in the jungles of Panama. A veteran sniper, Gunny has at least 74 confirmed kills. In his long career, he lost several spotters; he carries these Marine's spare dog tags on a ring which he employs like worry beads. Some Marines believe Beckett is callous about his lost comrades, but the dog tags are like metal scabs over wounds that will never totally heal. On a particularly vital mission, Beckett has to team with Richard Miller, a wet-behind-the-ears NSA desk jockey. The Feds believe the hype that he is a crack shot due to an Olympic silver medal, but Gunny can figuratively smell his inexperience. Gunny is certain when Miller takes credit for a kill he did not complete. Beckett immediately assesses that Miller has never had a single kill. Although Miller tries to pull rank on Beckett, Gunny treats him like a young puppy, but without using a rolled-up newspaper. The sniper code is "one kill, one shot." The real question is: who is going to get shot and who is going to kill? Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett is a sniper stationed in Panama. Although skilled, he has lost several men under his command. Beckett is teamed up with a SWAT member named Miller, who has not earned any confirmed kills, to eliminate a top Panamanian rebel leader. Tensions emerge between the two on how to conduct the mission, coupled with running into numerous challenges during the mission. Luis Llosa's "Sniper" is very good movie to watch once in a while despite the fact that it isn't a great movie or a perfect one because of its minor flaws, but then again not every movie is perfect. I have seen some really good political thrillers in my lifetime some that I happen to consider the best of all time in the genre but unfortunately this movie didn't make the list. The movie stars Tom Berenger as Sergeant Thomas Beckett a real killing machine who is very infamous for his fellow men getting killed on past special forces missions, but this time the military is giving him an another chance with giving him a new spotter named Richard Miller (Billy Zane) who hasn't been on any prior missions and has never killed a person which people can tell because of his hesitation throughout the movie. Their mission is to go down to Panama to take out rebel drug lords. The performances are decent, the screenplay written by Michael Frost Beckner and Crash Leyland is good but it does have holes in it that happen to make the movie entirely predictable in some scenes, while the whole movie isn't suspenseful at one point in the movie like a political thriller should be, but I do recommend this movie because of the strong performances from Berenger and Zane, and because of its sheer entertainment, and fantastic action sequences, as well as the stunts being expertly choreographed. Even though Berenger was very good in this movie it isn't his very best role which it couldn't hold true to his very menacing performance in "Platoon" (1986) which earned him his only Oscar nomination. But I was satisfied throughout even though this isn't a movie I would want to see again. Title: Sniper<br/><br/>Condensed Storyline: A marine sniper has to go into the jungle and remove rebel fighters, but he is known for the fact that his spotters never come back <br/><br/>Notable Acting: Tom Berenger is Thomas Beckett, the hard ass sniper who has issues as his spotters keep getting killed, his character is pretty much cardboard cut as it doesn't really build or change or grow in the movie. Billy Zane is Richard Miller, the new guy who the old sniper has to train, he is less cardboard, but still unoriginal. <br/><br/>Noticeable Camera work: It is a 90's action movie, so I wouldn't hold out too much faith for any interesting angles an shots. But I would expect POV and voyeuristic shots as this is a sniper movie which has them being chased by an enemy sniper. The movie dos not disappoint on that end as we get out first POV sniper scope shot at 3 minutes in. The movie continues to use standard shots with a few POV or voyeuristic shots so the movie is alright for an action movie were camera angles are concerned. <br/><br/>Incorrect Science: The movie has got quite a few military-esk errors such as how to address a Master Gunny Sergeant Altering the ballistic properties of a bullet by smoothing the edges of it Trying to dry fire a weapon, knowing a weapon by hearing the hammer strike Trying to talk while in a helicopter without a mic. <br/><br/>Overall Feel: If you want a good sniper/war movie, you'll like this film. It is your typical war type action movie. One thing I loved about this movie and about most sniper movies is the unshackling sense of mystery and stealth. Of course that is the whole point of snipers, but it is still fun to watch movies and enjoy that in them. The camera works is as good as you'll get from a 90's action movie and the acting is decent if not predictable.
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364 weeks ago