Sniper (1993)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Luis Llosa

Writers (WGA):

Michael Frost Beckner (written by) &
Crash Leyland (written by)

Release Date:

29 January 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

One Shot. One Kill. No Exceptions.

Plot:

Tough guy Thomas Beckett is an US soldier working in the Panamanian jungle. His job is to seek out rebels and remove them using his sniper skills...

Plot Keywords:

Sniper | Jungle | Sniper Rifle | Drug Lord | Helicopter

Cast

Tom Berenger	...	Thomas Beckett
Billy Zane	...	Richard Miller
J.T. Walsh	...	Chester Van Damme
Aden Young	...	Doug Papich
Ken Radley	...	El Cirujano
Reynaldo Arenas	...	Cacique (as Reinaldo Arenas)
Gary Swanson	...	NSC Officer in Washington
Hank Garrett	...	Admiral in Washington
Frederick Miragliotta	...	General Miguel Alavarez
Vanessa Steele	...	Mrs. Alvarez
Carlos Álvarez	...	Raul Ochoa
Tyler Coppin	...	Ripoly (as Tyler Copin)
Teo Gebert	...	Ripolys Friend
Edward Wiley	...	DeSilva
William Curtin	...	Mountain Top Pilot

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA | Peru

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #31859) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:18 (cut) | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Baltimore Pictures

Trivia:

'Barry Levinson' was originally slated to direct.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Miller misses El Cirujano and the Indians are fired on, Cacique is squatting down over the one who was killed. He motions for the other two to come down and help him carry the body. It cuts to a shot of Miller and Beckett talking and then back showing Casique squatting down glaring at Miller. You can see at the top of the screen the feet of the two men who moments before had come down from the rocks to move the body, still up on top of the rocks.

Quotes:

Cacique: Los ojos, quierro los ojos.
Richard Miller: He wants my eyes?
Thomas Beckett: Ah, he means antejos, your shooting glasses. Give them to him.
Richard Miller: Why?
Thomas Beckett: Because he likes them.

Movie Connections:

References Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Soundtrack:

Medicine Man

A Psychological Drama, NOT an Action Movie

Some guys think that sniper is not good because of the action part of it was not good enough. Well, if you regard it as an action movie, this view point could be quite true as the action part of this movive is not actually exciting. However, I think this is a psychological drama rather than an action one.

The movie mainly told us about the inside of two snipers who definitely had different personalities and different experiences. Tomas Beccket , who was a veteran and had 74 confirmed kills, looked as if he was cold-hearted. However, after Beccket showed his day dream of Montana, we can clearly see his softness inside. It was the cruel war and his partners' sacrifice that made Beccket become so called cold-hearted.

Millar, on the contrary, was a new comer, a green hand, and was even not qualified as a sniper. Billy Zane did quite well to show millar's hesitation and fear when he first tried to "put a bullet through one's heart"(as what Beccket said). What he thought about the actuall suicide mission was that it could be easily accomplished and then he could safely get back and receive the award.

These two guys were quite different in their personalities and I think that the movie had successfully showed the difference and the impact they had to each other due to the difference in their personalities. These two snipers quarreled, suspected each other and finally come to an understanding by the communication and by what they had done to help even to save the other.

Sniper isn't a good action movie but a good psychological one.