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[Movie Review] American Sniper


jon_j_rambo

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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136/

 

Most spend 12.50 to watch the newly released Clint Eastwood movie, American Sniper.  Allow me to set the stage.  First, I always eat something yummy, yet small before entering a theater.  Went for Sushi by the theater.  Second, I rarely pay for any movie, either get free passes, or just walk by the skinny high school ticket grabbers; you really think some kid is going to ask for a ticket?  This keeps my expenses down.  Finally, I don't drink soda & lay off popcorn, so I take a couple tall boy beers inside.  Always cracked your cans during "loud" scenes", only take sips or chugs during the darkened parts of the movie, and sit in private area.  In this case, the place was packed, so we (friend & I) choose to sit near some hillbillies that would care if a cans were tipped.  

 

Now to the movie......

 

Starts off in the USA, as a young Chris Kyle wants to join the Navy Seals.  He is strong & able to handle the stress & challenges of boot camp.  He quickly chooses to be a sniper & does quite well.  He's single at the time, until he meets a nice gal at the bar, has some shots of booze, yada-yada, they get married, his new wife is knocked up.  

 

Chris & his wife watch the horrific events of 911.  Believing that he needs to protect the country, his is more than ready for combat to invade Iraq or whatever country their in.  There's no reference to Building #7, so conspiracy ppl, the war is over in the Middle East.  

 

Chris starts off firing away on all kinds of dudes.....those carrying RPGs, machine guns, bombs, whatever....enemy units driving suicide cars, etc.  Chris just plugs them.  The combat scenes are great!  Head shots, body shots, etc.  It's not as intense as Band of Brothers in my opinion, but much, much better than Enemy of the Gates of Vasile vs Ed Harris.

 

Throughout his combat, Chris is on the phone with his much worried wife.  The usual military wife/husband conversations occur about the stresses of life.  The dude (Chris) is blasted dudes while talking to his wife who is state-side.

 

I don't want to be a spoiler so let me just give my opinion about the movie.  

 

1)  It's more of a docu-drama combat film, than a movie.  Personally, it's a little dry because it's TOO ACCURATE!!!  I prefer one-liners, smack talk, and entertainment.  It is a docu-drama.  

2)  Combat scense should have been more intense!  I'm not looking for heads being logged off or another, but there's zero smack talk!  (See my favorite sniper, Barry White in Saving Private Ryan quoting bible verses as he fires away)

3)  Movie is a tad long.  It's reeling the same material over & over again.  I'm sure that keeps it accurate, but not necessarily entertainment.  

 

Bottom line, the movie is AWESOME.  Glad I saw it.  But it's more of a docu-drama than a movie.  I prefer smack talk out of Clint (Dirty Harry, Grand Turino, Outlaw Josey).

 

Rating:  8 of 10 for a single watching

Rating:  6 of 10 for repeat watching.  

 

Sincerely, 

-Legend 

Edited by jon_j_rambo
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I just saw the movie too. I liked it, it was entertaining. However after seeing the movie i did some research on the real Chris Kyle and i found that he is quite a controversial figure in the US. It appears to me that while some consider him a hero, some despise him due to some statements he made in his biography. What do you guys think of the real Chris Kyle?

 

 

EDIT; another comment on the movie American Sniper: the actor playing Chris Kyle has a very strong accent (texan?). I saw the english version and i often had difficulties understanding him. Although i am not a native speaker i usually dont have any problems understanding movies in english, but i had to rewind some scenes several times in order to be able to get what he is talking about.

Edited by agusto
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EDIT; another comment on the movie American Sniper: the actor playing Chris Kyle has a very strong accent (texan?). I saw the english version and i often had difficulties understanding him. Although i am not a native speaker i usually dont have any problems understanding movies in english, but i had to rewind some scenes several times in order to be able to get what he is talking about.

 

Subtitles are your friend. I use them all the time if they are available (obviously I am not talking about viewing in a theater). Contemporary actors tend to be a little—or a lot—mush mouthed, so even if speaking in American English I lose at least a third of the dialogue. And forget about UK English.

 

Michael

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1)  It's more of a docu-drama combat film, than a movie.  Personally, it's a little dry because it's TOO ACCURATE!!!  I prefer one-liners, smack talk, and entertainment.  It is a docu-drama.  

 

 

 

Really have to disagree about the accuracy thing.  Read the book for something closer to the real thing.  The plot-line, cartoon evil characters, etc never existed.  It's a generic action movie (and sort of a boring one at that) with a few nods to Kyle's actual encounters (or what he said they were.)  The movie depicts what Americans would like to think happened in Iraq.  

 

The morality of the stuff he did, and his feelings about it, isn't quite as cut and dry as the movie makes it out to be.  It says right in the title - it's a hoorah American flick that avoids any grey areas (the interesting stuff) that might have existed in his deployments and actions.  

 

In any case, hopefully some of that cash it's hauling in goes to his family.

Edited by molotov_billy
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Am I the only one who thinks the OP comes off a major douche bag?

 

Employing the use of passive intimidation in order to avoid paying a nominal fee for a movie ticket. Really? I shudder to think what other things this guy does in the name of entitlement.

 

As for the review, it reads off like it could have been narrated by James Sawyer from Lost; shallow and non-erudite. One exception being Josh Holloway's character having a vastly more expanded vocabulary.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Am I the only one who thinks the OP comes off a major douche bag?

 

Employing the use of passive intimidation in order to avoid paying a nominal fee for a movie ticket. Really? I shudder to think what other things this guy does in the name of entitlement.

 

As for the review, it reads off like it could have been narrated by James Sawyer from Lost; shallow and non-erudite. One exception being Josh Holloway's character having a vastly more expanded vocabulary.

 

Yep, I'm a major d-bag.  It happens.  Always one in every crowd. 

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