Sniper

Plot synopsis:
Hartman Fong (Richie Jen) succeeds Shane (Bowie Lam) as the leader of Hong Kong's Special Duties Unit Sniper Team. Hartman who is by-the-book and hierarchical, got the job despite being the second best shooter in team history. The best was Hartman's former teammate Lincoln (Huang Xiaoming), whose unorthodox methods and confidence makes him arrogant and disdainful of authority. Hartman and Lincoln are two alpha males with a long-running rivalry, with only room at the top for one sharpshooter.
Lincoln however was dismissed and jailed for accidentally killing a hostage (the son of the bank chairman) during a bank robbery committed by crime boss Tao (Jack Kao). Lincoln maintained in defense that Tao was about to pull the pin of a grenade but no one else on the Sniper Team could support his story, indeed there is a feeling that Hartman (who was the only other person who could have been in a position to see Tao with the grenade) may have withheld key evidence that would have exonerated Lincoln. Back to the present, upon his release from prison after a four-year stint, Lincoln still harbors a grudge against his former SDU teammates despite being welcomed back into society by Shane. Within days Lincoln has purchased an illegal sniper rifle. He also rekindles his relationship with his wife Crystal (Mango Wong) who encourages him to seek revenge, after they view the wedding ring in the aquarium.
In a flashback, there are two rookie cops getting involved in criminal shootout. One of them is OJ, who manages to stay calm and kills a criminal. Lincoln sees potential in this youngster and decides to take him under his wing. Yet when OJ becomes fascinated by Lincoln and determines to top his shooting skills, he becomes another wild card on the loose. OJ's unorthodox means leads him into frequent conflicts with Hartman's rigid authoritarian style.
Within a few days of being a free man, Lincoln helps crime boss Tao escape prisoner transfer convoy. An off-duty Hartman witnesses the incident, killing several of Tao's men but unable to prevent them from breaking their boss free, after Lincoln tips him off to the crime's location as kind of a "ha ha, I'm helping the bad guys," taunt. Ming and his team are dispatched to profile the suspect. OJ (Edison Chen), the hot-headed rookie on the team, surprises everyone by accurately replicating the suspect’s impossible shots. He manages to do this because of advice from Lincoln.
As Hartman investigates the suspect, he inadvertently runs into crime boss Tao and his henchmen in the elevator of an apartment building. Hartman manages to kill one of the criminals but while chasing after Tao he is foiled by Lincoln. Hartman then pursues Lincoln to the roof and Lincoln loses his grip on a rope and falls down. Tao escapes but his right-hand man is cornered by police, so he flees into a restaurant and takes hostages. Hartman, now in the police command van, coordinates his sniper team but only OJ has a good shot. Although Hartman's order is "shoot to kill", OJ instead wounds the criminal in the arm holding the gun. Although the hostage situation has been resolved without loss of innocent life, Hartman and OJ have a heated argument over the disobeyed order, with OJ arguing that this allowed for the mobster's capture so the case can be further investigated.
Later it is revealed Lincoln has survived the fall with no major injuries and continues his plan of revenge and kidnaps Shane, who is Lincoln's last friend and supporter from the SDU. While Lincoln and Crystal make conversation, Shane regains consciousness and reminds him that Crystal is dead and it is revealed that Lincoln has been hallucinating all this time. In a fit of rage, Lincoln takes his rifle and fires at the ghosts of Hartman and the bank chairman's son, before realizing that he has inadvertently killed Shane. A flashback shows Crystal visiting Lincoln in prison, but he tells her to go away. Crystal then returns home and drops the wedding ring into the aquarium. Standing out on the balcony of her apartment looking at a photo of them in happier times, a wind blows away the photo, and as she lunges for it she tumbles over the railing and falls to her death (likely a suicide).
In the ending, Lincoln decides to lure Fong and the SDU sniper team into a trap at an auto scrap warehouse, leading to the ultimate showdown amongst three expert snipers. First Lincoln forces the crime boss Tao reenact the bank robbery hostage taking, and unlike four years ago, this time Lincoln successfully kills Tao and saves the hostage. In the final gun battle, most of Hartman's team is wounded or killed, but Hartman volunteers to sacrifice himself and draw Lincoln's fire, allowing OJ to kill Lincoln and become the best sniper in the SDU.

Tags: suspenseful, violence

Review:
This isn't the prototypical action movie, thank God.This is a psychological drama about the rookie and his mentor that just happens to be about killing people.
In this way it works extremely well, with terrific performances from Berenger and Zane (who doesn't sleepwalk through the movie like he has in other roles - he actually looks like he's acting).I was disappointed with the action towards the end - a lot of it didn't make much sense and was unsatisfying given the buildup from the rest of the movie.
The pairing never truly gels, which is a shame as it's their relationship that's important over the actual plot.The film looks great, largely set deep in the Panamanian jungle.
Despite some negative comments this film has garnered in the IMDb pages, it's still worth a look as this is a story about survival and camaraderie between two different men with different mentalities while in a difficult mission in the Panamanian jungle.Peruvian director Luis Llosa takes us along to watch this thriller set in Panama.
The film has some good moments as Beckett, the veteran marine, takes a newly arrived man, recently sent to try to eliminate a notorious drug cartel head and the corrupt army general who might be the next president of the country.
The only problem, Miller, has no experience in what he has been entrusted to achieve.Miller, the arrogant newly arrived man to the jungle and to the guerrilla warfare between the military and drug lords against the infiltrated American intelligence men, learns a valuable lesson from Beckett.
What looks good in theory, is irrelevant in the jungle.Tom Berenger, is an actor who doesn't register much, as he proves in this movie, but in the context of the movie, he is right as a man of a few words.
Billy Zane playing Miller does what he can with a role that doesn't afford him any glory until the crucial end.For lovers of action film, "Sniper" offers an 112 minutes of action that with a bit of trimming would have made a more satisfying movie..
Two snipers travel deep in the jungles in search for their targets; a slimy South American drug-lord and a prominent general.Moderately successful at building a brooding atmosphere, Sniper is by most accounts a very solid thriller, taking it's time, establishing it's characters and their plight and climaxing in some good action sequences.
But this film is far better than his Stallone/Stone travesty The Specialist.Billy Zane, usually incredibly tiresome, does surprisingly well as the inexperienced Sniper teamed up with veteran Berenger.
The unassuming soft-spoken Mister Rogers look-alike who ran up a score of as much as 300 confirmed and unconfirmed Vietcong and North Vietnamese military kills during his two tours in "Nam".Which shows just how deadly and effective a trained military sniper really is.Tom Berenger is cool clam and deadly as Sgt.Thomas Beckett who's at the end of his career as a top US Marine sniper but who later in the movie realizes that a life as a civilian will be pointless.
Backett reluctantly accepts his fate as a lifetime professional killer for his country.The story of the film "Sniper" is focused on Sgt.Beckett with the assistance of former sharp shooting silver medalist and US government agent Richard Miller, Billy Zane, being sent deep inside the Panamanian jungle.
We see earlier in the movie Sgt. Beckett scope and take out a rebel leader which I feel was the best scene in "Sniper".
There's also a sub-plot that was later aborted in the movie about a rebel sniper DeSilva, Eward Wiley, who was stalking Beckett and who later killed Papich as they were both waiting to be lifted out of the jungle by a military helicopter.
You would have thought that a deadly cat and mouse was being played out between the two that would culminate when the movie ended but Sgt. Beckett had no trouble at all in dispatching DeSilva early in the film by using an unsuspecting Miller as bait.What hurt the movie the most was ironically the last fifteen or so minutes when the story went from a one shot one kill sniper movie to a Rambo-like ending with Sgt. Beckett and Agent Miller fighting off an entire battalion of rebels with bullets flying as thick as a London fog."Sniper" is still well worth watching for the fact that it tells the story about a person who until now has not really been glamorized in war movies: A solitary killer who kills with the precision and skill of a master diamond cutter or accomplished neurosurgeon and who does it in total secrecy..
The movie certainly conveys all of the emotions it aims for - The helplessness of humans in the jungle, the hatred and eventual trust between Beckett and Miller, and the rush of the moment when they pull the trigger.
A seemingly low-budget film makes up for every flaw with action, suspense, and thrill, because when it comes down to it, it's just one shot, one kill..
sniper 2 and 3 are pretty good follow ups but the first is still the best overall movie.
Tom Berenger does a great job playing his character and showing the hidden side of the sniper life.
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.
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..
It's like a buddy-sniper movie in the jungle.
It's really the kind of action movie you really love as a kid and later on still like, not because it's good, but because it makes you feel nostalgic..
Sniper is a much better movie than i thought it would be.i did think it would be entertaining,but more from a time wasting perspective than anything else.but it turns out it's a pretty tense,at times suspenseful film.it's well paced.there are no spots that drag.i wasn't bored for a minute.and the two lead actors,Tom Berenger and Billy Zane work well off each other.both are very well suited for this particular role and were very convincing.as for the degree of realism in the film,i can't speak to that,but i do know i enjoyed myself for 90 odd minutes,and sometimes it's enough to just enjoy a movie for the entertainment value.for me,Sniper is an 8/10.
What makes SNIPER more unique though is that this movie has better character angles than expected.
The two leads have created a couple of emotionally ambivalent characters (although fabricated in a banal manner) who must deal with their purpose...and each other's weaknesses.Excellent performances by Tom Berenger and a young, show-stealing Billy Zane lift SNIPER from turning into a complete fiasco.
Consequently though, in spite of some well executed action scenes and an inkling of tension permeating throughout the movie, SNIPER is surprisingly tepid in the adventure genre.
Unfortunately, the pace in SNIPER is extremely vapid, with more screen time spent on characters talking and running around rather than generating any real action.In spite of the faults evidently gathered in SNIPER, this flick is a tolerable action movie.
Still, Billy Zane and Tom Berenger salvage this film from transforming into a complete mess.
Tom Berenger plays an army sniper who is saddled with a new young know-it-all partner, Billy Zane, and the two must work together on a dangerous mission in South America.
Still, that one set piece in the middle of the film and strong performances by Berenger and Zane make "Sniper" worth checking out.
This is definitely Tom Berenger's signature film, he is perfect for this role and also Billy Zane did his job well in this film.The best thing about this film is it's simplicity just like predator, the jungle and well chosen music works perfectly with this film adding to the suspense.
Every time I watch it I enjoy!Of course it is pretty violent like every action movie but I think it is acceptable.
Everything else in the film is very much appreciated but these other two elements previously mentioned are the ones that make this thriller spectacular.Sniper is the story of Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger), a marksmen who is at the top of his class for taking out enemies from afar.
However, it is not until he is forced to pair up with new guy Richard Miller (Billy Zane) to take out a couple of drug lords.
Interestingly enough, Miller's background is intriguing because he was only assigned under Beckett's care for falsely taking credit for killing an enemy soldier with a sniper rifle from a helicopter.The dialog between these two characters is also entertaining.
Altogether, there's nothing you can't like about this film.The whole idea of watching the actions of trained snipers doing their dirty work is exciting all on its own.
Berenger and Zane are great at their characters and Gary Chang's score is a rare gem compared to today's movie soundtracks..
A pro sniper (Berenger) is teamed up with a rookie (Zane) who doubts his master's choices.Screenplay misguides the film, and the direction style is weak and the backgrounds (jungles, rivers, plush landscapes) all look fake.
I realize that Beckett (Tom Berenger) is a closed mouth, hard nose, kill-and take-dog-tags-later kind of guy; but instead of having him show his softer side daydreaming about Montana, let's hear about DeSilva and the training.
If character and plot development was better planned who knows how great this movie could have been..
The writer was probably well-intentioned, but they couldn't scrape up more than twenty dollars to hire decent talent or equipment.We follow Billy Zane, who I think of as the flamboyant version of Vin Diesel, into the jungles to help Tom Berenger hunt a drug lord and some rebel factions.
Berenger has been eating and breathing sniping and jungle love for some time now and doesn't need Zane to watch him.The film works if you like watching two guys in the jungle shooting at things.
This was another great Tom Berenger movie..
Tom Berenger played a great sniper in the jungles Of Panama!
Finally, the many decisions by the director like the in flight bullet effects, Scope point of views and slow motion hits and deaths along with everything touched on earlier make it painfully cheesy and something that you would expect in a much older movie considering what else was already done in the genre and what was being put out in 1993.
"MSgt Thomas Beckett" (Tom Berenger) is a sniper in the United States Marine Corps who is stationed in Panama to take out rebels in that country.
Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good film which I thought depicted the role of a sniper in a jungle environment quite well.
In the jungles of Panama, Marine sniper Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger) loses his partner during an ill-timed extraction.
There is also an expert rebel sniper in the area who was Beckett's former student.This is a fine military action thriller.
Sunday would not be Sunday without an action movie, and when you want intense combat, you turn to Tom Berenger (Platoon).Here he plays a sniper in the jungle going after rebels and drug lords.
Life's a bitch, so he gets a green office type (Billy Zane) to help on the mission.The film is in the hands of Luis Llosa, who stunk up Anaconda.
he doesn't do much better here, but Berenger makes the movie worthwhile.Sure, it may be a little long - who wants to see a lot of walking through the jungle, but is is good, tense action when the time is right..
Tom Berenger plays Thomas Beckett, a sniper who does assassinations for the U.S. government.
Beckett tells his partner in this last mission, Richard Miller (played by Billy Zane), that the worst part after an assassination is when it no longer hurts.
This film has a good plot that shows the emotional effects of such killing assignments.
Here he plays a sniper in the jungle going after rebels and drug lords.
Sure, it may be a little long - who wants to see a lot of walking through the jungle - but is is good, tense action when the time is right.
SNIPER does have some action moments, but it is very good as a psychological drama.
Many of us don't really like Billy Zane, but does that make the movie bad?
My father was a Marine, so I can identify with the military element in the movie.I don't think the producers necessarily intended on trying to make this a Best Picture, but I feel they certainly succeeded in making a movie that gives insight into just how a sniper FEELS.
It's only a 2 hour movie, how much character development do you want to see, while still getting to see those slow motion bullets going through scopes and into their target's eyes?I think the problem with a lot of "critics" is that they look for too many things in a movie that probably weren't intended to be there.
He out-ranks Berenger who has LOTS of kills & the 2 go at each other throughout till the end of the film when Zane finally 'feels the rush' & achieves a kill.
Sniper goes far deeper than most war movies, closely examining not only the obvious stories and subplots, but the psychological effects, both short-term and long-term effects, of the character.
This might be one of the better Tom Berenger roles (with the B-movie "Substitute") and he really is good in this one.
This is an action thriller starring Tom Berenger and Billy Zane as snipers.
Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett (Berenger), Force Reconnaissance Marine, an experienced sniper, is paired up with an inexperienced civilian, Richard Miller (Zane), to eliminate a rebel general financed by a Colombian drug lord.
With the help of Tom Berenger and Billy Zane, they both make up the film for their rough interactions between each other.
Thomas Beckett & Richard Miller -two mankinds who want to survive in the "jungle" of violence and madnes, one shot - one killed !!?
All round good action movie..
Clearly, killing someone from a long distance makes you thirsty for Mountain Dew. Note that Beckett does not talk about "feeling the rush" in the sequels, which were filmed in the 2000's.Of the three Sniper movies we've seen, this first one is the best one.
We all love those parts in action films where we see someone getting taken out from a long distance, and when we play Call Of Duty, the sniper parts are the best.But this is where the film fails, it's like watching someone playing a really bland video game, and they are insisting that they watch the in game scenes because they really add something to the film.Brenger is okay, as is Zane, but we've seen this done before a thousand times.And even if that bit with the scope still impresses today, it does not justify a film.Let alone four sequels..
Title: SniperCondensed 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 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.
The movie dos not disappoint on that end as we get out first POV sniper scope shot at 3 minutes in.
Overall Feel: If you want a good sniper/war movie, you'll like this film.
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..
A veteran Marine sniper, Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger), reluctantly mentors an Olympic-medalist marksman, Richard Miller (Billy Zane), in the jungles of Panama.
Great action and tension with a little over acting, but neither Berenger or Zane can be accused of just going through the motions.
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.
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.
The film would have been better had it further concentrated on the inner workings of the rebels in Panama and the drug cartel of Colombia desperately trying to influence the upcoming election in the former.Instead, we have jungle warfare where the government sends in Billy Zane to monitor the actions of expert sniper Tom Berenger.
Hardboiled veteran Marine sniper Tom Beckett (ably played with steely resolve by Tom Berenger) and eager, but inexperienced rookie marksman Richard Miller (a fine performance by Billy Zane) are assigned to pull off a difficult covert mission in which they must venture into the Central American jungle in order to assassinate a powerful rebel leader and his Columbian drug lord backer.