El Francotirador

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. Director Llosa isn't always successful at maintaining the sombre mood and could have tightened the story somewhat; some detours here don't add up to much. 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. As for Berenger this film proved to be his last good big budget Hollywood venture. He can do these kind of roles in his sleep and he's very convincing here, reprising the role twice more in direct to DVD sequels.

As a long time Federal Agent and gunnnut I thought it was great. The high light was when the high level government officials called in Zane and told him he would be sent to a jungle, would kill an extremely dangerous drug dealer, he may be killed in the process and they would make Zane (drum roll please)(Tah-Dah!) a GS-9. At this point I burst out laughing. Nobody else said a word. This was the funniest thing I ever heard. I was a GS-11 at the time. This is just like the Federal Government. Officials chose an employee for the "fast track" (usually a brown noser/ass kisser) who they want to rise in the ranks over others more qualified. They team this "fast track" person with an experienced, well qualified, person who will really do the work. The goal being the high officials get the credit along with the "fast track" and the experienced person will get shafted. I liked the movie except for rifle scope with moving lights inside. I am a shooter and I have never seen a scope like this one. However, I did like how the experienced sniper dressed and acted. This was accurate as far as I understand and this is how real snipers really operate.

This was huuuuugely favorite movie of a buddy of mine when we were kids. I hadn't seen it in probably that amount of time but found it on the streams the other night.

This movie definitely made "bullet time" a thing in movies and video games.

Tom is great in this. He's kinda typecast in this roll but he does it well. Also Billy is really underrated in it as well. A young hot shot that hasn't had much real world experience with the grizzled old veteran who knows everything. You're not sure if you like Zane's character or not but he pulls it off really well.

The movie isn't overly cliche and that's refreshing considering the time period. I was scared it would have aged poorly but it's still really good. Heck I might appreciate it now more than I did back then.

Though the plot may be familiar (mistrustful pair teamed together to go on a dangerous assignment), the premise of having two snipers as the protagonists is interesting. The film builds on this by offering an insight into the psychological effects of this kind of warfare, but ultimately this degenerates into a yarn. One with a particularly limp ending at that.

Berenger is convincing in his portrayal of a hardened, veteran sniper, completely impassive in what he does. Zane, however, doesn't really pull off his role as an Olympic medal winning shooter who has to face his first live kill. 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. There are some exciting moments, cool camera tricks and even some genuine tension. It's just a pity it didn't hold together better.

A jungle setting is the backdrop here as the "Heroes", one a lifer snipe with 300 confirmed kills and the other is a rookie with a fetish for bulls eye targets and not filthy foreign flesh. This, of course, sets off a chain reaction of a love-hate relationship in the middle of a deadly assassination assault.

Both characters have moments of believability with Tom Berenger almost always assuring, but is haunted by his key-chain mementos of fallen fellow soldiers. Billy Zane is convincing as a whiny, reluctant participant that enters into a "Baptism of Fire" and becomes a convert.

This is a somewhat inconsistent and incoherent insight into the mind and soul of the Military's role in global affairs and the personnel it trains and positions in ambiguous assignments where the motivations of the soldiers are "ours is not to wonder why...".

Political and moral considerations aside, this can be enjoyed by the action and military fans that want their fiction to rely on psychology as much as patriotism. It is an engaging outing, if dense and heavy handed at times.