Drones

Drones is one of the movies which make their front wallpaper very attractive. The picture usually results in the idea of a heavy action movie with soldiers and drones fighting terrorists. Not a good choice because the cover has no relevance to much of the movie. Normally some of the main characters would have been shown but there isn't. At least some parts of the movie were enjoyable. The movie is actually based in a single room for the entire 1 hour and 22 minutes! There are limited characters, and seems like a video game game-play instead of a movie! The story line is reasonable but needed more ACTION and explanation! Most of the movie is talking between two characters which some people may find boring. This is definitely not a recommended movie but its OK for people who love action movies with not too much blood and fighting.

4/10

Overall I enjoyed this film. It's got a good feel to it in terms of suspense.

Unfortunately, it's also a load of crap. There are no shortage of movies out there that were created for the sole purpose of making a political point. Some of them are even pretty good. But in order to make a good point, it's important to argue from a standpoint of reality.

This movie steps aside from reality to make the assertion that the U.S. military cares not a lick for civilian casualties. They quite literally state it in plain English, they even go as far as saying that the rules of engagement support the execution of positively identified non-combatants.

Do I really need to explain that this assertion is really just ridiculous in the extreme? I'm sure many here will defend this movie by saying we've done our share of civilian killing. While this is unhappily true, I will retort back to you that it did not happen like this. This particular example is really a stretch.

Aside from their open disdain for the U.S. military, the writers make use of just about every philosophical and ethical argument for and against the use of drones. Is it really fair to wage war by pushing buttons? Is any sort of collateral civilian damage acceptable? Especially if we know about it ahead of time? Are we making asses of ourselves by using drones? Just how much obeisance are our soldiers required to give? Is there any heroism or shame left in our way of combat? And if so, is there any glory left in being a soldier? These are important questions that our new way of combat is forcing us to come to grips with. This movie would be a good one for class discussion, or to list the concerns involving drones for research and investigation.

I applaud the makers for artfully and seamlessly making use of each ethical dilemma in their story.

I also applaud the actors. In a movie like this, which can only be described as a psychological thriller, acting is the most important quality of the film. A range of emotions and believable characterizations are required, and both of our lead actors played the parts very well in my opinion.

Despite that, I'm giving the film a score of only 7. I feel that the writers could have come up with a more believable reaction to the scenario. The reaction of the upper brass in particular just seemed unreal. Also, as I said before, this film reeks of open disdain for the military. It's OK to hate the military, but don't expect that your movie will be good if you let those feelings pour into your work. If you want to promote philosophical discussion, you need to remain objective. Otherwise, your work becomes propaganda instead.

Not an action movie!

I tend to like movies with onion layers to their central conflict, and this one did have them. It was not well written or acted though. Echoing the opening scene of WarGames, the movie explores the well- trodden dramatic area of 'orders versus morality' found so often in movies such as A Few Good Men.

Better Dialogue, character development, and acting would add to this and crank up the tension. The perfect soldier (trainee) was difficult to believe as having moral qualms. The fundamental difference between warfare with piloted versus drone aircraft (in harm's way) was all but ignored with more of a focus on collateral damage. Well, F22's kill innocents too, so I have trouble understanding why the trainee has reservations. Assuming her strong education, not only in the military, but in theories of war and government, she should have come to grips with "following orders" long before she was put into this situation. The senior pilot (trainer) was a reasonable 1-dimensional character as the pizza- eating, video-gaming pilot that had no care in the world. The character growth and changes in point of view during the movie is sudden and slightly inexplicable. Additionally, the contact with the chain of command and the lack of support from the military for this pair of drone pilots was unbelievable.

As all of the action takes place in a desert trailer, this movie would be better-suited to a stage presentation.

There might be admittedly a deeper message in this movie - but the way it is presented (cover etc) one might wait for an action/war movie.

Instead your getting a discussion between two very dull characters sitting in a container, watching a video screen - in feature length. Under pretense of coolness the actors try (and fail) to transport any kind of feeling/reaction.

No action whatsoever, this seems to be some kind of no-budget movie which isn't even very ambitious. The storyline is so predictable that one could stop watching after 10 minutes without missing anything.

If I had watched this in cinema, I would have left after half an hour.

First - Never judge a book by it's cover.. how true.. Cover show combat soldier with drones above his head.. no combat, no ground soldiers, no drones shown... just two Air Force Soldiers in a Box...

This was suspenseful if one is to believe that even the low standards of some recruiters, that two people with no military fiber, discipline to even common sense would be place in a position requiring quick action and understanding of mission.

The only thing I can think of is that this story was written by someone with no military history in his life. This made the scenario, hopefully, very unrealistic. Saying that; the suspense was fairly good if these two idiots would carry out the mission...

NOT AN ACTION MOVIE as the DVD/Blu-Ray cover shows... just a suspense drama... as such, about half marks 4.5 to 5 stars..