Sniper: Inside the Crosshairs

Right away you're aware that this documentary is not anti-war . INSIDE THE CROSSHAIRS is unapologetic war porn at its most erotic . It uses snappy MTV style editing intercut with subliminal real life war footage , dramatic reconstructions and interviews . It is the antithesis of the present day zeitgeist of being anti-war and makes no apology for it so much so that I almost feel ashamed that I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary . Anyone got a problem that it's feel good TV seeing violent theocrats with guns and RPGs getting shot dead ? No ? Good

Certainly this will upset the usual suspects who feel the need to protest war especially if it involves a democracy defeating a tyranny but no one is being conscripted in to watching something they don't want to watch . There is a lot of technical lingo in between the scenes of carnage which fly by so quickly you'll have to rewatch the documentary again to catch it in full . From a pedantic film making point of view you could say the in your face graphics detract from what's being said but I'd happily watch this again and enjoy it

There is a somewhat American-centric feel to it featuring mainly snipers from the USMC in Vietnam , Iraq and Afghanistan and possibly somewhat conscious of this INSIDE THE CROSSHAIRS has former British army sniper Mark Spicer as one of the talking heads and features Canadian soldier Rob Furlong record breaking feat of killing a Taliban fighter from a distance of almost one and a half miles away , a record that stood for seven and a half years where it was broken by Craig Harrison of the British army in November 2009

One other thing I did notice was the constant references to football fields . It take it that'd be one hundred yards ? The script refers to distances as in 500 yards , 600 yards 700 yards etc but then feels the need to point out that that's 6 football fields , or 7 football fields etc . So if you hate football fields as much as you hate war porn you will hate this documentary

Certainly Rob Furlong, and then Craig Harrison, rate a "Well-done, Lad" for outdistancing Carlos Hathcock's longstanding "longest kill", but ... both these gents did it with the latest and greatest purpose-built sniper rifles supplied them by their forces.

"White Feather" (GySgt Hathcock) accomplished his 2,500-yard kill with a cobbled together, scope-mounted Ma Deuce! I mean, come on, the M2 Browning Machine Gun was designed to lay down a CONE of fire to suppress and kill enemy infantry and light armor forces, certainly not to deliver every shot to the same, identical point of hold. No!

Nothing should be taken away from Furlong's and Harrison's achievements, but these feats are JUST NOT COMPARABLE to what Gunny Hathcock accomplished with a single impulse to the firing paddle of a Ma Deuce. Really.