Sniper 3

SNIPER 3 is pretty exciting and well-crafted B-flick, shot by promising once-indie filmmaker PJ Pesce who wound up nailing great direct-to-video sequels. The theatrical feature SNIPER opened the nineties and now it seems it was directed by the guy who is way inferior to the ones credited on the sequels. First off it was Craig Buxley who turned SNIPER 2 into a well-made inventive low-budgeteer. Here comes Pesce who adds vintage eighties muscle into the typical Cannon MISSING IN ACTION Vietnam setting. Pesce knows his pulp and is proud to show it. Berenger is experienced and he can do such roles in his sleep while Byron Mann remains one of the greatest underused martial arts heroes after Invincible and BELLY OF THE BEAST.

SNIPER 3 is more than a worth rental.

When it comes to owning it, I recommend buying it when the price drops. A definite VHS pick if you stumble upon it on cable.

Although sniper Thomas Beckett is still known as a master of his "art", his loss of a finger and deal with the Corp to stay with a training programme has now earned him a reputation as a pain in the ass washed out old man. However the NSA need a sniper to take out a Vietnamese drug warlord who has moved into international terrorism. The problem is that this "warlord" is former CIA and Beckett's spotter who has taken his former role of using drug running to fund black ops for the US and expanded it, with the "presumed dead" label helping him to do it.

I'm not sure what made me try this film although rest assured that the offer of a Tom Berenger three-quel is not usually what has me forming a "Star Wars" style queue at my cinema. It was actually reasonably good for what it was though, despite doing no one thing really well and generally accepting for a level of serviceability across the board. This can be seen in the many things it tries to do. It wants to have a conspiracy/shadowy NSA men thing; a "sick of the killing but am nothing without it" character thing; an action movie thing and, weirdly, an Apocalypse Now thing as well. Being a direct to video third film in an unremarkable series, I doubt that dropping all of these and focusing on one would have made them any better so actually it does do a reasonable job of having a bit of everything.

If you're looking for a solid direct-to-video thriller then the little touches surrounding Beckett and Finnegan will be of interest and perhaps be a welcome addition to what the film is doing. Anyone expecting it to do much more than the basics with Beckett's supposedly broken man other than having him mumbling something about being "tired" will be disappointed because of all the things the film does, it generally doesn't take them beyond this level. The film still engages though, despite the way the action rarely actually reflects the stealth of the title or the "one shot" of the tagline. Pesce does an OK job of directing given the usual b-movies he does (which I suppose this is another one of).

The cast are mixed and do mostly do the job , albeit a job where not a lot is asked. Berenger does "grizzled" well and wears it like a pair of old slippers here. In terms of depth or understanding of his character I'd suggest he doesn't bring much out, but then he doesn't really need to. Mann is on hand to do "oriental side kick" duties as is often the way; I like him as he is an attractive man and has an easy charm and he gets to do a fight scene in return for playing second fiddle. Arndt and Duffy are suitably shadowy but the surprise find for me was a solid presence from Streutker. Better known to those with taste as Rawls from The Wire (and if you haven't seen this show then I would suggest you perhaps put that above things like Sniper 3 in your rental queue), he manages to do a good job with basically what is a half-baked rip off of Kurtz. His character is stupid, his motivations worse and the jail room scene just too close to being a spoof but yet the man has presence and he makes for a good big character opposite Berenger.

Overall then, a fairly serviceable DTV thriller. It has lots of things going on but does none of them beyond a level that could be politely called average. However by having them there it does help make the film feel slightly better than it is and, for all it did, I reasonably enjoyed it.

While this is certainly low budget, the producers and director did something special that set this one apart: they got a good script AND good actors. Tom Beringer and Byron Mann headed up a cast that took what little money was thrown into this movie and brought it up to the level of many films that have found their way into the local cinema. Even surpassed a lot of them. They took a very well written script and squeezed every drop out of it that they could and made a very enjoyable film to boot. Could it have been better? Sure. The production values could have been better if a few more bucks had come their way. But given the limitations: this movie rocked!

The Sniper series is just as good as any action movie that you'd see at a movie theater. Unbeknownst to the neophyte, these Sniper movies are really spy movies and damn good ones, I might add. The series is well produced, adequately funded and high tech. You won't see any bad acting or hear any lame jokes here. Instead, you get evenly distributed bang for your buck.

In the cloak and dagger realm of Sniper 3, you are taken on a mission to modern day Ho Chi Minh, previously called Saigon. The NSA (National Security Agency) has reactivated a former Marine sniper, Tom Beckett, so as to hunt down and neutralize a target, which is connected to a high level mole in the Washington political arena. Has Colonel Dan McKenna, NSA military intelligence, positioned in Washington D.C., picked the right man for this assignment? Also, can we count on William Avery, Deputy Director of NSA, to oversee the operation through to completion? We have our fingers crossed. Beware the Cobra—revere the Mongoose! and learn about an ancient Vietnamese folktale, as your life will depend on it.

The Sniper 3 soundtrack is upbeat and will delight more than a handful of Ravers. Vietnam in the twenty-first century sure ain't what it used to be, and offers a new light juxtaposed with the age-old, dark world of espionage.

Make sure you check out the other Sniper installments, as they are equally worthy.

Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenguer) is the best sniper of the US Marines, nowadays he takes on a previous friend. Sgt. Beckett is a seasoned assassin who gets a rush from killing. Beckett is an expert Marine sniper, a military hit-man with 74 kills under his belt and a troubled conscience squirming in his head. He is recruited by NSA officer (Denis Ardnt) to go to Ho Chi Minh city to eliminate his former friend, Paul Finnegan (John Doman), who has become a ruthless drug dealer and a dangerous terrorist. In Ho Chi Minh, previously called Saigon, he join forces with a Vietnam agent, Quan (Byron Mann). Quan has top brass plans but no field experience. A bit later on, they have to penetrate the lush jungle to find their target. He only needs one shot!. Everyone is a target!.

A familiar story with plenty of action, violence, shootouts, and a twisted intrigue. There's action enough, but is poorly choreographed and plot is cursory at best. Along the way, the smooth running of the operation is swiftly jeopardised by growing tension, treason and other shortfalls. The plot is somewhat reminiscent of "Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now", in which an officer, Martin Sheen, is assigned in assessinating Colonel Kurtz, Marlon Brando, on a journey through the jungle, while in "Sniper 3" a Sergeant, Tom Berenguer, has the mission to kill renegade John Doman. The motion picture was uneven but professionally directed by P. J. Pesce.

The thrilling saga Sniper is made up of "Sniper" , 1992, by Luis Llosa, stars Tom Berenguer, Billy Zane, J. T. Walsh, Aden Young, Dale Dye, dealing with Beckett goes in search of his target, a politician planning a coup with the help of a druglord. "Sniper 2" , 2002, by Craig R. Baxley with Tom Berenger, Bookem Woodbine, Dan Butler, Linden Ashby, in which Beckett is called on for one last mission, to kill a Serbian general who's committing atrocities on the Muslim population. "Sniper 3", 2004, by P. J. Pesce with Tom Berenguer, Denis Ardnt, Byron Mann. "Sniper Reloaded", 2011, by Claudio Fah with Billy Zane, Chad Michel Collins, Patrick Lyster, in which the son of the renowned sniper decides to track down the sniper who ambushed his squad down when they were sent to rescue a white planter in the Congo.