American Sniper movie

I'm waiting to go see it, sucks to hear that about the movie. You'd think they would have talked a lot about the weapons used, including more on his rifle.

I'll still go see it 7.5 isn't bad for some of the stuff that's put out lately.

It is not a movie about rifles, it is a movie about a sniper. That is two different subjects. Unrealistic expectations will always lead to disappointment.

Always amazed at critiques of movies that have firearms involved. It's a personal story not a technical documentary. Even actual documentaries will leave one who needs what the OP wants are grossly lacking.
Regular "folks" wouldn't understand and "gunny" ones can figure it out for themselves.
From what my daughter has said, the theater was very solemn following the film.
I'm thinking most people are getting it.

Well said Steel Horse Rider and X- Rap.

Great movie. Could have heard a pin drop on the way out.

I need to go see it.

I saw it yesterday afternoon, it was really good. Excellent portral of what our men and women are subjected to, even the ones that return with their lives or limbs still leave so much behind. At the end of the movie yesterday you could hear a pin drop, people were respectful and many had tears in their eyes as they walked out. Very powerful story.
Should be required viewing in order to understand the sacrifices our men and women and their families make for so many ungreatfuls back home.

Thank you for your service.

Just saw it tonite. Very intense, as you would expect it to be. Action scenes were first rate and as Steel Horse Rider said it's a movie about a sniper, not about the guns he used to accomplish his missions. And yes, you could hear a pin drop when the movie was over.

+1 what's been said already -- a gun is a tool, and at this point for SOF snipers there's various tools in the box (which the film depicted, even if it didn't go into explaining it).

Additionally, near the end of the movie there is a scene with a depiction of very strange and questionable handling practices of a revolver that aside from making me squirm in my seat, seemed to have no place or reason in the movie.

Click to expand...

I haven't read the book and don't know if Chris Kyle was ever formally diagnosed with PTSD (the movie seems a little ambivalent about that, but gives that impression), but I took that scene and the weapons handling to be another indicator of how disrupted he was by his experiences down range. May be wrong on that -- it might just be a throw away bit of Hollywood gun ignorance.

Overall, it's definitely a film worth seeing. It's really a sort of small movie -- an extremely well done character study of a single person -- masquerading as a big budget Hollywood epic (and doing a good job of it). Avoids heavy handed messaging for or against war in general or the Iraq war in particular, and doesn't sugar coat the rough edges of its main character without bogging the movie down into consideration of bigger questions about attitudes towards the locals among US troops, either.

For the people complaining about lack of gun details Bradley Cooper described it as more about Chris Kyle as a person and a character study than purely about sniping and what rifles he used. I agree it would be nice to have some of that but that is not what they made the movie for.

If your referring to the scene with his finger on the trigger in an exchange with his wife, while probably not something a SEAL would likely do, the scene was about the difference in personality and how far emotionally he had come since his time in the navy. That scene is absolutely relevant. I think much of the scenes not about action are so subtle that many people are not going to catch the relevance or the emotional context. Not downing anyone, just pointing it out. Even my wife has been missing it for a couple years now, and I only caught it because I recognize it in myself.

If your referring to the scene with his finger on the trigger in an exchange with his wife, while probably not something a SEAL would likely do, the scene was about the difference in personality and how far emotionally he had come since his time in the navy. That scene is absolutely relevant.

Click to expand...

Agrred...

****************************SPOILER************************

going from staring at a blank TV with the sounds of war to that scene told us a lot...

I found myself staring at my ceiling for hours trying to fall asleep hearing some of those noises after Iraq and the only peaceful sleep I got was by turning on my Xbox and having call of duty gunfire playing in the background. After Afghanistan I would sit on my couch in silence and just listen to those sound memories again, and nowadays I don't even think I can recognize the difference of an ak or m4 firing. It'S all part of reintigrating.

Michael Moore hates it and says snipers are cowards. Good enough for me might watch it 5x.

The scene where he was in the living room in front of the TV, very similar to experiences I still have after getting back. Very glad my alma mater provided an advance copy to me to watch at home. I don't think I would have been able to watch this movie in a crowded theater.

HerrWalther, I saw BlackHawk Down in a theater. I saw several guys leave.

I'm gonna have to wait for the DVD, probably not one I should take my seven year old to see.

Am I the only one that walked out of the theater at the end thinking "man, I gotta pick me up another rifle!" Great film BTW.

From what I've seen of Eastwood movies there will likely be some reference to the guns but the emphasis will be on the character. That's how his movies go. They aren't there to glorify violence either like the Hollyweirdos are howling. In fact he generally goes out of his way to show what it takes to make a person capable of killing because most of us aren't. And because we aren't we are interested in how someone like that ticks. And that makes for a good movie IMO. It may teach me something I don't already know and that is a good thing.

I don't want to be that sniper although I'm sure some will. I also don't think "sniper rifles" are about the type of rifle but rather the person using the tool in the fashion of a sniper. We see too many threads on gun boards asking about "sniper rifles" when what they want is a long range rifle capable of killing a man. Most high powered rifles fit that bill. You don't have to shoot from a mile away to be a sniper. You can do it with something like an AK which is not accurate at long ranges at all. A sniper rifle is a rifle a sniper uses.

Still it is important to me to know something about the process of learning to be a killer. I've got friends that were taught to be killers and I faced that possibility myself. I was never that big on the whole idea. I would have done my duty but the idea of wanting to go into that type of field just because you get to kill people is pretty far out there IMO. The people I know who became snipers were no different than me when they left and they were probably less inclined to respond with violence after they came back to the world and settled down a bit. I did see one that was a little too loose with the idea of killing a game warden that sneaked up on him and my brothers while they were coon hunting. That game warden very nearly got himself killed that night. It was 2 days after my friend rotated back. He had been in it and the idea of facing the same kind of worries of having someone sneak up on you in the dark was just about too much for him. I think my brothers probably kept him from killing that game warden that night. One got the game warden pointed the other way explaining who he just messed with and the other got our friend pointed away telling him he didn't want to mess up his life forever.

I actually feel a need to know what makes someone turn into a killer to be honest because it has bothered me for almost 50 years. I saw some of my friends come home essentially as basket cases too. I didn't want that either but I didn't want to kill. I even asked my friend about it knowing how hard it would be for him to answer. Luckily he was a good friend. I guess I was probably just a little too young to know better but I wasn't that far from maybe being sent there myself. I wanted to know. Heck I needed to know to be honest. I still feel that. I'm hoping this movie will show me some of that. I didn't want to kill anyone but I didn't want to let my country down either.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with American Sniper. If it wasn't a true story and was just a movie I wouldn't give it much time at all, but it was true, the man really was a hero, and it is worth watching if for no other reason than supporting the people involved. But as movies go it wasn't that great, not that it was bad just wasn't as good as I was expecting. One thing, my biggest complaint, is I personally get sick of hearing the F-bomb every 30 seconds, literally 60-70 times in the movie, want bother a lot of people but it drastically takes away from the movie to me.

The next night I watched Unbroken. I highly recommend that movie, it's twice as good as American Sniper, just as true, guy was just as much of a hero, but (on topic) I wouldn't put either one in the "gun movie" category.


My 2¢
Worth just what you paid for it.


EDIT:
I will add I was hoping the movie would at least mention the scum bag......I mean the Jesse Ventura incident in some form but they probably couldn't as he won that law suit.

Just my opinion Cee Zee, but I have always held that there are 3 types of folks. 1)Wolf, 2)sheep, and 3)Sheepdogs. The wolf is a predator and needs to be controlled. The sheep are the masses and need protecting. The Sheepdog is the protector or sniper protecting his pals. After 30 years with Uncle, that’s about all I can figure out drives them to do their job, and God Bless them. Don’t think I could handle that much baggage either. I’m waiting for the DVD too BTW.

Ill never see it. NO offense.

Ive seen to many vets waiting to get their mental health discharge processed. I dont need that in a movie.

I cant stand the main actor. Just cant. grates on me like mimes and clowns.

and the commercials make me hate the film more. Just cant stand the trailer. if a soldier starts going from good to "oh why me' suddenly, in mere minutes. superiors get them examined.