Sniper (1993)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Luis Llosa

Writers (WGA):

Michael Frost Beckner (written by) &
Crash Leyland (written by)

Release Date:

29 January 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

One Shot. One Kill. No Exceptions.

Plot:

Tough guy Thomas Beckett is an US soldier working in the Panamanian jungle. His job is to seek out rebels and remove them using his sniper skills...

Plot Keywords:

Sniper | Jungle | Sniper Rifle | Drug Lord | Helicopter

Cast

Tom Berenger	...	Thomas Beckett
Billy Zane	...	Richard Miller
J.T. Walsh	...	Chester Van Damme
Aden Young	...	Doug Papich
Ken Radley	...	El Cirujano
Reynaldo Arenas	...	Cacique (as Reinaldo Arenas)
Gary Swanson	...	NSC Officer in Washington
Hank Garrett	...	Admiral in Washington
Frederick Miragliotta	...	General Miguel Alavarez
Vanessa Steele	...	Mrs. Alvarez
Carlos Álvarez	...	Raul Ochoa
Tyler Coppin	...	Ripoly (as Tyler Copin)
Teo Gebert	...	Ripolys Friend
Edward Wiley	...	DeSilva
William Curtin	...	Mountain Top Pilot

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA | Peru

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #31859) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:18 (cut) | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Baltimore Pictures

Trivia:

The weapon used by Billy Zane in this movie is not an H&K PSG-1, an expensive precision semi-automatic rifle commonly used by special forces snipers. It is an H&K SR-9 TC , a similar but cheaper version of the PSG-1 that was designed for civilian sales.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Miller prepares to shoot the drug runner on the boat, Beckett tells him to adjust his scope two clicks right. Miller uses the knob for two clicks in elevation.

Quotes:

Thomas Beckett: What's that?
Richard Miller: Got it out of the catalogue when I was with D.C. SWAT. We called it "Gucciflage".
Thomas Beckett: [laughs] "Gucciflage"?
Richard Miller: [smirks] Yeah.
Thomas Beckett: You gonna wear that?
Richard Miller: Yeah.
Thomas Beckett: Let me see it.
[gets handed the "Gucciflage", inspects it, stretches it out, and then flings it out the train window]
Richard Miller: [frustrated] Nice shot!
Thomas Beckett: Ain't no room for Peter Pan on this hunt. You wear Corporal Papich's tree tux that I gave you.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Soundtrack:

Medicine Man

Shoot to kill

Despite some negative comments this film has garnered in the IMDb pages, it's still worth a look as this is a story about survival and camaraderie between two different men with different mentalities while in a difficult mission in the Panamanian jungle.

Peruvian director Luis Llosa takes us along to watch this thriller set in Panama. The film has some good moments as Beckett, the veteran marine, takes a newly arrived man, recently sent to try to eliminate a notorious drug cartel head and the corrupt army general who might be the next president of the country. The only problem, Miller, has no experience in what he has been entrusted to achieve.

Miller, the arrogant newly arrived man to the jungle and to the guerrilla warfare between the military and drug lords against the infiltrated American intelligence men, learns a valuable lesson from Beckett. What looks good in theory, is irrelevant in the jungle.

Tom Berenger, is an actor who doesn't register much, as he proves in this movie, but in the context of the movie, he is right as a man of a few words. Billy Zane playing Miller does what he can with a role that doesn't afford him any glory until the crucial end.

For lovers of action film, "Sniper" offers an 112 minutes of action that with a bit of trimming would have made a more satisfying movie.