Sniper

    Sniper
    1993

    Synopsis

    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. Beckett is notorious for losing his partners on such missions. This time he's accompanied by crack marksman Richard Miller.

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    Cast

    • Tom BerengerThomas Beckett
    • Billy ZaneRichard Miller
    • J.T. WalshBeckett's Senior Officer
    • Aden YoungDoug Papich
    • Kenneth RadleyEl Cirujano
    • Reynaldo ArenasCacique
    • Gary SwansonNSC Officer in Washington
    • Hank GarrettAdmiral in Washington
    • Frederick MiragliottaAlvarez
    • Vanessa SteeleMrs. Alvarez

    Recommendations

    • 75

      Chicago Sun-Times

      Sniper expresses a cool competence that is a pleasure to watch. It isn't a particularly original film, but what it does, it does well. We've seen so many bad movies about guys walking through the jungle with rifles that it's interesting the way this one grabs us through its command of the locations and its storytelling skill.
    • 70

      The Hollywood Reporter

      Aside from a neat, if somewhat overused, optical effect that follows speeding bullets all along their whizzing aerial tracks, there is nothing here that hasn't been done before, but it's all executed with competence, starting with the performances by Tom Berenger and Billy Zane. [25 Jan 1993]
    • 50

      Austin Chronicle

      Best of all, is this knock-out, though overused, optical effect of a bullet hurtling and whizzing through space toward its target. Sniper is sure to appeal to armchair assassins and fantasy war-gamers. Beyond that audience, Peruvian director Llosa's American debut will appeal to anyone interested in well-made and well-acted pictures that compensate with skill for what they may lack in inspiration.
    • 50

      Time Out

      A virtual two- hander, the narrative proceeds by contrasting Berenger's edgy pragmatism with Zane's unwilling induction to the art of murder, though the director's inventive bullets' eye-view shots still fail to dispel the suspicion that the film has little new to say.
    • 50

      Variety

      Sniper is an expertly directed, yet ultimately unsatisfying psychological thriller. Luis Llosa’s first-rate action direction is undermined by underdeveloped characters and pedestrian dialogue.
    • 50

      ReelViews

      Action fans probably won't be offended, provided they're not expecting Berenger to be America's answer to James Bond. There are occasions when Sniper shows flashes of promise, although most of these are short-lived. The film is capable of providing a one-hundred minute diversion for anyone who has nothing better to do. The potential is here for something much better, but, unfortunately, Sniper shoots itself in the foot.
    • 40

      Washington Post

      Only mildly exciting as it grinds toward its conclusion, Sniper falls apart in the last reel as writers Michael Frost Beckner and Crash Leyland dispense with credibility by turning the rebel and drug lord's forces into the Keystone Kartel, invoking a Magic Bullet and attempting an Oliver Stone denouement. Unfortunately, director Luis Llosa is no Oliver Stone.
    • 30

      Los Angeles Times

      A movie for people with time to waste, Sniper is about as compelling as a Soldier of Fortune magazine cover set to music.

    Seen by

    • Antihero