American Sniper (2014)

[JohnnY]

i was writing a BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN opinion about this movie and suddenly my computer crashed

 

im so mad right now

 

u guys dont even know it

Edited February 20, 2015 by JohnnY

[JohnnY]

i'm not writing that shit again, i'll be short this time...

 

This looks like a propaganda film, but for me it really wasn't. It doesn't try to explain or justify the Iraq War and is not about bad political decisions or unnaceptable soldier behaviour. The war was just the setting, this is about the virtue of courage. It does show the ugly side of the war, but it also reaffirmates that fighting evil is necessary. I liked the sheepdog speech and I know some of you will misinterpret it as a xenophobic excuse to kill people, but that's not what it means.

 

I don't know how much of a sociopath the sniper really was, and I don't glorify killers, but Eastwood's message was very clear since the father's speech at the table. The sniper is a hero because he's someone who put himself in danger trying to protect others, not because he killed many people. I firmly believe that character is the kind of person we need more in society (don't know if I can say the same about the real guy), I don't have to be american to feel that, that's a message that transcends any social setting.

 

I'm glad this was better than most of the other oscar contenders.

 

75/100

Edited February 20, 2015 by JohnnY

[ShouldIBeHere]

[JohnnY]

Oh my god, this videos says so much about the people who disliked AS. I must admit that I know shit about the Iraq War, this is an american issue and I think almost everyone here understands what's happening there better than me, so I can't defend nor criticize the political decisions regarding Iraq. I know that you can't choose the Iraq War as the setting for you film without being polemic, and I understand why so many people didn't like the fact that this film glorifies the american position in this war, but what bothers me is this obsession that the film should raise awareness about real political decisions, that it should represent the social aspects of what's happening in real life. 

 

In the beggining they say "Don't make the mistake of thinking the hit movie captures the truth of the Iraq conflict" and, well, was this its intention? They say in the video that films aren't a good way to learn history, but is this film a history class? And should it be? Can't you guys go beyond that? Can't you guys get any deeper meaning from the film? It doesn't surprise me that the guy who wasn't interviewed doesn't get the whole character study. For me if this is all you think when you see this film, you're behaving exactly like someone who believes this film serves only to reassure that the Iraq War is an american success.

 

By the way, isn't msnbc one of the most progressive tv channels? lol

I'm not a bit surprised.

Edited February 28, 2015 by JohnnY

[Ozymandias]

Oh my god, this videos says so much about the people who disliked AS. I must admit that I know shit about the Iraq War, this is an american issue and I think almost everyone here understands what's happening there better than me, so I can't defend nor criticize the political decisions regarding Iraq. I know that you can't choose the Iraq War as the setting for you film without being polemic, and I understand why so many people didn't like the fact that this film glorifies the american position in this war, but what bothers me is this obsession that the film should raise awareness about real political decisions, that it should represent the social aspects of what's happening in real life. 

 

In the beggining they say "Don't make the mistake of thinking the hit movie captures the truth of the Iraq conflict" and, well, was this its intention? They say in the video that films aren't a good way to learn history, but is this film a history class? And should it be? Can't you guys go beyond that? Can't you guys get any deeper meaning from the film? It doesn't surprise me that the guy who wasn't interviewed doesn't get the whole character study. For me if this is all you think when you see this film, you're behaving exactly like someone who believes this film serves only to reassure that the Iraq War is an american success.

 

By the way, isn't msnbc one of the most progressive tv channels? lol

I'm not a bit surprised.

 

The movie is a character study and told through the perspective/POV of just one guy, Chris Kyle.  The movie itself never says overall whether the Iraq War was a great idea or an epic failure/mistake which is why there have been a lot of both left wing and right wing talking heads/pundits incapable of seeing nuance grafting their own politics onto it.  In a way its kinda genius because I highly doubt the movie would've became the smash hit that it has come to be if it clearly took a position on it.  Its even doing well OS and will probably finish around 180-200m.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Ozymandias

[Harpospoke]

Finally saw it.

 

Probably close to a 7/10 for me.   Wasn't sure where that fell on the poll.

 

I don't care about the politics.   "Glorifying a killer" is something we've been doing for many centuries.   We've got more war heroes than we can count and every one of them has been exaggerated.   I don't see why this should be any different. (Yes I do...it's recent politics that is still useful for certain people)    And we of course love fictional "war heroes" too.   Heck...Wolverine is the most popular Xman and he's a lot more of an a-hole than Chris Kyle.   Clint Eastwood played a lot of killers whom we cheered for too.   Bruce Lee?   John Wayne?   John Mcclane?     So that argument doesn't hold any weight to me.   Just entertain me.

 

This movie did a pretty good job of that.   I wasn't blown away or anything, but I'm glad I saw it once.    The Winter Soldier is still my favorite solider (and movie) of 2014 though.

[DeeCee]

The movie is a character study and told through the perspective/POV of just one guy, Chris Kyle.  The movie itself never says overall whether the Iraq War was a great idea or an epic failure/mistake which is why there have been a lot of both left wing and right wing talking heads/pundits incapable of seeing nuance grafting their own politics onto it.  In a way its kinda genius because I highly doubt the movie would've became the smash hit that it has come to be if it clearly took a position on it.  Its even doing well OS and will probably finish around 180-200m.

Exactly.  It's called "American Sniper".  Singular.  Not the "The Iraq War:A history".

[ShouldIBeHere]

Oh my god, this videos says so much about the people who disliked AS. I must admit that I know shit about the Iraq War, this is an american issue and I think almost everyone here understands what's happening there better than me, so I can't defend nor criticize the political decisions regarding Iraq. I know that you can't choose the Iraq War as the setting for you film without being polemic, and I understand why so many people didn't like the fact that this film glorifies the american position in this war, but what bothers me is this obsession that the film should raise awareness about real political decisions, that it should represent the social aspects of what's happening in real life. 

 

In the beggining they say "Don't make the mistake of thinking the hit movie captures the truth of the Iraq conflict" and, well, was this its intention? They say in the video that films aren't a good way to learn history, but is this film a history class? And should it be? Can't you guys go beyond that? Can't you guys get any deeper meaning from the film? It doesn't surprise me that the guy who wasn't interviewed doesn't get the whole character study. For me if this is all you think when you see this film, you're behaving exactly like someone who believes this film serves only to reassure that the Iraq War is an american success.

 

By the way, isn't msnbc one of the most progressive tv channels? lol

I'm not a bit surprised.

 

 

I wouldn't mind at all that this movie isn't a history lesson if I had the feeling that the "character study" was done in a good way.

[JohnnyGossamer]

I wouldn't mind at all that this movie isn't a history lesson if I had the feeling that the "character study" was done in a good way.

Again, I think that's the issue most film fanatics that didn't overly enjoy it feel. I don't care about the politics. The character study, one of Eastwood's strengths, isn't compelling. It's very flat, sterile and unengaged. At least for me...

[Jessie]

I wouldn't mind at all that this movie isn't a history lesson if I had the feeling that the "character study" was done in a good way.

Still more convincing than anything from the Hobbit movies

[JohnnyGossamer]

Still more convincing than anything from the Hobbit movies

Save for maybe the plastic infant, no arguments here on that front.

[The Futurist]

How come this plastic baby even happened anyway ?

The DP and the crew and actors probably all realized it looked fake as fuck but the real issue here is that nobody dared to say it to Dirty Harry s face.

[Jessie]

How come this plastic baby even happened anyway ?

The DP and the crew and actors probably all realized it looked fake as fuck but the real issue here is that nobody dared to say it to Dirty Harry s face.

 

I watched a download for American Sniper so I couldn't';t tell the baby was fake.

[CoolioD1]

How come this plastic baby even happened anyway ?

The DP and the crew and actors probably all realized it looked fake as fuck but the real issue here is that nobody dared to say it to Dirty Harry s face.

the baby they got for filming that day was sick or something. that seems to be the popular excuse.

[Jake Gittes]

Probably would've used a fake baby anyway if the real baby messed up more than two takes. Clint ain't got no time for that shit.

[Lordmandeep]

From my sense this film got very positive word of mouth from the General audiences.

 

It seems to me that audiences really got involved the character and cared deeply about him. 

[Warhorse]

I watched a download for American Sniper so I couldn't';t tell the baby was fake.

Heh, I could tell it was fake. Just by the way Cooper was holding the kid. It obviously didn't have the mass. Kind of like when watching NCIS, and I just know they are holding and pretending to sip out of an empty coffee cup. 

[BK007]

Just watched this the other day. I'd give it a B.

As a fictional movie, it's pretty good besides the ridiculous Hollywood enemy sniper bullshit.

I think Eastwood and everyone involved shouldn't paint this out to be anything close to a biopic because it takes a lot of creative liberties. The script isn't very good.

Cooper is phenomenal and Miller is actually a revelation. Didn't even realize it was her.

Regarding the whole war status. I'd say that it just doesn't do enough. Eastwood didn't really know what movie he wanted to make. I liked Fury a lot better, in fact, that movie is one of the best war films I've seen.

Very interesting though always about America and Americans. So much patriotism when there is actually no such thing as an American. You're all European, Asian or African. The true Americans are the natives.

[Goffe]

Holds up quite well. Tense, layered and never patronizing, American Sniper is one of Clint's better movies, his best in almost a decade. That little tribute over the end credits is my only source of complaint, really.

Edited September 19, 2016 by Goffe

[Goffe]

On 28/02/2015 at 0:19 AM, Ozymandias said:

 

The movie is a character study and told through the perspective/POV of just one guy, Chris Kyle.  The movie itself never says overall whether the Iraq War was a great idea or an epic failure/mistake which is why there have been a lot of both left wing and right wing talking heads/pundits incapable of seeing nuance grafting their own politics onto it.  In a way its kinda genius because I highly doubt the movie would've became the smash hit that it has come to be if it clearly took a position on it.  Its even doing well OS and will probably finish around 180-200m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

In all honestly, it’s tough to make much sense of the American Sniperclatter, in part—as usually happens when art and politics intersect—because the conversation got loud and insulting quickly. And just as quickly, it ran to extremes. Depending on who’s doing the talking,American Sniper is a piece of right-wing propaganda that only bloodthirsty racist warmongers could love, or it’s a movie that honors the sacrifices of American soldiers so well that anyone who found fault in it for any reason doesn’t love America. It’s a case where the usual truism about the truth lying somewhere in between just doesn’t apply. There is no in-between here. These are, for the most part, the noises made by people who see American Sniper as another platform on which they can stand to voice their positions. http://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/898-when-film-critics-matter-the-american-sniper-contr/

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Edited September 19, 2016 by Goffe