American Sniper

[stuartboy]

Raw, gritty, almost documentary in its realism. Very hard-hitting.



Clunk Eastwood's direction is exemplary, and I never even noticed Bradley Pooper was he, so that tells me he was convincing as Chris Kyle.

Really enjoyed this, particularly as the trailer was effectively just the opening scene, and I wasn't expecting so much of a back story.

9/10

Rather odd that again Edinburgh Cameo chooses to show this in its smallest room. Even stranger that no-one seems to have won the SFF competition for tickets. Curiouser still that SFF offered tickets to invited guests BEFORE closing date of competition, and that all of this was before the Picturehouse Members were able to book theirs - and it was a member's screening. All that said - it was far from full (and we didn't have an option of Into The Woods in Edinburgh).

[LondonCityNights]

Goddamn what a piece of crap. It's a flag-waving feature-length military recruitment ad that deifies a literal mass murderer.

Stand and salute? I'd rather spit.

Full review here:

http://www.londoncitynights.com/2015/01 ... clint.html

1 star.

[chelle1973]

Bradley Cooper is almost unrecognisable in this movie as is Sienna Millar! Not a massive fan of Bradley but loved this beefed up version of him. I thought he was quite humble in the part, I just really liked his character. And the movie was excellent! I don't do crying in public and tried so hard not to! The real footage set me off. 10/10

[alythonian]

This was a good film of half a story. What it missed out entirely was the other half of the story. Now I know it's made by Americans and we are instantly to know who the good guys are snd who the bad guys are. Here it was a biopic of sorts but I wanted to know the story if the other side too. What drove the other sniper to turn to killing as a job having been an Olympian? We never hear his story and whilst I know that wasn't the point of the film I do feel I missed out on that. We saw what drove Chris and how he became what he was but there must have been a similar story on the other side.
It was deeply moving in part and the street scenes were very well directed by Ckint and utterly believable.
I just feel that setting it as good v bad didn't do the subjects justice. It was very well done, but not fully formed for me.
Bradley cooper sure ate a lot to bulk up for the role and sienna Miller, I thought looked better as a brunette, just an afterthought.

[funthing29]

It was too pro-American for my liking and the characters were significantly underdeveloped but I thought the war scenes were executed very well. 6.5/10.

[RevKeith39]

Very good first film of 2015. Quality on all counts is high. It's a pity therefore that ones political allegiances should intrude so much in deciding whether a film has merit or not. Im perfectly happy to watch, say, a German film about WW2 without dissing it for its pro-Nazi viewpoint, or a Japanese view of Pearl Harbour. Sad that an American film is criticised for daring to be pro-American. It's a biopic after all so the worldview of one individual is the moral centre of the film. 8.5/10

[funthing29]

I am not against pro-American films on principle but the patriotism seems to suffocate the story in this particular film. There is no subtlety in lines such as 'I would lay down the life for my country. America is the greatest country on earth' which is indicative of the macho nature of the film. But that's just my opinion.

[stuartboy]

Surely anyone singling the American national anthem in a film has the same effect - look at those lyrics.
We need to praise (or otherwise) this film on its artistic merit. It is a war film after all. It did exactly what it should. Most war films are one-sided/biased. In fact that also includes most thrillers, Marvel films, westerns, etc., etc.

On another note....who spotted the American flag badges on the uniforms was back-to-front!

[raj101]

as a stand alone movie its fine, but the problem is you get such films and their corresponding lines in spades, year after year, and its a particular flavour in American war cinema (especially the "flawed" wars they entered). You can have one too many Middle earth movies or Superhero movies too.

[missgotty]

Just an ok film, quite boring and flat in places. I appreciate Clint wanted to depict the emotional roller coaster ride of being a Navy seal but it did seem like a big recruitment drive, with astronomical levels of patriotism which was wasted on me. I much preferred 'Lone Survivor', also based on a true story about navy seals. It would have been interesting if Clint had delved into the story behind the enemy sniper, plus I feel a bit short changed that they didn't explain what actually happened to 'The Legend' in the end.

5/10