SimonJack "Sniper" is a gritty film about an American Marine ace shooter. Tom Berenger plays Thomas Beckett, a sniper who does assassinations for the U.S. government. He's a jungle expert whose targets are Central and South American rebel leaders and drug lords. Since he takes out men who oppress the local people and who build kingdoms on the addiction of thousands of others, viewers might be inclined to empathize with Beckett. But the gruesomeness of cold-blooded killing takes its toll on all such people. Beckett tells his partner in this last mission, Richard Miller (played by Billy Zane), that the worst part after an assassination is when it no longer hurts. This film has a good plot that shows the emotional effects of such killing assignments. It also provides a close-up look at survival in such a field of "work."

a_chinn I remember being mildly entertained by this slow moving action film back in the day and re-watching it now, I was again mildly entertained. Tom Berenger plays an army sniper who is saddled with a new young know-it-all partner, Billy Zane, and the two must work together on a dangerous mission in South America. The one part of the film that was burned into my memory is a key sequence where the two are outside a military compound trying to move into position for a shot on their target. The best moment of that sequence is Zane looking through a scope across the field only to see a clump of grass unexpectedly slide across the field, which is Berenger stealthily getting into position. The build-up to this sequence of Berenger and Zane trekking through the jungle is not especially well written, but the two actors make the most of it and do manage to make it watchable. The events of the film occurring afterwards aren't all that interesting either. The filmmakers clearly wanted to make this a taught psychological thriller of dueling snipers and diverging world views, but the script is nowhere smart enough for that. I did see that Walon Green ("The Wild Bunch" "Hill Street Blues") was one of the executive producers and Barry Levinson ("The Wire" "Bugsy") was attached to direct at one point, so very likely this was going to be a much smarter film somewhere along the line. Still, that one set piece in the middle of the film and strong performances by Berenger and Zane make "Sniper" worth checking out. The great J.T. Walsh also appears in the film, but if you want a great sniper duel film, watch "Enemy at the Gates" instead.

Leofwine_draca SNIPER is a surprisingly low budget thriller starring two Hollywood big names, or at least they were once big names back in the day. It's about a US-led mission to take down some rebel generals in Panama, and sees a pair of snipers sent into the jungle to complete the mission. Said actors are Tom Berenger, who would go on to reprise his role in subsequent straight to video sequels, and Billy Zane.Berenger does his straight action man routine well enough and comes across as incredibly macho. Zane has the more interesting role of the inexperienced guy pushed to the edge and does pretty well with it, I think. The main problem the film has is that the staging just isn't all that convincing and the action scenes are routine rather than extraordinary. Australia stands in for Central America well enough, but the chases and shooting scenes never feel all that gripping or suspenseful. For a big budget attempt at a similar subject matter, check out Clint Eastwood's much better American SNIPER.

SnoopyStyle In the jungles of Panama, Marine sniper Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger) loses his partner during an ill-timed extraction. Inexperienced Richard Miller (Billy Zane) is sent down to Panama to be his next spotter and his commander on a mission without Congressional approval. They are to kill a leading rebel candidate before he could win the upcoming election. There is also an expert rebel sniper in the area who was Beckett's former student.This is a fine military action thriller. Berenger is very effective. Billy Zane is good as the over-compensating ambitious new guy. Their relationship generates good tension. It doesn't have anything special but it's done well.