Who seen the movie american sniper?

Looks like it could be a good movie, but tv and media is known to hype up bad movies.

Did small research on the guy and he was the number one sniper in America history, and he got killed by his best friend. That alone sounds like an interesting story.

Is this movie worth my money or should I just go rent it?

Same theme as this thread here. No matter how bad ass you are, when it's your time to go it's your time to go. Only the big guy upstairs knows for sure.

Rant begin -

I saw a bunch of people on facebook yesterday who had just seen it (military people). They were all toting the hivemind line "Thank a soldier!!! Freedom isn't free!!! Etc.", tooting their own horns. Which is fine, real soldiers who have seen combat should be given their due recognition. But not MP officers who drank foreign beer for 9 months on a base in Afghanistan while the 20 year National Guardsmen got shot at. You want to be a hero? Go do something heroic, not just put on a uniform.

Rant over -

it's legit

Most of it is from Kyle's book which is very good

And Clint Eastwood directs it.

Hard to go wrong.

I'll be seeing it on the big screen.

rottentomatoes.com says that audiences loved it, but critics were less impressed. It looked too one-dimensional for me.

I rented Guardians of the Galaxy last night instead. It's a fun movie, cheesy, but with a talking raccoon as a main character that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. The raccoon has a talking tree sidekick who only speaks three words, but manages to be the best character.

I've seen it 3 times. It's that good!

it's good. It's seriously good. there is no way you can go watch the movie and say it's not good.


I would give i a solid.. 8 out of 10. maybe 8.5 out of 10. The only thing keeping it from being higher are some feminist male / female archetypes in the movie that drive me crazy which i am not going to post as they are serious spoilers.


it's better than most movies i saw last year and i've seen just about all of them.

I saw a bunch of people on facebook yesterday who had just seen it (military people). They were all toting the hivemind line "Thank a soldier!!! Freedom isn't free!!! Etc.", tooting their own horns. Which is fine, real soldiers who have seen combat should be given their due recognition. But not MP officers who drank foreign beer for 9 months on a base in Afghanistan while the 20 year National Guardsmen got shot at. You want to be a hero? Go do something heroic, not just put on a uniform.

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I know we aren't usually on the same side of an argument but I agree with you here wholeheartedly.


(big ass mother****ing spoilers below)


the movie is sneaky complex. While he did serve his country, if you pay attention he didn't do it as patriot, he did it for 100% selfish self serving reasons. he wanted take out mustafa who he considered to be his main completion as the best sniper in the world. His entire deployment after the first one is built around finding and killing this guy. The second he's done, he's done with the war 100%.


So in a why the movie is asking just what are you willing to pay/ sacrifice for vanity? This guy had serious PTSD, had 2 kids at home and a wife half way out the door and he was willing to throw it all away to ensure he was the world's best sniper.

Tictac said:

Most of it is from Kyle's book which is very good

And Clint Eastwood directs it.

Hard to go wrong.

I'll be seeing it on the big screen.

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ionno clint eastwood can be hit or miss with his movies, but I feel like this one is a winner

and backbreaker I agree, I seen almost all movies last year, and in my opinion they all sucked only like three movies stood out

I would not say it's better than ALL of them. I really liked nightcrawler. I also liked Edge of tomorrow and I'm an X man fan so i really liked X Men as well. I think this is a TAD overhyped but it's def a good movie.


it's the best R rated movie i've seen in a long time

My friend was telling me that movie with Keanu reeves playing a hit man was the best movie of 2014

I haven't seen that one yet though

Just finished it. It's a good movie, but over-hyped. That said, I don't regret watching it. Or maybe, I've just never fell in love with a movie before.

I saw the film. I'm also somewhat well-read on the special operations community and Navy SEALs in general. I am a civilian, FYI, I did not serve. Just an area of interest.

I haven't read Kyle's book, but I do know the film differs in some dramatic aspects:

-Kyle was not 30 when he joined the Navy, according to his book he was 25.
-He was a Bronc rider, but he left the sport due due to a wrist injury.
-The SEAL Sniper Course scenes were horribly inaccurate. Read a former instructor's review here.
-There was an Iraqi sniper named "Mustafa", but it is unclear whether or not Kyle actually killed him. The 2100 meter shot portrayed in the film did actually happen, but it was an insurgent carrying a rocket launcher aimed at an Army convoy.
-There was no one named "The Butcher", he was fabricated for dramatic effect in the film.

Overall I thought it was a good, but not great, film. Bradley Cooper was awesome as Chris Kyle. My biggest complaints were that the military structure, command, and missions were hard to follow (who were SEALs and who were regular Army and Marines? What exactly were they trying to accomplish in the various Tour scenes?), and that the film jumped around a lot and didn't have a strong natural narrative. It was mostly just a bunch of scenes months or years apart in Kyle's life, many of which are badas$, but not necessarily cohesive. When the movie ended the whole theater just kind of sat there silent for a moment. It's a tragic ending, as everyone knows.

Still worth watching, IMO. Nothing Eastwood makes is "bad".


As far as the criticisms of Kyle and his life, most people need to shut the fvck up. First of all, have some respect for the dead. Second, unless you were there next to him during the war, no one has the right to criticize his actions or his "motives". I thought disrespect of veterans was mostly a thing of the past, but in reading some of these comments and some of the filth oozing out of the mouths of media sh!tlibs it appears this most vile form of cowardice and disrespect is alive and well. 100% of the people who criticize Kyle (or any other American serviceman for that matter) have never killed anyone in their life, never served in the military, let alone even picked up a gun. Bottom line is unless you served yourself, shut the fvck up and thank these men and women for their service. From the cooks all the way up to the Admirals. They all volunteered to do their jobs and whether or not you like them as individuals or agree with the politics surrounding wartime is totally irrelevant. The American public is so fvcking spoiled and soft. Most of us have no earthly clue what war is like or that there even IS a war happening on the other side of the globe. We have our cell phones and our starbucks and our glib opinions and that's that. Most of us couldn't get through a 3 day camping trip without b!tching and moaning about how miserable we are, let alone be deployed to an austere environment for the better part of a year, not see your family, be asked to fight for a cause you may not agree with or even understand, only to see and experience things you could never explain to a civilian and then be expected to reintegrate seamlessly into civilian life and not bother anyone with your yucky war stories. It's a fvcking crying shame, mates. Thank a veteran for their service and for doing a job most of us are unwilling to do.

I have a lot of family in the Army one of my younger cousins was in Iraq she killed a few people over there and her roommate committed suicide right in front of her he has PTSD pretty bad and she'll never be rightI have nothing but respect for the people who serve because I'm sure as hell not going to do it

They have PTSD because they go in there thinking what the media tells them about how great the US is and how it kicks everybody's ass. War is sh!t! I lived through a revolution. I've seen people bleeding to death on the street when I was 12. No one wins in war. Period.

Social_Leper said:

Cry me a river.

All that made sense in an era when people had to join the army due to conscription.

Today joining the army is as much of a "sacrifice" as working at Wallmart.

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Why don't you join up and report back to us in 4 years.

Social_Leper said:

Today joining the army is as much of a "sacrifice" as working at Wallmart.

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That's completely true.

I knew right away when I raised my hand and said: "...and I'm prepared to give my life in their defense", I'd have a long and rewarding career at Wal-Mart. But, once I stood up, hooked up, and shuffled to the door, I started having some regrets. The tough part about it is folks walking up to me in my "Wal-Mart Blues" and calling me "Baby Killer" ...as if I had to deal with kids being used as walking anti-personnel mines, laced with C4, walking up to me and blowing up my squad in the cereal aisle.

*sigh* Wal-Mart employees used to be celebrated, but, Vietnam changed how civilians regard Wal-Mart employees. Until the United States is invaded, and Wal-Mart employees are actually used for "Defense" instead of offensive offensive campaigns geared to make US companies rich, the respect will remain absent I'm afraid. It's too bad that people can't differentiate or separate their disdain of the government's poor choices and the employees.

I am definitely going to see the movie while it's still in the theatre.

I enjoyed "Enemy at the Gates" because of it's similar historical relevance. If you guys are into sniper movies, I'd recommend it highly. It is based on a real situation where a highly successful Russian sniper was targeted by a German sniper. Plus, it wasn't insulting with regards to the realities of war. Good actors, too...

I think a few of year are misinterpreting what Social Leper (and maybe myself) is saying. Perhaps they are aimed a backbreaker, I don't know. But I will attempt to more thoroughly describe my point (which I feel lines up with Social Leper's).

This is what we said:

speed dawg said:

I saw a bunch of people on facebook yesterday who had just seen it (military people). They were all toting the hivemind line "Thank a soldier!!! Freedom isn't free!!! Etc.", tooting their own horns. Which is fine, real soldiers who have seen combat should be given their due recognition. But not MP officers who drank foreign beer for 9 months on a base in Afghanistan while the 20 year National Guardsmen got shot at. You want to be a hero? Go do something heroic, not just put on a uniform.

Click to expand...

Social_Leper said:

Cry me a river.

All that made sense in an era when people had to join the army due to conscription.

Today joining the army is as much of a "sacrifice" as working at Wallmart.

Click to expand...

None of that is anti-military. I am actually very pro-military/police/establishment. Very well documented here. But I'm sorry, just simply putting on that uniform does not make you worthy of my undivided attention and praise, moreso for the military than the police. Many officers don't do sh*t....and the pay is very good for them. Sure, they get deployed (and post facebook pictures drinking beer on base) and they probably see some f*cked up stuff (buddy of mine's job in the AF was analyzing helicopter crash scenes). But the very guys who come back home looking for credit and looking to exploit military veterans' benefits are the ones who didn't do SH*T and give everybody a bad name. Again, my point is that the uniform itself doesn't get you a d*mn bit of my respect, because I've seen the frauds way too many times over.

It hasn't always been this way, so comparing the present to Vietnam isn't accurate. Most women in the military almost have a FREE pass, you telling me I should honor them the same as I do my grandfather who fought in WW2? Or my cousin who was shot at daily in Afghanistan? There are varying levels of respect shown, just like anywhere else. So the 'Thank a soldier' stuff? No, it doesn't apply to me. That being said, let me rephrase a bit, a person in uniform does get a certain level of respect simply for their service, but it is not as much as many of the more entitled ones EXPECT.

"Respect the uniform, not the man."

Barack Obama hasn't received one single salute from a soldier.

...but the Commander-In-Chief has.

The honor is for the dead, not the dude.

I see a lot of press about the movie to the tone of "If you hate this movie, you hate Amurrica."

That's the same thing they said about the Iraq War. Ohhhh, the irony...

It's a good movie. Firefights were legit. Music was low and ambient, but for a movie like this, we don't need a dramatic symphony score.

Cooper did a good job portraying Kyle and he deserves an oscar nod.

I will say that the emotional scenes with his wife kinda irritated me, it seems so contrived, but then again, most war movies have a tendency to get melodramatic.