Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

American Sniper Blu-ray Movie Review

The other war.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 19, 2015

Few films -- War or otherwise -- have proven so precisely and intimately capable of presenting the dual destructive forces of war on man quite so well as American Sniper, Director Clint Eastwood's Iraq War film based on the autobiography of the same name by the late Navy SEAL Sniper Chris Kyle. Sniper is less a traditional "War" picture and more a study of the human condition. The film takes a look at how war externally and internally reshapes man and the people closest to him, particularly the people who fight their own wars off the front not against a traditional enemy but against the nature of war itself and the emotional tolls it takes on the soul. While the movie loosely follows the story of Kyle in the Iraqi theater, building up a few composite and manufactured quests for him along the way, it remains true to the spiritual essence of the book, offering a blunt, straightforward, and unapologetic look at how war shaped Kyle and his marriage, how it altered, and in some ways reinforced, his outlook on life and created a rift by way of a dual sense of commitment to his brothers-in-arms and his family back home, commitments that were always at odds with one another, resulting in an inward battle that often seemed more difficult for Kyle than life from his sniper's perch in Iraq's most dangerous cities.

Overwatch.

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is a man of honor who was taught to shoot at a young age and stand up for himself and others. He works a rodeo but cannot find fulfillment in the arena. When he learns that the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are attacked, he enlists in the Navy and enters SEAL training. He impresses his instructors with his shooting ability and is deployed to Iraq after 9/11. Before leaving, he marries a girl named Taya (Sienna Miller) whom he met in a bar. He's first deployed to Fallujah where he conducts "overwatch" operations -- he scans the battlefield through his rifle's scope and eliminates hostile threats before they can do harm to the men on the ground -- and he quickly comes to excel in identifying threats and saving lives. Meanwhile, Taya gives birth to a baby boy and becomes pregnant a second time while Chris is home. But he continues to re-enlist rather than stay home with his growing family, choosing his duty to country and his fellow servicemen over the needs of family back home in rural Texas.

American Sniper isn't made to glorify war or indulge in the mayhem of modern combat. It's not an Action movie and it's hardly rah-rah propaganda. It's instead a slow-boil film in which war destroys from the inside out. As Kyle thrives on the battlefield and his life comes to be defined by trigger time on the overwatch -- his commitment to saving lives is his one and only priority on the battlefield, not racking up kill counts or earning promotions -- his home life takes hit after hit as he redeploys for multiple tours and his commitment to his family lessens as the war, or better said his commitment to the people in the war, takes precedence. He leaves his overwatch position only when he believes his presence on the ground may be of more benefit to others than his place behind the scope. Kyle carries his commitment to his fellow servicemen at home, too, exemplified in the movie's best scene when Kyle hits the shooting range with a couple of disabled veterans. The moment gets to the core of who he is, a man committed to the service of others and, in that scene, doing so in a capacity he understands and in an environment in which he's most comfortable. In another scene, also stateside, a fellow veteran who Kyle once rescued notices him at a car repair establishment. Kyle respectfully plays down the "hero" status and appears clearly uncomfortable not with the man but with the idea that he's someone who has risen above others not necessarily in rank but rather in stature, seen as someone who did more than his job. Throughout the film, Kyle wrestles with who he is: the man he was raised to be, the man the teams made of him, the man that war shaped, the man other people see him to be, the man his wife wants, and the man his family needs. The physical cost of war is certainly evident in many scenes, but it's the emotional price paid that's at the center of the film and depicted ever more prominently and explored ever more thoroughly with each new scene at home and abroad.

American Sniper plays in stark contrast to Lone Survivor, that, too, an emotionally draining picture but one that's in a constant state of outward upheaval, one that depicts the horrors of war up close and personal in the moment and on the flesh. While that film, also based on a book penned by a SEAL veteran, does also find a deeper purpose beyond the raw terror of combat, it's much more outwardly engaging than is Sniper. Where Lone Survivor works like a series of literal explosions, American Sniper feels more like a figurative ticking time bomb with Kyle's fate at the end of timer, a fate that's more destined to be decided in his soul rather than on the battlefields of Iraq or back home with family in Texas. The movie, then, works through Kyle's story deliberately, hitting key character-building points from his childhood, SEAL training, and early days with Taya. But it's his time in Iraq and the ever-growing sense of purpose and duty that come to define him, a purpose for which he is prepared and, it seems, built for, with everything falling back into some pecking order of prioritization in the back of his mind, a list that slowly comes to light as his story progresses. The film introduces a few running plot arcs through the movie that serve really only to better define the character. His duel with the enemy sniper Mustafa (Sammy Sheik) and his pursuit of a high value enemy target known as "The Butcher" (Mido Hamada) give the broader action bits a glue that's not necessarily evident in the book -- there the story of war is told in a more linear, and sometimes almost piecemeal, perspective that's made of a collection of individual stories rather than a couple of focused pursuits -- and that here help to build the character's commitment to his brothers and challenge him deeper inside as he inwardly journeys throughout the film.

Director Clint Eastwood's masterpiece doesn't begin and end with Chris Kyle. The film is densely believable in almost every facet (fake babies, a few obvious dummies, and digital blood notwithstanding) and creates an authentic backdrop in every location, Iraq primarily but also back in Kyle's Texas. The film's war scenes are impeccably precise. There's a sense of large war-torn scale in crushed, cracked, and bullet-peppered buildings and rubble but also basic, lived-in uniforms, ball caps, and even the wear and tear on weapons and gear that give the movie a realistic flavor. The action scenes feel painstakingly recreated, perhaps not on the same level of raw intensity as other modern combat films but holding their own in light of the story's wider requirements. Bradley Cooper turns in what may be remembered as a career-defining performance as the legendary sniper, crafting a fully believable individual shaped by life experience and defined by his unflinching dedication to his fellow servicemen. Cooper's portrayal is superficially simple but finds an astonishing breadth of character inside that he conveys in every way the movie requires, verbally or otherwise. He crafts a full, robust individual that's not simply a recreation of words on a page. The actor instead seems to find the essence of the man behind those words and plays the part with a careful precision that's nothing short of a tribute to a fallen hero.

American Sniper Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

American Sniper's 1080p transfer looks terrific in most every shot. The image can go a touch flat and pasty in its most obviously digital moments, but generally the picture quality yields a fully realized image that captures every nuance with ease. The opening shot of tank treads rolling through war-ravaged debris sets a positive tone, where every sharp edge of rubble and each little textural nuance on the treads and tank body are marvelously reproduced. Kyle's ball caps, heavy uniform stitching, web gear, and weapon coating wear all help create an intimate portrait of the man, the tools he carries, and the environment in which he fights, but it's perhaps the transfer's ability to capture Cooper's expert performance of Kyle, not only through a thick beard and general build but deeply into the eyes and down into the soul, a subtlety that very well may become lost in lower definition or even lower grade transfers, that make this a great image. Colors are rich and precise with plenty of earthy shades in the Middle East but a nice variety of hues back home in the Kyle home and in other various locations, such as a woodland shooting range or a bar. Black levels are deep with only a mild push that's too heavy in a couple of shots. A heavy sandstorm later in the film produces minor banding at its thickest, but the image is otherwise free of any unwanted intrusions. This is a robust, healthy picture that serves the movie well.

American Sniper Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

American Sniper arrives on Blu-ray with a Dolby Atmos (core Dolby TrueHD 7.1, sampled for the purpose of this review) sound presentation that excels at every turn. The picture opens with Muslim prayers intersecting with a rumbling tank, the former giving way and drifting into the back channels and the latter presenting firmly in the front with a noticeable heft and appropriate rattle. Battle scenes are remarkably precise and expertly designed. Light gunfire frequently pops throughout backgrounds, but up-close firefights feature both suppressed and unsuppressed weapons hitting hard, the former with a lighter, sharp tone and the latter a heavier, more crackling sensation. Spent brass shell casings fall to the floor in a symphony of realistically placed and perfectly tuned chaos. Explosions hit hard and with a good amount of subwoofer support, but never so hard that the audience is dazed or pulled out of the experience. Lighter ambience defines a number of other scenes, such as light breezes or background chatter, all making full use of the surrounds and the added channels in the middle-back. Stateside, crowd applause at a rodeo files through the back and dialogue echoes nicely through the stage during a church service seen early in the movie. General dialogue is well prioritized and clearly delivered from the center with only one or two brief instances where it's a challenge to make out underneath surrounding din. This is a reference quality presentation from Warner in every regard.

American Sniper Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

American Sniper contains two supplements. Inside the Blu-ray case, buyers will find a DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV digital copy.

• One Soldier's Story: The Journey of American Sniper (1080p, 31:04): this piece looks at the filmmakers' interest in Kyle's story prior to the book, meetings with Kyle prior to his death, character details and Kyle's evolution through various scripts, casting, Kyle's murder during the production's early stages, the movie's evolution and Taya Kyle's contributions, hiring Clint Eastwood, the cast and crew's time with Taya, shooting locations in the Middle East and California, military authenticity, real life SEAL Kevin Lacz's contributions, Cooper's physical and firearm preparations for the role, Cooper's role as producer, Cooper's and Miller's chemistry, and reaction to the finished movie.
• The Making of American Sniper (1080p, 28:35): A piece that, with a different rhythm and through interviews, offers another look at the movie, including cast and crew's early work on the script and building the character, story themes, Cooper's performance, the movie's authenticity, Kyle's journey, and more. Many of the same core ideas from the first supplement are also reflected here.

American Sniper Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite its broad critical praise, American Sniper proved divisive along parts of the political spectrum. While speaking of the movie, liberal filmmaker Michael Moore called snipers "cowards" but went on to defend his position and claim a broader support for the troops in the fallout of his comments. Actor Seth Rogan compared the film to Nazi propaganda. On the other side, countless conservative commentators were quick to defend the film and its subject. Yet through the noise, audiences flocked to the movie and the Academy saw fit to grace it with several key Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor. But such trifling things as who loved it or who didn't, who went to see it and who didn't, what it won and what it didn't, all seem insignificant next to the film's deep and intimate grandeur of its depiction of the deeper consequences of war seen more through the prism of the soul and less through the eyes or experienced by the body. It's a masterwork of storytelling and a fascinatingly intimate look into the essence of man and how war can shape him, define him, and reinforce his ideals, sometimes to the betterment of who he is and sometimes to the detriment of those around him. Kyle's legacy isn't that of a killer but rather a helper, a man who fought not to kill but to save, a man who, even at the price of some distance from his family and even his own life, lived only in service of others. Eastwood's film is a fitting, satisfying tribute that should live on for decades to come as one of the great War and character films of its time. Warner Brothers' Blu-ray release of American Sniper is a little thin on extra content, but video is excellent and sound is terrific. American Sniper earns my highest recommendation.