Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Sniper: Ultimate Kill Blu-ray Movie Review

7 shots, a few good movies (including this one).

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 16, 2017

It's probably more coincidental small sample size and recency bias than anything else talking, but direct-to-video movies seem to be getting a little better these days. Look at films like Security, Boyka: Undisputed IV, and now, Sniper: Ultimate Kill and there seems to be at least an effort to make something worthwhile -- not meaningful or even memorable, but worth the audience's time -- rather than just drivel like 7 Seconds or Driven to Kill that amounted to nothing more than washed-up actors with recognizable names running around a mindless plot. Sniper: Ultimate Kill is, what...pause to Google it...the seventh (!?!) film in the franchise that started back with 1993's Sniper, a solid but not exactly memorable film that definitely didn't have "long running franchise" written all over it. Yet, somehow, the film has propelled a number of sequels over the last quarter-century, not all of them of insanely high qualities, but give credit to Sony for making sure this one is a solid little Action flick and a worthy successor to the original. It brings back a pair of familiar faces into the fold, and even if the plot is very straightforward, it's well done from all angles and makes for a quality little watch.

A dangerous drug kingpin named Jesus Morales is running roughshod over the competition. He's winning his own personal drug war and making untold sums of money. His secret weapon is an expert sniper nicknamed "The Devil" who is not only one of the world's top marksmen, but he's using radically advanced weaponry to clean up the battlefield and clear a path for Morales' success. The U.S. government wants Morales stopped at all costs. Fiery DEA agent Kate Estrada (Danay Garcia) leads up a team to put an end to Morales' drug empire, and decorated Marine Corps sniper Brandon Beckett (Chad Michael Collins) is brought in for support. But when they discover that they're up against a foe much more skilled and determined than they first imagined, they find themselves in the fight of their life against a relentless enemy.

Sniper: Ultimate Kill thrives on simplicity of plot. Its a classic good guys versus bad guys story where the outcome never feels in question but the path to it offers enough entertainment value to make an otherwise uninteresting and noncreative story worth the effort. The film delivers enjoyable sniper duels with a few twists to the ballistics that give the enemy an edge to begin, and one of the film's dramatic draws is the discovery of how the enemy sniper is making otherwise "impossible" shots. The picture intermixes some larger-scale action scenes because it would be a bore otherwise, with stationary individuals scanning the battlefield for one another, but in those moments when the film does focus its attention to the dueling snipers in their hidden nests, it offers enough dramatic intensity in just the right proportions to make things interesting, particularly as the audiences come to know the men behind the scopes. Locations are mostly interesting and diverse, spanning both open fields and dense urban areas, and the final battle, for lack of a better term, delivers some satisfying spectacle.

Series veterans and the men who started it all -- Billy Zane and Tom Berenger -- are not the film's centerpiece actors, but they do show up for more screen time than what seems to be, in these sorts of movies, the obligatory 45 second-and-gone cameo despite prominent billing and pictures on the box art. They're more or less desk jockeys in the movie, but they still have a command of the screen and their characters. The two share a few good moments together as they reminisce about the good old days of 1993, and while the tandem is not exactly one of the top ones in film history, their interactions will certainly please fans (and it would have been nice had Sony released that original film to Blu-ray alongside this one...its absence on the format is certainly now going to be magnified). Chad Michael Collins and Danay Garcia handle lead duties well. Neither craft memorable characters (and neither does the script, for that matter) but he's convincing as a talented sniper and she's enjoyable as a hard- as-nails warrior whose focus is on the mission and saving lives. Her innate toughness and no-nonsense attitude and his knowledge of battlefield and sniper tactics make them a strong pairing and an enjoyable screen duo who make the movie work.

Sniper: Ultimate Kill Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sniper: Ultimate Kill shines on Blu-ray. The image boasts a beautifully filmic texturing. Details are precise and effortlessly complex throughout. Faces are well defined, beards are dense, pores are deep, military uniforms are crisp, gear is elaborate. Environments are crisp and finely detailed as well, whether larger open areas, such as where the first military assault takes place, or in dense urban environments that are a treasure trove of visual goodness. There's never a shot when the transfer gives up its excellence. Colors are firm and flattering, deeply saturated and perfectly balanced. Natural greens dazzle, and multicolored attire and building façades offer a rich, rewarding environment. Black levels hold deep and skin tones are accurate. No serious source or encode flaws are present. This is a tip-top transfer from Sony.

Sniper: Ultimate Kill Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sniper: Ultimate Kill's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is as big as its configuration allows. Reverberations from large caliber sniper fire is always impressive; the concussive blast and lingering echoes are spacious and deep. More dense and diverse gunfights offer plenty of punch and zip with shot originations all over the stage and a healthy sense of depth. Music is spacious and well defined, balanced about the stage with quality detail and seamless fluidity. Quality atmospherics help shape several scenes, whether general office din or light natural ambience. Action certainly drives this track, and gunfire is the unequivocal highlight. Dialogue is firm in its front-center positioning and always well prioritized and detailed with lifelike precision. Direct-to-video though it may be, Sniper: Ultimate Kill enjoys a blockbuster-caliber soundtrack.

Sniper: Ultimate Kill Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Beyond some trailers for other Sony films, Sniper: Ultimate Kill contains no supplemental content. No DVD or digital versions are included, either.

Sniper: Ultimate Kill Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sniper: Ultimate Kill delivers a quality movie watching experience. It's certainly no classic or anything of the sort, but it features quality production values, some exciting sniper duels and general action scenes, a serviceable plot, well-rounded characters, meaningful returns for the two original figures from the franchise, and good performances all-around. And for the seventh (again...wow!) film in the Sniper franchise, that's pretty good. Sony's featureless Blu-ray does deliver very strong video and audio. Recommended.