American Sniper movie discussion thread (No book talk, no political bickering)

I posted this in the other thread but it was obviously drowned out by the bullshite.

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That wounded vet at the end that went shooting with Kyle was a Bossier City native and was in my platoon in Iraq. He actually adlibbed that line "Who's the legend now?"

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CSB

Almost started this thread when I opened this shite show of a thread after watching this movie last night. I really enjoyed it. I can't believe I didn't realize that Sienna Miller played his wife until the credits. Her hair threw me off.

I will say that I was bored for a few moments here and there. I have a really hard time staying engaged in movies with tons of action though, so that's probably a personal problem. I did notice the fake baby for sure. The way he held it, the baby would have to be a genetic freak to keep its head up.

I thought it ended really well. I didn't want to have to watch the veteran kill him. And video footage of people lining the streets for our soldiers always gets me.

I'm not super familiar with the story. How accurate is the Mustafa stuff? Did he really have a rival sniper out there?

ETA: Found this...

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Is the enemy sniper Mustafa based on a real person?
Yes, but he holds far less significance in the book, at least in relation to Chris Kyle. In the movie, Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) engages in a film-long pursuit of an enemy Syrian sniper named Mustafa (Sammy Sheik), whom the American soldiers refer to as "Kaiser F—in' Söze." In Kyle's autobiography, the enemy Iraqi sniper Mustafa is only mentioned in passing in a single paragraph. He is described as "an Olympics marksman who was using his skills against Americans and Iraqi police and soldiers."


Did Chris really kill the enemy sniper Mustafa?
No. In reality, Chris Kyle never actually encountered the enemy Iraqi sniper Mustafa, who he believes was killed by other U.S. snipers. Chris does make a 2,100-yard shot in the book, but it was to take out a random combatant on a rooftop who was about to fire an RPG at an Army convoy. "It was my longest confirmed kill in Iraq," writes Chris, "even longer than that shot in Fallujah."

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I didn't read the book but what I probably think happened is that Kyle and his buddies created the myth of Mustafa. There would be no way to know it was actually him in most of those engagements. I'm sure there was some real Intel that there was a Syrian guy running around who was really good but they probably buit him up in their heads more than anything. Like the guy giving the brief before the final mission said

"He can be whoever the frick you need him to be. Just get him."

That makes sense.

As I stated in earlier post:

I viewed American Sniper thru the prism of a flawed human being who seemed to care about his country and his fellow soldiers. I would also believe that someone who has gone thru 4 tours and had 160+ confirmed kills that PTSD could be an issue, and I believe movie conveyed the problems & emotions in his life because of this. I believe he had issues, but I enjoyed the story and film very much. And yes, I am very thankful for the men & women who serve our country.




The feels in the packed theater today were palpable.

Agreeing with the sentiment of LSUJuicer:

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It was a very powerful movie and watching the crowds reaction after was proof of that. People can bash this movie all they want but I have never seen an entire theater so affected by a movie after it ended.

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Quality war film overall that did a great job of evoking the intended emotions.

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I have a hard time calling this a quality war film. The beginning of the film ran smooth. But around the middle things started to become choppy. IMO it's not on par with films like Zero Dark Thirty or The Hurt Locker. I can also think of other war films from this year that are a lot more intense than this ['71 & Fury].

Also, I have a hard time overlooking the fake baby deal. In this day and age you should be able to do better than that.

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Zero Dark Thirty

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In comparison I felt less attached to the guys in that movie. I certainly did enjoy it but once the fighting began the rest of the movie was just a running gun battle and not much else.

As for AS, I think someone mentioned it in the other thread but Cooper did do a great job getting in his character to the point where you forget that he is Bradley Cooper, a celebrity. (In comparison, I love the Rock, love some his movies.. but every time I see him on screen I think "there's the Rock")

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As for AS, I think someone mentioned it in the other thread but Cooper did do a great job getting in his character to the point where you forget that he is Bradley Cooper, a celebrity

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I thought Cooper nailed the role.

How did you feel about The Hurt Locker?

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As for AS, I think someone mentioned it in the other thread but Cooper did do a great job getting in his character to the point where you forget that he is Bradley Cooper, a celebrity. (In comparison, I love the Rock, love some his movies.. but every time I see him on screen I think "there's the Rock")

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I thought Cooper did an amazing job in his role.

kind of reminded me of the battles between Vassli and the fictional sniper in enemy at the gates but i didn't get that vibe in the book