Product Details

• Actors: Tom Berenger, Billy Zane, J.T. Walsh, Aden Young, Ken Radley
• Directors: Luis Llosa
• Writers: Crash Leyland, Michael Frost Beckner
• Producers: Amanda Nelligan, Charles J.D. Schlissel, Grant Hill, Gregory A. Gale, James Gorman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: September 9, 1997
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0800120558
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,658 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Tom Berenger and Billy Zane head the cast in this silly action film about a tough Marine and an Olympics marksman who team up in the Panamanian jungle to take out a rebel leader and the drug kingpin financing him. Berenger's done this switched-off soul bit before, but Zane doesn't seem quite ready for his part. In any case, the acting doesn't matter as much to director Luis Llosa as fancy camerawork to give viewers the sense of a bullet hurling along its trajectory. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile and interesting., December 25, 2002

By 

skunktrain (So. California, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sniper (DVD)

Since I did not expect an action-packed on-your-the-edge-of-your seat film, I was not disappointed with this movie.

I saw it as basically a character study, between an older, more experienced man (Tom Berenger), and a younger, inexperienced and proud man (Billy Zane). They are foisted together on a jungle mission, and while Zane's character is *supposed* to be the superior officer, he soon learns that he is out of his element. Berenger's character calls him "son" as he leads him through the jungle, being simultaniously irritated yet supportive over Zane's inexperience.

I found myself caring about these characters, and appreciating the contrast between them. While this film had flaws (the ending, while adequate, lacked a little "punch"), I still enjoyed the movie overall. The performances of both actors was good -- particularly Berenger, who does the "steely emotionless" thing quite well. Zane was also good at looking a little queazy and out of his element.

I found this movie to be a worthwhile viewing experience. I hear that "Sniper 2" has been filmed (Berenger reprising his role), so I am interested in seeing what Berenger's character is up to now.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Okay," as is, but could have been "magnificent.", December 16, 2000

By 

Rick Spencer (Dayton, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sniper [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This not completely unpleasant diversion could have been a landmark film - if - it had been instead overtly made as the story of its OBVIOUS inspiration, Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Norman Hathcock II. Berenger delivers, but the script lets him down. Those knowledgable of Gunny Hathcock will immediately recognize the film's fictional retelling of actual events: the killing of the enemy sniper with a shot through his scope, the 4-day stalk across 2,000 yards of open country, the "Apache Woman" - all are represented in this film. The film that could have been, and I wish would have been, is the story of Gunny Hathcock. "Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills" by Charles Henderson is available right here on Amazon.com. Read the Henderson book, then watch the Berenger film, and you will KNOW Hathcock was the inspiration. Sadly, even unjustly, the film neither mentions nor credits Gunny Hathcock. (Also available at Amazon.com is Henderson's second work about Hathcock, "Silent Warrior : The Marine Sniper's Vietnam Story Continues.")

As the film stands, it is "okay." But it could have been so much more.

50 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HOLLYWOOD MEETS THE MILITARY SNIPER, August 25, 1999

By 

R. COOK "BIG BOB" (PALATKA, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sniper (DVD)

I AM A RETIRED ARMY SNIPER SERVING TWO TOURS IN VIETNAM. WHEN THIS MOVIE CAME OUT I WAS CURIOUS AS TO WHAT WOULD BE DEPICTED ON FILM. SOME OF THE MOVIE WAS FAIRLY ACCURATE WHILE OTHER PARTS WERE PURE HOLLYWOOD NONSENSE. I THINK THE SELECTION OF TOM BERENGER WAS RIGHT-0N FOR THE PART OF BECKETT WHILE BILLY ZANE LEFT ALOT TO BE DESIRED. I WISH THE MOVIE HAD GONE MORE INTO THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE SNIPER TRADE SUCH AS ALLOWING FOR WIND, HEAT MIRAGES, AND MOVING TARGETS, ALONG WITH

THE ADJUSTMENT OF THE TARGET KNOBS ON THE SCOPE AS MANY PEOPLE SITTING IN THE THEATER DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT EXACTLY WAS GOING ON AT TIMES. I THOUGHT THE FIRST KILL IN THE MOVIE WHERE BECKETT SHOOTS CABRERO WHILE HIS SPOTTER GIVES HIM DIRECTION AND RANGE WAS PROBABLY THE MOST ACCURATE OF ALL THE SCENES IN THIS MOVIE. WHAT THEY ONLY TOUCH UPON IN THE MOVIE IS THE TERRIBLE FEEL YOU GET FROM THE FIRST TIME YOU TAKE A HUMAN BEINGS LIFE. SNIPER WORK IS SHOOTING PEOPLE WHEN THEY LEAST SUSPECT IT OR ARE NOT AT A COMBAT READY POSITION. WE WERE TAUGHT NOT TO LOOK AT THE EYES FOR THEY BURN INTO YOUR SOUL. HOWEVER A SNIPER WILL SAVE MANY MORE FRIENDLY LIVES THAN HE WILL EVER TAKE BECAUSE OF HIS DEADLINESS ON THE BATTLEFIELD. I ENCOURAGE ANY YOUNG MAN THINKING ABOUT JOINING THE MILITARY SNIPER RANKS TO ENLIST WITH THE ARMY OR USMC AND WORK HIS WAY INTO THE SNIPER COURSES THERE.