"Snipers, on the way out": 10 fascinating films about the most accurate and moral choice

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Ever since the days of the sling, bow or crossbow, well-aimed arrows have been held in high esteem. And with the advent of firearms, this trend continued. A sniper is always heavy physical and psychological stress and, of course, a moral choice. After all, before pulling the trigger, the sniper has to answer the question: "Which side is he on - good or evil"?

1. "Sniper"

directed by Andrey Benkendorf, 1991Domestic filmmakers turned to the detective direction and set out to film the novel of the same name by the famous master of this genre J. Chase. The main character of the tape is Jay Benson. Service in the army became a serious life test for him. Behind is the Vietnam war, in which he was a high-class sniper and which he wants to completely forget.

Returning to a peaceful life, he marries a lovely girl and opens a school where he shares his shooting skills. He is happy with everything in his current life, but the money issue is not being resolved to the proper extent. One day he accepts a very dubious offer from a wealthy client.

2. "Sniper"

directed by Luis Llosa, 1992In the center of the story is a tandem of snipers. On the one hand, the veteran military "wolf" Tom (Tom Berenger), whose professionalism has been accumulated by numerous successful operations in the wilds of Central America. On the other hand, his young partner Richard, assigned to the military ace to carry out a new action.

Their relationship immediately went wrong, then quickly moved into a phase of mutual irritation. The success of the upcoming operation is in jeopardy. Will the "two fighters" overcome their differences? Oftentimes, a sniper has only one target and one shot to be successful.

3. "Checkpoint"

directed by Alexander Rogozhkin, 1998The tape raises the sore point of the late 90s and again makes the events in the North Caucasus - a huge territory of hostilities of that time - live. There is almost no war on the screen as such, and the viewer observes its echo - the usual everyday life of a soldier of one unit of the Russian army. What does ordinary mean? After the "cleansing" of the aul from bandits and the unexpected death of a local resident, the platoon was sent to the checkpoint in a seemingly quiet corner.

They would have to sit out for a while and isolate themselves from the revenge of the inhabitants of the ill-fated aul. Young guys in uniform are on duty, resting, sleeping, smoking local weed, and at night they enhance their sexual experience by taking turns with a local girl. Moreover, they pay for her services with cartridges, which will soon be in the possession of an elusive sniper, who is closely watching everything that happens at the checkpoint …

4. "Voroshilovsky shooter"

directed by Stanislav Govorukhin, 1999This picture will not transfer the viewer into the dashing revolutionary years. It will focus on a simple pensioner (Mikhail Ulyanov), modestly raising his beloved granddaughter Katya. Once a trinity of young idlers, who consider themselves the masters of a new life, tricked Katya into their apartment and cruelly abused her.

First, the scoundrels were arrested, but then the dad of one of them, who turned out to be a big police chief, frees them. Realizing that he will not achieve justice in a legal way, Katya's grandfather acquires a sniper rifle and joins the ranks of the "Voroshilov shooters". Young rapists will not find it enough …

5. "Cuckoo"

directed by Alexander Rogozhkin, 2002In our list is another tape from a popular domestic director. This time he turned to the topic of the Second World War, and specifically to the time when Finland was supposed to withdraw from the war. A poignant everyday story about how Anni, a Sami woman, sheltered two men from opposing camps on her farm: a Soviet officer Ivan, arrested by SMERSH and by a lucky chance, survived, and a Finnish sniper Veiko, chained to a rock and left to certain death.

For a woman, they are not sworn enemies, but simply men. All three speak three different languages. And the name of the tape itself can be explained in different ways. Finnish snipers are called "cuckoo" and the name of the woman - the main character of the tape - is also translated from the Sami dialect.

6. "Shooter"

directed by Antoine Fuqua, 2007 The shocking story unfolds before the viewer of a retired American sergeant, sniper from God, Bob (Mark Wahlberg), who fell into a fatal situation. The US President becomes the target of the conspiracy. He was "ordered", and Bob is predetermined for the role of the "scapegoat". Time is very short, and he must prove his innocence.

It will be incredibly difficult to do this, since the FBI, the presidential structures, and the National Guard are on the trail of him. Someone will say that this plot is simple to the point of banality. But Fukua knows a special recipe according to which each of his films is filled with incredible action and dynamism.

7. "Sniper"

directed by Andrey Shcherbinin, 2010In the center of the Russian action-packed film is the figure of Oleg Nazarov. He is a career Special Forces officer and consummate sniper. He hides his "civilian profession" in every possible way, so his relatives do not know anything about it. Each time, returning from the assignment to his beloved wife and daughter, he again and again adapts to the image of an ordinary citizen. And now his hometown is shaken by a series of murders.

Every day, an unknown sniper pulls the trigger and takes one life. There is no doubt that on the other side a real ace is wielding. The tape raises a very sensitive issue. What happens to many highly qualified military specialists after leaving for "civilian life"? Many, who felt their uselessness in the new conditions, find themselves on the other side of the barricades …

8. "Jack Reacher"

directed by Christopher McQuarrie, 2012And again, the whole course of the plot twists and turns is predetermined by the figure of the sniper. He shows up in the city and kills several random people. The culprit is quickly arrested. All the evidence seemed to be against him. Interrogation gives nothing. Instead of a frank confession, he manages to write "Jack Reacher" and falls into a coma. And Jack Reacher appears on the stage. He's a damn inquisitive detective! He is used to bringing all his complicated affairs to the end.

9. "Sniper"

directed by Clint Eastwood, 2014A film by the master of the Hollywood director's workshop about the American Chris, who, at the call of his heart, becomes a "Navy Seal" and goes to Iraq to defend the ideals of his homeland from terrorists. Something, but there is enough patriotism in the tape, but such are the Americans. But we must give credit to Clint. He gave the central place in the picture not to the military actions themselves, but to the person in the war.

In front of the viewer, the main character (Bradley Cooper) is a man, a professional sniper, with his "cockroaches in his head", the concept of duty and justice, attitude towards family and colleagues. Even in peacetime, he cannot forget the horrors of war he has experienced. In war, he is not just an unquestioning performer. He is used to "approve" the verdict himself - who deserves death and who does not. If he is convinced that he is right, then he pulls the trigger …

10. "Battle for Sevastopol"

directed by Sergei Mokritsky, 2015This tape will not leave anyone indifferent. It is the true story of the life of a unique person - Lyudmila Pavlichenko. This woman is a legendary sniper with more than three hundred destroyed enemies on her account. She and as a person did a lot for the Motherland.

She became a friend of President Roosevelt's wife, and with her speech at a conference in the States on the occasion of the opening of the Second Front, she was able to draw the attention of the seemingly prim Yankees to the need for decisive action from them. With her name on their lips, Soviet fighters went on the attack, and the Nazis sent over and over again their aces-snipers to eliminate it.