10 hard and intense sniper movies

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The intense "Sniper" by Clint Eastwood, the chamber "Telephone Booth" by Joel Schumacher and other striking works await you.

1. Day of the Jackal

• Great Britain, France, 1973.
• Political thriller.
• Duration: 141 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

A group of conspirators decides to take revenge on French President Charles de Gaulle for granting independence to Algeria. To do this, they hire an assassin called the Jackal. However, the secret services are also not asleep and are calling to prevent the impending assassination attempt of the country's best detective - Commissioner Claude Lebel.

The film is based on the book by Frederick Forsythe, which, in turn, is based on real events. Fred Zinnemann was in charge of directing - and did an excellent job of filming the perfect spy detective.

2. Full metal jacket

• USA, UK, 1987.
• War drama.
• Duration: 116 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

A rookie platoon is preparing for its first war of its life. Domestic boys are turned into killing machines and sent to fight in Vietnam, from where not everyone will return.

Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is considered one of the darkest films about the Vietnam War, and war in general. That only is the final massacre of the sniper, who turned out to be a girl.

3. Sniper

• USA, 1992.
• Action, drama, thriller.
• Duration: 99 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 2.

Tom Beckett and Richard Miller must destroy a major drug lord in the Panamanian jungle. But the views of the heroes on how exactly they need to complete the task differ too much.

Director Luis Llosa made a tough, engaging action movie - and "Sniper" was the best work of his career. And the most interesting thing in the film is not the action, but the confrontation of the heroes - not so much with the enemy, but with each other.

4. The enemy is at the gate

• USA, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, 2001.
• War drama, action, thriller.
• Duration: 130 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, the best Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev challenges the best German shooter. Only one fighter is destined to get out of their fight alive.

Let's say right away that Jean-Jacques Annaud's film has a lot of clichés about Russians. But it is worth seeing the picture at least for the sake of the acting tandem of Jude Law and Ed Harris. Very interesting and inventive scenes of sniper firefights, where every detail of the situation is used, including the reflection in the glass.

5. Telephone booth

• USA, 2002.
• Thriller, drama.
• Duration: 81 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

Advertising agent Stuart Shepard finds himself in a difficult situation. He walks into a telephone booth to call his mistress. But at that moment, when the hero is about to leave, the bell rings. On the other end of the line, an unknown sniper claims that Shepard is at his gunpoint and will die on the spot if he does not confess to his wife of treason.

Despite the fact that the action of Joel Schumacher's film takes place in one small location, it is very difficult to tear yourself away from it. This is the merit not only of screenwriter Larry Cohen, but also of the young Colin Farrell - the owner of incredible charisma.

6. Marines

• USA, 2005.
• War drama.
• Duration: 123 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

After a training course at a recruit camp, Marine Anthony Swofford travels to the Middle East, where war is raging. The paradox is that the war ends before he can fire even one shot.

“Marines” based on the memories of an American sniper did not cause the same excitement in the United States as two previous works by director Sam Mendes - “American Beauty” and “Road to Perdition”. Moreover, the film flopped at the box office and was not nominated for an Oscar, making it one of the most underrated films of our time.

7. Shooter

• USA, 2007.
• Action, thriller, crime, detective.
• Duration: 124 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

Sniper Bob Lee Sueigger, having lost his only friend during the mission, retires. However, he does not manage to live in peace: Colonel Johnson comes to him with a request to help prevent the assassination of the president. But the military man turns out to be an impostor, and the hero himself gets into trouble. Now he can only hide and deal with the restoration of his good name with the support of the FBI officer Nick Memphis.

Mark Wahlberg played the lead role in the film directed by "Training Day" Antoine Fuqua, which in itself is a good reason to see the picture. In addition, thanks to the literary basis, the plot turned out to be intense and interesting.

8. The lord of the storm

• USA, 2008.
• War drama.
• Duration: 131 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

William James, Mine Clearance Specialist, has been assigned to the Combat Engineer Unit in Iraq to replace Sergeant Thompson. Under the cover of two shooters, he searches for and deactivates explosives, but each combat exit may well be the last for them.

"The Hurt Locker" will forever go down in history as the picture that snatched the "Oscar" in the fight with "Avatar". But this, of course, is not its main advantage. First of all, the film is distinguished by excellent direction and strong acting.

And although the film mainly tells about the everyday life of sappers, it also contains an incredible scene of a sniper duel in the desert.

9. Jack Reacher

• USA, 2012.
• Action, detective, thriller.
• Duration: 130 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

In Pittsburgh, an unknown shooter in cold blood shoots five bystanders. All evidence points to former sniper James Barr. But he does not make a deal with the court and demands to deliver a certain Jack Reacher to the city. Finding that one is not easy, but Reacher ends up coming to the police station himself and getting down to business.

The film by Christopher McQuarrie based on the novel by Lee Child perfectly combines thriller and detective intrigue. And the main role in it was played by the ageless Tom Cruise. So all the components of a good action movie are in place. It's just a shame that the upcoming franchise was spoiled by a weak sequel to Jack Reacher 2: Never Come Back.

10. Sniper

• USA, 2014.
• Biography, war drama, thriller.
• Duration: 134 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Young Texan Chris after the September 11 attacks firmly decides to go to fight in Iraq. There he discovers the talent of a sniper and kills so many enemy soldiers that he gets the nickname Devil from the locals.

Clint Eastwood touched upon the military theme several times in his work ("Flags of Our Fathers", "Letters from Iwo Jima"). But no less he likes to talk about the fate of an individual person. So the story of Chris Kyle, a veteran of the Iraq war and the most effective sniper in the United States, fits perfectly into the director's filmography.