From director Clint Eastwood comes “American Sniper,” starring Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. But there was much more to him than his skill as a sharpshooter.
U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle is sent to Iraq with only one mission: to protect his brothers-in-arms. His pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and, as stories of his courageous exploits spread, he earns the nickname “Legend.” However, his reputation is also growing behind enemy lines, putting a price on his head and making him a prime target of insurgents. He is also facing a different kind of battle on the home front: striving to be a good husband and father from halfway around the world.
Despite the danger, as well as the toll on his family at home, Chris serves through four harrowing tours of duty in Iraq, personifying the SEAL creed to “leave no man behind.” But upon returning to his wife, Taya Renae Kyle (Sienna Miller), and kids, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind.
A two-time Oscar nominee for his work in “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle,” Cooper heads the cast, which also includes Sienna Miller (HBO’s “The Girl”), Jake McDorman, Luke Grimes, Navid Negahban and Keir O’Donnell.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Clint Eastwood (“Million Dollar Baby,” “Unforgiven”) is directing “American Sniper” from a screenplay written by Jason Hall, based on the book by Chris Kyle, with Scott McEwan and Jim DeFelice. The autobiography was a runaway bestseller, spending 18 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, 13 of those at number one.
Opening December 25, 2014, “American Sniper” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.
The film is being produced by Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan. Tim Moore, Jason Hall, Sheroum Kim and Bruce Berman are serving as executive producers.
The behind-the-scenes creative team includes Oscar-nominated director of photography Tom Stern (“Changeling”); Oscar-nominated production designer James J. Murakami (“Changeling”) and production designer Charisse Cardenas; Oscar-winning editor Joel Cox (“Unforgiven”) and editor Gary D. Roach; and costume designer Deborah Hopper.
More GQ meets torture porn?
More recycled, People magazine level ‘controversy’?
Meanwhile, EASTWOOD still has yet to address Hollywood’s 5 decades of ‘stepping around’
milestone anniversaries for the now 21st century DEFINING – – -KOREAN WAR.
Warning: Do not abuse your right to adapt any old shit into a movie. Your movie will receive multiple Oscar nominations and will be hailed for years to come as an emblem of unironic jingoism.
I’m counting my eggs before they’ve hatched and I don’t care. Can’t wait to hate this film with all of my heart.
American sniper is this years Lone survivor. It will get lost in the Oscar season by other big award contenders.
“The horror.” –Marlon Brando from APOCALYPSE NOW
“I’m first to admit that I’m the sort of liberal that even makes other liberals look askance at me.”
Are you so liberal that you’re, Ryan Adams, party of one? 🙂
I like to think you’re, Ryan Adams, the guy to took the red pill, and now lives in the Matrix.
(These jokes may fall completely flat)
Just a scene by itself as a trailer…..and you are left hanging? BRILLIANT MARKETING…..especially when it stands out bare and uncut…..a scene by itself…..instead of splicing and dicing different moments from the flick….which can make all but the most awful of films look good in a trailer.
“especially when it stands out bare and uncut…..a scene by itself…..instead of splicing and dicing different moments from the flick…”
Natasha, I’d be stunned and more than a little appalled if this trailer appears in the movie intact and uncut just as we see it here. There’s all kinds of splicing going on with this trailer. Juxtapositions that surely do not exist side-by-side in the film itself. And that’s part of the reason, for me, that it feels false.
If you mean the FIRST HALF of the trailer feels like an intact sequence, then yes, I’ll buy that, and yes, it’s very effective.
But the second half of the trailer is surely a spliced montage. I mean, surely, yes?
Interesting edit, I agree. Powerful. Another thing that would be interesting and powerful is if the child who’s in the cross-hairs of the sniper sight had a chance to see HIS LIFE flash before our eyes in a spliced montage, before his life is snuffed out.
WOLF OF WALL STREET was based on the autobiography of a scumbag who, even while claiming penance, glorified his trips through larceny and debauchery. The resulting film was one of the shrewdest works of art this century. And yes, there were clowns watching the movie with arms raised and tongues hanging out. There were also dweebs who couldn’t look past the surface escapades and thought the film was sleazy. If AMERICAN SNIPER is as complex as UNFORGIVEN or Clint’s WWII duo, it will probably provoke similar responses. Fine. If I let other peoples’ responses dictate how I viewed films, I’d exist as a tattered wreck prone to parroting and self-contradiction.
The film looks seriously good (this year’s The Hurt Locker?) and Bradley Cooper joins a very crowded and strong list of Best Actor Oscar contenders: Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher), Eddy Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), Timothy Spall (Mr Turner), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Micheal Keaton (Birdman). Cooper was nominated the past two years – but Kyle seems to be a far more important role than his characters in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle and that sort of thing matters to Academy voters.
Cirkus, nobody brought it to the level of forsaking the freedom we’ve been given so let’s hold off on the queasy stomach statements until the real dirt begins to fly, which is inevitable as we head into something much hotter than Hell’s Kitchen…Oscar season.
Otherwise that’s a really great quote and my favorite from said movie. It’s between that and “Once that first bullet goes past your head, politics and all that shit just goes right out the window.” Coincidentally my old college roommate was friends with the real Hoot’s nephew. Also coincidentally the same roommate told me his uncle is Kevin Andrew Walker. Being a Se7en fan I about lost it.
“They’ll ask me, why’d you do it Hoot, you some kind of war junkie? And I won’t say a goddamn thing. Cause they don’t get it. It’s about the man next to you. That’s all it is.” – Eric Bana from Black Hawk Down
cirkus, the difference for me is that Ridley Scott chose an incident where Army Rangers were trying to protect UN peacekeepers — peacekeepers — with a single surgical strike intended to take out one single brutal warlord.
America’s military has taken on many honorable missions to eliminate truly evil people. I accept that; I can understand that.
You are going to have a very hard time convincing me that an Iraqi child is evil.
I’m first to admit that I’m the sort of liberal that even makes other liberals look askance at me.
And like somebody already mentioned, Chris Kyle had no say so on what the troops ultimately did in Iraq, he was just protecting Americans plain and simple. The way some of you view the freedom you all enjoy and what it takes to sustain that freedom makes me sick. I hope you all don’t see the movie. It’s obviously not for you.
I can’t begin to fathom how people make statements like this being a lock to win Best Picture based on NINETY SECONDS of material. It’s a great trailer. Really great. And Clint’s well loved by many. As he should be, in my opinion–Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Bird, Play Misty for Me…he’s made some amazing movies! But one great trailer (one great SCENE, let’s be honest) doesn’t make a bulletproof (I had to) awards movie.
Regardless, I’ll almost always root for Cooper who I find consistently wonderful. To me, he deserved the most praise for American Hustle. I thought he gave the only great performance in that movie. Who knows–maybe he has a shot this year? It’s such a crowded category that it feels like it’s anyone’s game.
Actually Clint Eastwood doesn’t even own a gun and is very anti gun especially for a Republican. I suggest you all watch the making of documentary about Unforgiven called “On Account of Pulling a Trigger.”
Kane, haha! No worries. 🙂
Ryan, that’s cool. Sharing one’s personal sensibility is how we get to know each other on these sites, of which I feel like I know a lot of people on here thanks to being able to be open with one another.
Haha Al, I swear I opened the link on my phone and got pulled into a conference call. And dagnabbit I could be on there now instead of typing this message!
Kane, have you had a chance to check out Gravatar.com?
Given that Eastwood has never really glorified violence I am giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Ryan, I get where you’re coming from. I don’t want you to think something, or convey something, you truly don’t believe in. I don’t always share your views but I respect yours more than most others because your opinions are your own, you (most likely) come up with your own conclusions and you back up each and every thing you say. My thing is if this was a guy doing his job then let’s try not to politicize it, just like Maya and Dan doing their jobs should never have been politicized. If the movie politicizes it then ok, all bets are off. But if we are to hold this movie, that hasn’t been released, on the level the book is held then we might be in trouble and repeat history. I’m sure Eastwood ruffled feathers when he wanted to tell the Japanese side of the Iwo Jima battles, from the side of a few decent soldiers no less, when the movie should’ve been taken on its own. But you know me by now, I’m just an advocate for the angels and devils.
I think comparing a Tarantino film and an Eastwood film is a bit much. However this recalls a memory I have watching The Hurt Locker when Mackie fired the sniper at the last (I think) shooter. The graphic nature of the scene caused some people in the audience to go “Oooo…ahhhh!” and chuckle.
Ryan, I think it’s a case of “2)” and I agree with that point.
And damn it, I used the wrong form of their in my haste. I am my own worst enemy.
(there/their fixed)
Aaron B, you make good points. I absolutely agree that every audience member brings his own personal sensibility to a movie and no director should be held responsible for that.
I’m just describing my own personal sensibility, one that I know is not shared by everyone (or maybe by anyone).
And now I have to shut up for awhile because I’m about to go Gone Girl. !!
I think the bit we are shown in the trailer alone should be enough to make us think all those things. Yes, it’s sad that this is now part of the reality of terrorism. They use children. It’s sad and we should all reflect on how we got into this mess and what the best way out of it is. But for the character in this story, the reality is that this kid is approaching his friends and comrades with a deadly weapon and many of the possible outcomes are terrible. It’s sad and terrifying in a thousand different ways that you can’t hope to cover in every movie about these subjects.
I don’t think the point of this trailer or depicting these situations is to make the audience jump out of their seats and excitedly yell “YEAH! SHOOT THE LITTLE FUCKER!” If that’s what people take out of it, that’s what they brought into it. I’ll say again. “Letters from Iwo Jima” (and even “Flags of Our Fathers” although I think that a much lesser film) are both incredibly humanistic war films, so I think we owe Eastwood the benefit of the doubt.
I don’t think the point of this trailer or depicting these situations is to make the audience jump out of there seats and excitedly yell “YEAH! SHOOT THE LITTLE FUCKER!” If that’s what people take out of it, that’s what they brought into it.
Makes me think of Christmas Eve 2012 when 500 people all around me laughed and cheered when Django blasted a Southern Belle in her stomach with a shotgun and blew her right out of the entrance foyer. Uproarious laughter, because “Yeah, Shoot that Bitch because she’s the cousin of a plantation owner, or something, anyway, FUCK YEAH! hilarious!”
I missed quite a few of the 70’s and 80’s podcasts. I catch up here and there during gym. Not all our paranoia of course! But sometimes I do fear they are coming for my guns for no good reason 🙁
Warmongering propaganda.
What? I’m not crazy about the teaser, but I’m with Kane regarding the premature disqualifiers. How about giving the guy who made LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA the benefit of the doubt? The only thing I’m legitimately worried about is the screenwriter. His resume looks less than spectacular and Clint’s approach during principal photography relies heavily on the script, but I guess you gotta start somewhere!
Warmongering propaganda.
Warmongering propaganda is a bit strongly worded, but personally I can’t ever stop myself from thinking how any gung-ho portrayal of a military killing machine serves as a handy recruitment tool for any young kid wondering what to do with his life. Doesn’t take much to make me bristle up about that.
I have no idea what the screenplay did to attract Spielberg (and then to un-attract him), but I’ve read enough of Chris Kyle’s self-hero-worship autobiography to know if it’s anything then it’s rampantly gung-ho.
This trailer has impact alright. I don’t even want to get into all the ways it impacted me the wrong way. Because that’s probably MY problem, I’ll admit that.
But does nobody else find this trailer unusual in the way it juxtaposes those flashbacks? More than most trailers, this one seems to be telling a self-contained short-story all it’s own, a story that seems to be saying: look, it’s a dad who’s torn up about shooting a kid because he’s thinking about his own kid.
1) if this is the way these shots unfold in the movies, then it sure feels clumsy to me, and 2) if this is not how the shots connect in the movie, then the trailer feels a little dishonest, or worse, seems like an effort to soften the Iraq sequence with the heartwarming daddy sequence.
There are ways this could work for me, and I’m really hoping that movie follows the line of reasoning the trailer has initiated to its logical conclusion.
For example, a sniper who’s a father who’s faced with a decision whether or not to shoot a kid might consider this: What if Iraq invaded and occupied America for a dozen years, and my own 9-year-old American son grew up his entire life in the shadow of foreign Iraqi invaders hovering over every aspect of his young life. What if my mother and my son tried to do something to interfere with the Iraqis who had forcefully invade America? Would I want to see a movie where a heroic Iraqi sniper shoots down my own son and my own mother? (my son and my mother who of course must seen as the insidious evil “other,” and therefore they’re up to no good if the “hero” of the movie is the Iraqi sniper). Then that American father might think, what the fuck am I doing? I know this is my “job” but nobody forced me into this job. What is it about me that made me want to do a job like this and then to write a book about it as if I’m super-cool.
These are some of the things that run through MY head. It’s a lot more nuanced than warmongering. It’s more about celebrating the life of a guy who proudly subtitles his book: “the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History”
I wonder if the Iraqi translation of this book has the subtitle “the Most Murderous Sniper in U.S. Military History”
yes, yes, I hear the counter-argument: “but Ryan, these sniper targets are “INSURGENTS!” I know. Just like Americans defending their own American turf in the Revolutionary War were “insurgents” in the eyes of British troops.
But this is just me and my inability to forget that we had no business being in Iraq.
I’m still holding out sincere hope that the movie will convey a dark and unsettling message (which Kyle’s book absolutely does not). As evidenced by the great examples of Clint Eastwood’s conscience that we have seen and admired, I know he’s quite capable of exploring the more disturbing aspects of this story. I fully expect he will. I very much hope so.
I’m not trying to start anything with this upcoming comment, only doing my duty to keep things very level. The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty got some political backlash and it was unwarranted and I know many of us here felt that was very unfair but calling the book this was based on, or even Clint Eastwood, right wing stuff or however further other comments will go, that’s what starts some of the political backlash. I’m not saying politicians read these comment sections but immediately jumping into politics is how these things start, it’s how the seed is planted. That’s it, again I’m not trying start anything. I love you all.
Ryan, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY and MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE! Though the politics of GONE GIRL are, let’s say, more local :p its implications apply just as broadly as those thrillers’ — so it was just a lame attempt to pigeonhole GONE GIRL to stuff in the vein of 60’s (often manufactured) paranoia, or the equivalent of that today — all in the bleak confinement of a REPULSION or a ROSEMARY.
Ryan, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY and MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE! … in the vein of 60’s (often manufactured) paranoia, or the equivalent of that today…
ah, I see what you’re driving at, Bryce. I was presupposing you might mean SECONDS, so I was doing some stressful but interesting mental calisthenics to make that connection.
Anyone who listened to the Oscar Podcasts than Sasha, Craig and I recorded covering the 1970s knows how every episode I enthused repeatedly about the Cinema of Paranoia. Maybe one of the darkest most unsettling threads that weaves through American movie history, and its tentacles spread around the world as a theme every bit as strong as ‘frontier spirit” or a style like jazz, as one of this country’s unique contribution to culture. (“hey, ok, sure, America invented paranoia,” says Kafka, rolling his eyes)
beginning with Film Noir, extending through the cold war era, and culminating in the ’70s with the pervasive realization that we can’t even trust our own government… sadly, eventually the corporate takeover of movie studios began to squash that line of thought — so I’m grateful we have directors like Fincher who let the unease seep back in to our consciousness.
“…in the vein of 60’s (often manufactured) paranoia
the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing us that our paranoia is “manufactured” 🙂
This is the dark horse,maybe Miller will break out.
There goes Clint again, crashing the Oscar Party. I’m in, even though I’m sure this will be spectacularly depressing.
Warmongering propaganda.
Looks fantastic and hopefully pushes out biopic drivel like TIG and TOE (both vying for King’s Speech reception). It’s coming out at the perfect time (ISIS crisis), is based on a great book, looks fantastic so fingers crossed for everyone involved especially Cooper.
Woah…. bradley cooper is …. yummy
This just knocked Fury out of the race, in all categories, entirely. I’m IN. Fantastic teaser trailer.
no moore Cooper, please!
He was the most lethal sniper only because he said he was. Fuck him.
Good point on “Zero Dark Thirty,” Jesse. That was a great war film because it asks you if what it shows was all worth it without answering those questions for you.
FANTASTIC clip.
Clint Eastwood has been against every war since Korea…and really, I don’t give a damn about a film’s politics if the movie itself is well-done and compelling. SUDDEN IMPACT isn’t exactly made for liberal crowds but I love it. And overt messages, whether on the right or the left, tend to be dull to watch. Some libs SHIT on ZERO DARK 30 because they thought it was amoral. Fuck ’em, it was the best flick of the year. I’m sure SNIPER will prompt some doofus righties to pull the “rah rah” act but it doesn’t mean the movie itself won’t be an honest, fascinating look at war. FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS subverted the “rah rah” act as well as any movie ever made, so I’m confident Clint’ll knock this baby out.
Great teaser. I know none of his movies have been that well received for about 6 years now, but I have high hopes for this. At the very least I’m not too worried about it being thoughtless warmongering. “Letters From Iwo Jima” is my favorite war film of all time and is in my mind a humanistic depiction of war on par with “La Grande Illusion.” It would be hard for me to imagine the man who made a war film with that much compassion for both sides to turn something like this into a glorification of war in any way, regardless of the source material.
Aesthetically this is trying to rip-off Bigelow so hard and failing at it. Well no shit, it’s Tom Stern. Even the hear-a-pin-drop soundscape seems to fail at raising the tension offset by Cooper’s volume or something, I don’t know, something’s not clicking. But it’s just a trailer so *kicks himself in the butt*. Let’s hope I’m wrong though because I still like Clint and I’ve been on board with Cooper’s trajectory so far.
Holy crap this looks awesome, Here comes Eastwood again with a Christmas time release to steal the thunder away from all the heavy weights, just wowowow!
OT: I am in a state, having just returned from a VIP screening at our cool ass mall multiplex of David Fincher’s fifth great film, GONE GIRL. I am happy to inform y’all that I am in the tank for it. Fincher’s ownership of this lurid myth is absolute. For several reasons we will surely be discussing during the season, I believe it to be one of the seminal pictures of the digital age, firmly predicated in the possibilities and current limitations of digital photography. The auteur intermittently and briefly flirts with a variety of critical maneuvers without ever committing to a single one and the incorporations of these is so seamless that GONE GIRL will remain elusive to classifications. Call it SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE For Dummies and as Predicted by Chayefsky in the Age of our Spineless Postures — and that my fellow readers is a compliment. Visually, his most arresting since FIGHT CLUB and the most bone-chilling sound design since ZODIAC. The transition to the medium auspiciously does away with some structural issues I had with the book, and from now on I’ll be inclined to recommend anyone to just skip the book and treat the film as the definitive version of this tale. So much more specific praise, but I’ll let you discover that on your own, just know that the casting is so genius that I have never found Ben Affleck soo hot in my entire life. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves but we might have a righteous misanthropic masterpiece in our hands. Did he pull a Polanski via 60’s Frankenheimer? I don’t know. Let me sleep on it.
Bryce, Which ’60s Frankenheimer are you thinking of?
I guess we should open up a Gone Girl reactions open thread.
(I couldn’t see the embedded version. Perhaps, something territorial, I guess. Well, I’m gonna blame it on that chair.)
The one I’ve seen is UK version. I’m diggin’ the trailer: despite running time of the 2 minutes and 22 seconds only, it’s somewhat created a good bit of impact of mild tension on my mind (already). Which is a good thing. Interesting editing (for trailer only), too.
By the way, not sure how Sienna Miller managed to land herself a role in spite of presumably fierce competition in their early-to-mid 30s and, no offense, what could possibly have been better choices among the industrial types for reasons. Good for her.
Hoping for another different version just to feel it more. (That said, I’m in, already.)
Tonight I re-watched a bunch of trailers of these upcoming expected Oscar movies, and Unbroken is still THE best movie I’ve seen a preview for.
Based on all the movies/trailers here’s how I’d rank them according to my expectations of greatness:
1. Unbroken
2. Interstellar
3. Inherent Vice
4. Gone Girl
5. Foxcatcher
Thank goodness we finally have a preview of American Sniper, and it looks terrific, but it’s just a peakaboo, and not enough for me. Now where is that Selma trailer….
Hurt Locker had backlash. This will have backlash. No difference will be made.
To be more specific, The Hurt Locker had backlash from conservatives, and it seems as if this story could get some backlash from liberals.
I’m not, however, one of those people who is fooled into thinking that the Academy is stacked to the brim with liberals. Pretty sure Clint himself is not a political liberal. But he’s not the only conservative in the Academy. He’s just the only conservative Academy member who gives speeches at the Republican National Convention.
Haha I get it Rufuss. “Much of a shot” Too funny.
Hold on to your locks!
The book was a right winger’s wetdream, and if the film is just patriotic BS then it might be a big hit, but Hollywood will reject it come Awards time. And because of the controversial nature of the author’s life and eventual death, there is so much possibility for Backlash if it does gather awards talk that I really don’t think it has much of a shot.
Bag it up, people. It’s over. You have an icon back in form with an actor aching to win. I don’t think Cooper will win (nomination secured), but I think American Sniper is pretty much a done deal for BP (even in its late release slot).
“I love that you expect to hear a gunshot, and it never comes.”
Exactly.
(looks at trailer) I think this will be good.
(looks at Imdb sees writer of American Sniper also wrote Paranoia.)
Never Mind.
It is a passion project for Cooper. He optioned the rights to the book years ago and even spoke with Kyle on the phone once before his death. Since then he has visited his widow and children. Glad he finally got it made.
I hope this premieres at AFI..
Perfect trailer.
I dig Changeling. Always thought it was better than some gave it credit for. Solid story. Terrific production qualities.
I’ll be damned… The thing’s gonna be a nail-biter.
Perhaps a return to glory for Master Clint (and I’m a fan of Hereafter!)?
Don’t need a trailer 2. I’m good. Clever piece of marketing. I’m in. This is apparently something of a passion project for Cooper. Solid in Silver Linings Playbook at least with the weak script that he had. Too over the top and not in a good way for American Hustle. Pretty good in The Place Beyond the Pines. Luckily he won’t be going big/broad in Eastwood’s film.
(Russell watches American Sniper)
Russell: Sorry buddy, but you were better in another film with American in the title.
Cooper: Hustle?
Russell: Yes. Little too subtle in American Sniper. Congrats though I guess. Eastwood encourages the worst of you. Don’t worry though man. Once I’m done with Joy, you and I can do something. I was thinking you play a guy with serious anger/racial issues and you’re next door neighbor is a black woman played by Jennifer Lawrence.
Cooper: Think I’ve done the whole angry shtick with ya another Russell. Jennifer isn’t black either.
Russell: Yea I know…blackface.
Cooper: Why wouldn’t we just get a black actress? Could be a great breakthrough for a black actress.
Russell: Don’t worry people will believe Jennifer as a black woman.
Cooper: Yea I don’t think so. Fincher just called me. Wants to do something.
Russell: Whoa! Whoa! Another David. You’re gonna work with another David?! I can’t believe you. You know I pander to you actors and let you say and do whatever you want and shoot it. This is how you repay me?!
Wow. Now that is a trailer! Forget all the Interstellar ones. This should def put Cooper in best actor running as I put him in the fifth slot on the poll the other day. And the terrorist group ISIS should help this movie succeed. I liked Lone Survivor last year but this is on a whole other level. Go America!
I love that you expect to hear a gunshot, and it never comes.