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October 03, 2014
"American Sniper" Trailer
The Chris Kyle biopic, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper.
I've seen the dramatic situation depicted here before, of course, from the beginning of the James Bond film The Living Daylights to the end of Full Metal Jacket. A sniper is looking down his scope -- to increase drama, looking at either a woman or a child -- and has to decide between pulling the trigger and obliterating the target, or taking the chance that maybe, possibly the target isn't hostile, and not pulling the trigger.
Oh, and if you're wrong, the ten men counting on you to protect them will probably be killed or maybe just paralyzed for life. Maybe they'll just be missing hands or eyes.
And if you're wrong in the other direction -- you just shot a kid with a heavy-caliber bullet in the heart.
"Your call," the voice on the radio keeps telling Cooper (as Kyle).
It's gripping. In just a few seconds it conveys (some of) the intensity of that split-second decision.