Sniper Information

Sniper is a 1993 action film starring Tom Berenger and Billy Zane as snipers on an assassination mission in Panama.

Plot

The film starts off with Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett (Berenger), an experienced sniper, and his spotter Cpl. Papich (Aden Young) assassinating a Panamanian rebel leader in the jungle. Afterward, they take up a position in an isolated part of the jungle and wait out until nighttime for an extraction. However, they are extracted at daylight much to the dismay of Beckett. An experienced rebel sniper, formerly trained by Beckett, kills Papich as the two reach the helicopter, but Beckett is able to retrieve his body and bring it to the helicopter. Infuriated, Beckett blames the helicopter CO for Papich's death.

Beckett is paired up with the contrastingly inexperienced, and civilian, Richard Miller (Zane). Their goal is to eliminate a rebel general who is being financed by a reclusive Columbian drug lord. Miller is a SWAT team sharpshooter, but lacks combat experience and has no confirmed kills to his name. When he is on the way to the staging area, his helicopter is attacked by a guerrilla with an assault rifle, who kills most of the men in it. Miller takes out his rifle and acquires a bead on the man, but is unable to pull the trigger. Fortunately, the chopper's dying machine gunner manages to kill the guerrilla before succumbing to his wounds. The surviving co-pilot thought it was Miller that made the killing shot (which wasn't denied), earning Miller a false reputation.

When Beckett and Miller set off, friction immediately occurs between them, based in part on Beckett's insistence on deviating from the mission plan that Miller was given, but mostly on the fact that Miller (though nominally in command) has no experience or aptitude for jungle operations. Early on, they encounter a group of Indians, who agree to lead them past the rebel guerrillas, in return for a favor. They want the team to eliminate El Cirujano ("The Surgeon"), an ex CIA torture master who's working with the rebels (and has previously injured the Indian leader), listed as a target of opportunity.

Beckett agrees to do so, and informs Miller that he expects Miller to make the kill because he's not certain of Miller's reliability, and is skeptical about his "kill" while aboard the helicopter. When it comes time for Miller to take the shot, he is again unable to do so, and instead makes a "warning shot". He follows up with a shot aimed at Cirujano's head, although Cirujano seems to duck before he is hit. The firefight that ensues leads to the death of one of the Indians. Although the Indians do not directly blame either Beckett or Miller, they refuse to help the team any further. Miller assures Beckett that Cirujano was killed, despite the warning shot.

The two men continue to their target and realize that they are being followed. Along the way, they head to a village priest that would provide details to the mission. However, they find that the priest was tortured and murdered by Alvarez's men well before they arrived. Beckett speculates out loud that it is the work of El Cirujano, calling into question Miller's credibility. That night, Beckett leaves a piece of trash for their follower (without Miller's knowledge) before setting up camp. As Miller falls asleep, Beckett remains on guard, watching for their follower, which ends up being the same sniper that killed Papich earlier. Because Miller is asleep and obviously not alert, this brings the enemy sniper out of hiding to take a shot, but Beckett manages to shoot the sniper, first. Realizing that he was used as bait, Miller is infuriated, to which Beckett tells him that "you were in no real danger".

The two men finally reach the general's hacienda and take up positions while wearing ghillie suits. While they are waiting for their targets to emerge, it is revealed that Cirujano is alive after all, which infuriates Beckett. Miller isn't hidden very well, and is seen by one of the guards, who attempts to sneak up on Miller. Beckett kills Miller's attacker while Miller shoots and kills the drug lord (Miller's first confirmed kill). The two rendezvous outside the compound, where Beckett insists on them going back to kill the general as well (having missed his chance at killing the general because of saving Miller's life). Miller refuses and an argument erupts, leading to an exchange of fire between Beckett and Miller which ends when the latter runs out of ammunition. Miller then calms down afterward under pressure from Beckett. As rebels close in on the two, Beckett attempts to provide cover fire for Miller, but is subsequently captured by rebels. Knowing that Miller is watching, he discreetly releases a round from his rifle before surrendering, letting the bullet hit the ground, unnoticed. Miller picks up the bullet and loads it after Beckett is taken away.

That night, Miller notices a helicopter coming in to pick them up. He can easily leave the mission behind, but instead decides to head to the base camp where Beckett is being held. Inside, he encounters the general and kills him with his knife, then sees Beckett being tortured and getting his trigger finger amputated by El Cirujano. Beckett sees Miller watching in the distance, and distracts El Cirujano by pretending to finally reveal the secrets he was being tortured for. Cirujano doesn't understand what Beckett is saying, and puts his head closer to Beckett. After both their heads are lined up, Beckett discreetly mouths to Miller to shoot both Cirujano and himself with one shot. Instead, Miller only kills Cirujano and rescues Beckett. The two run to the helicopter for extraction, and Miller insists that Beckett go first while he stands guard. Beckett reluctantly agrees, but notices a sniper about to ambush Miller. Pulling out his pistol, Beckett shoots the sniper using his left hand (his right hand finger having the nerves previously cut). The both are finally able to escape.

Box office

The movie debuted at No.2 at the box office.

Film series cast

Character	Film
	Sniper	Sniper 2	Sniper 3	Sniper: Reloaded
Thomas Beckett	Tom Berenger
Richard Miller	Billy Zane			Billy Zane
Brandon Beckett				Chad Michael Collins

Sequels

Sniper spawned three sequels: the TV movie Sniper 2 in 2002 and the direct-to-video movies Sniper 3 in 2004 and Sniper: Reloaded in 2011. ...Reloaded features Billy Zane's role of Richard Miller from the first Sniper film reprised, having himself become a sniper as a result of his Panamanian tour experience with Thomas Beckett.

Remake

On February 7, 2010, Hollywood.TV reported that Columbia Pictures auctioned off the film rights to the Sniper franchise to New Line Cinema as well as many other film franchises. On March 13, 2010, New Line Cinema announced that Joel Surnow had signed on to direct a remake of the original Sniper film. The film has been slated for a summer 2012 release. On May 13, 2010, New Line Cinema announced that John Cena would be portraying Thomas Beckett in the remake.