Sniper movies are all about highly skilled marksmen and military personnel tasked with precise shooting in high-stakes situations.
These movies explore themes of precision, strategy, and the psychological toll of being a sniper.
Some movies focus on snipers and their teammates, while others emphasize the lonely nature of the sniper’s role.
Moreover, these movies provide an amazing viewing experience, often blending action and suspense.
Here, the ten movies are listed according to their IMDb ratings.
| Movies | Release Date |
|---|---|
| Saving Private Ryan | July 24, 1998 |
| The Hurt Locker | June 5, 2009 |
| Enemy At The Gates | March 16, 2001 |
| Lone Survivor | December 5, 2013 |
| American Sniper | December 25, 2014 |
| Phone Booth | April 4, 2003 |
| Jack Reacher | December 19, 2012 |
| Wanted | June 27, 2008 |
| The Deadly Tower | October 18, 1975 |
| Behind Enemy Lines | November 30, 2001 |
10. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
| Director | Steven Spielberg |
| Writer | Robert Rodat |
| Casts | Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore |
| Release Date | July 24, 1998 |
| IMDb Rating | 8.6/10 |
Saving Private Ryan is an American epic war movie based on World War II set in 1994 in France.
The movie follows a group of soldiers led by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) on their mission to locate Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) and bring him home safely after his three brothers are killed in action.
The books of Stephen E. Ambrose and accounts of casualties among members of a singer family, such as the Niland brothers, also inspired it. Rodat drafted the script, and Paramount Pictures hired him to finish it.
The movie became one of the year’s most successful movies, earning critical acclaim for its graphic portrayal of combat.
The Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
9. The Hurt Locker (2009)
| Director | Kathryn Bigelow |
| Writer | Mark Boal |
| Casts | Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty |
| Release Date | June 5, 2009 |
| IMDb Rating | 7.5/10 |
The Hurt Locker is a war thriller movie that follows an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are targeted by insurgents and show their psychological reactions to the stress of combat.
The movie premiered at the 2008 Venice International Film Festival before Summit Entertainment released it in the United States on June 26, 2009.
It is considered one of the best war films of the 2000s and 21st century. In 2020, the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Some Iraq veterans and embedded reporters criticized the movie for inaccurately portraying wartime conditions.
8. Enemy At The Gates (2001)
| Director | Jean-Jacques Annaud |
| Writer | Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard |
| Casts | Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes |
| Release Date | March 16, 2001 |
| IMDb Rating | 7.5/10 |
Enemy At The Gates is a 2001 war film directed, co-written, and produced by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
Basically, the movie is based on William Craig’s 1973 nonfiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad, which describes the events surrounding the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942-1943.
The movie’s main character is a fictionalized version of Vasily Zaitsev, a sniper and Hero of the Soviet Union during World War II.
It includes a sniper’s duel between Zaitsev and a Wehrmacht sniper school director, Major Erwin Konig.
7. Lone Survivor (2013)
| Director | Peter Berg |
| Writer | Peter Berg, Marcus Luttrell, Patrick Robinson |
| Casts | Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch |
| Released Date | December 25, 2013 |
| IMDb Rating | 7.5/10 |
Lone Survivor is an American biographical war movie based on Marcus Luttrell’s 2007 nonfiction book of the same name with Patrick Robinson.
It dramatized the unsuccessful United States Navy SEALs counter-insurgent mission Operation Red Wings, during which a four-man SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team was given the task of tracking down the Taliban leader Ahmad Shah.
Lone Survivor opened in limited release in the United States on December 25, 2013, before opening across North America on January 10, 2014.
It grossed over $154 million, of which $125 million was from North America. The National Board of Review chose it as one of the top 10 movies of 2013, and it received two Oscar nominations for Best Sound and Best Sound Mixing.
6. American Sniper (2014)
| Director | Clint Eastwood |
| Writer | Jason Hall, Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen |
| Casts | Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner |
| Release Date | December 25, 2014 |
| IMDb Rating | 7.3/10 |
American Sniper is a biographical war drama movie based on the memoir American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in the U.S. Military History.
The movie follows the life of Kyle, who became the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history with 255 kills from four tours in the Iraq War.
While Kyle was celebrated for his military successes, his tours of duty took a heavy toll on his personal and family life.
The movie premiered at the American Film Institute Festival on November 11, 2014, and had a limited theatrical release in the United States on December 25, 2014, followed by wide release on January 16, 2015.
At the 87th Academy Awards, it received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Cooper.
5. Phone Booth (2003)
| Director | Joel Schumacher |
| Writer | Larry Cohen |
| Casts | Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker |
| Released Date | April 4, 2003 |
| IMDb Rating | 7.1/10 |
Phone Booth is a psychological thriller movie in which a malevolent hidden sniper calls a phone booth, and when a young publicist inside answers the phone, he quickly finds his life is at risk.
The movie received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office hit, grossing $97 million worldwide against a production budget of $13 million.
Phone Booth is produced by Fox 2000 Pictures and Zucker/Netter Productions.
The movie premiered at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival and was scheduled to be released theatrically in November 2002.
4. Jack Reacher (2012)
| Director | Christopher McQuarrie |
| Writer | Lee Child, Christopher McQuarrie |
| Casts | Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins |
| Released Date | December 19, 2012 |
| IMDb Rating | 7.0/10 |
Jack Reacher is an American action thriller movie which is based on Lee Child’s 2005 novel One Shot. In the movie, Tom Cruise portrays the character of Jack Reacher.
The movie focuses on normally non-contactable former US Army Major MP investigator Jack Reacher, who is called upon to aid a homicide investigation involving a trained military sniper believed to be responsible for a mass shooting.
The movie entered production in October 2011 and was completed in January 2012. It was filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Jack Reacher grossed $80.1 million in North America and $138.3 million in other countries, making a worldwide collection of $218.3 million against a budget of $60 million.
3. Wanted (2008)
| Director | Timur Bekmambetov |
| Writer | Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Chris Morgan |
| Casts | Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman |
| Release Date | June 27, 2008 |
| IMDb Rating | 6.7/10 |
Wanted is an action thriller movie based on the comic book miniseries by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones.
The movie’s story revolves around Wesely Gibson, who decides to join the Fraternity, a secret society of assassins, after learning that his father was a member of the Fraternity.
The movie opened on June 27, 2008, to generally positive reviews praising its fast-paced narrative and stylized action sequences.
Wanted grossed $342 million worldwide against a budget of $75 million. Soon after its release, the sequel was announced but ultimately stalled in development.
2. The Deadly Tower (1975)
| Director | Jerry Jameson |
| Writer | William Douglas, Lansford, Antonio Calderón |
| Casts | Kurt Russell, Richard Yniguez, Ned Beatty |
| Release Date | October 18, 1975 |
| IMDb Rating | 6.7/10 |
The Deadly Tower is an American made for television action drama thriller movie which is also known as Sniper.
The movie is based on the Univeristy of Texas Tower shooting. It is the true story of Charles Joseph Whitman.
Whitman was an engineering student and former Marine who murdered his own wife and mother and then killed 14 more people and wounded 31 others in a shooting rampage at the University of Texas at Austin.
The movie received an undisclosed out-of-court settlement after suing the producers of the movie for negative and racist depictions of his wife, portrayed in the movie as a nagging Hispanic woman; in fact, she is a blonde, blue-eyed German.
1. Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
| Director | John Moore |
| Writer | Jim Thomas, John Thomas, David Veloz |
| Casts | Gene Hackman, Owen Wilson, Gabriel Macht |
| Release Date | November 30, 2001 |
| IMDb Rating | 6.4/10 |
Behind Enemy Lines is an action war movie that tells the story of Lieutenant Chris Burnett, an American naval fight officer who is shot down over Bosnia and uncovers genocide during the Bosnian War.
The rear admiral commanding the carrier strike group to which he is assigned struggles to gain approval to launch a combat search and rescue mission to save Burnett.
The movie’s plot is based on the 1995 Mrkonjic Grad incident that occurred during the war.
Behind Enemy Lines received generally negative reviews from critics. But, it was a considerable box office success, taking in nearly $92 million worldwide against a $40 million budget.
Conclusion
The review team of Departurefilm has listed the above movies according to their IMDB ratings.
Some movies are based on real stories, whereas some are fictional. These movies have the best shots and visual effects.
If you are a war movie lover, the above-listed movies might be best for you.
