Two Films On The Netflix Top 10 Are Part Of A Huge Franchise You Probably Haven't Seen
Only '90s kids raised in video stores — or, more likely, their dads — will recall Luis Llosa's 1993 military thriller "Sniper" with any clarity. "Sniper" stars Tom Berenger as Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett as he becomes lost in the jungle while trying to complete an assassination mission with a militarily inexperienced sharpshooter played by Billy Zane. The bulk of the film takes place in the woods of Colombia, although it was shot in Australia. The film was well-liked but critics noted that it was pretty generic; Roger Ebert gave "Sniper" three stars, noting that it was competent but lacked originality. The film boasts a 38 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but that comes from a mere 13 reviews.
What only fans of "Sniper" might know is that Tom Berenger returned to play Thomas Beckett in Craig R. Baxley's "Sniper 2" in 2002 and P.J. Pesce's "Sniper 3" in 2004. These two sequels are for deep-cut "Sniper" fans who like low-budget military thrillers and gruff performances from long-working character actors. Speaking of which, the first "Sniper" boasts an appearance from the inimitable J.T. Walsh, "Sniper 2" co-stars Bokeem Woodbine, and "Sniper 3" features ... no major stars apart from Berenger.
What no one knows is that the "Sniper" series shifted its focus in 2011 to a character named Brandon Beckett, Thomas Beckett's son, played by Chad Michael Collins. Brandon Beckett was the main character of seven additional "Sniper" movies: "Sniper: Reloaded" (2011), "Sniper: Legacy" (2014), "Sniper: Ghost Shooter" (2016), "Sniper: Ultimate Kill" (2017), "Sniper: Assassin's End" (2020), "Sniper: Rogue Mission" (2022), and "Sniper: G.R.I.T. – Global Response & Intelligence Team" (2023). Berenger returned for "Legacy," "Ultimate Kill," and "Assassin's End."
As of this writing, "Assassin's End" is the #2 film on Netflix, and "Ultimate Kill" is #3.
Someone's dad is very happy
The instant question one might want to ask is "Who is watching the seventh and eighth 'Sniper' movies?" The answer is: your dad. Your friend's dad. Your other friend's dad.
One might recall a time, just before the Streaming Wars — maybe around 2013 — when Netflix was little more than a delivery system for reruns of "The Office." It was once less like a film studio and more like a rinky-dink local video store well-stocked with fluff and garbage. And it was good. There was something to be said for a fun, random streaming video store that, at the time, seemed to serve as an ever-growing online archive. This was before people noticed that films were rotating away from the service with alarming frequency. But it was a wonderful way to waste an afternoon, catch up on old TV, or give you and your date an excuse to engage in coitus while a film ran in the background (it was about this time that "Netflix and chill" entered the lexicon).
As seen by their oddball top-10-rated films, occasionally, Netflix still lives up to its promise from a decade ago. Sometimes people want to tune into some easy-to-consume low-budget shlock. And for those with too much dignity to go digging through Tubi, Netflix is providing.
Hence, five of the "Sniper" films are on Netflix right now. In addition to the two hits above, Netflix is also offering "Ghost Shooter," "Rogue Mission," and "G.R.I.T." Curious souls who just learned about the 10 "Sniper" movies and wish to explore the series' back half are well-covered.
What are these films about?
"Sniper: Reloaded," as one might imagine, is the soft reboot of the series, as it's the film that shifts the series focus from Thomas Beckett to his son Brandon. The follow-up, "Sniper: Legacy," sees Brandon tracking down the assassin who may have murdered his father. As it so happens, Brandon's Father is alive, natch. It seems that even if Berenger doesn't feature heavily in the movies, his presence looms over this series. To his credit, Berenger has been very loyal to the series.
In "Ghost Shooter," Brandon goes to the country of Georgia to protect an oil pipeline from nearby terrorists. A rivalry with another assassin forms. And we finally come to "Ultimate Kill," a revenge fantasy wherein Brandon takes on a Colombian drug lord named Jesús Morales (Juan Sebastián Calero) and his evil assassin El Diablo (Andrés Felipe Calero). Billy Zane, by the way, returned for "Reloaded," "Ghost Shooter," and "Ultimate Kill."
In "Assassin's End," Brandon is framed for murder and must go on the run from the CIA. His father joins him underground. "Assassin's End" introduced a new character to the series in the form of Yuki "Lady Death" Mifune, a dangerous character straight out of Mortal Kombat, played by Sayaka Akimoto from the J-pop group AKB48. Lady Death would return for both "Rogue Mission" and "G.R.I.T.," although Luna Fujimoto played her in the latter.
Given titles like "Rogue Mission" and "Ghost Shooter," the filmmakers are trying to evoke the "Mission: Impossible" movies, although the tone of the "Sniper" movies seems to be (judging by their trailers) much sillier.
Despite obvious low budgets, these films appear to be passable chewing gum for the eyeballs. And, best of all, none of them are over 99 minutes.
Let Dad have them.