"MSgt Thomas Beckett" (Tom Berenger) is a sniper in the United States Marine Corps who is stationed in Panama to take out rebels in that country. After losing his partner the pentagon sends a civilian named "Richard Miller" (Billy Zane) to assist him in a special operation to eliminate a rebel general doing business with a Columbian drug cartel. Although Richard is a very competent shooter the problem is that he has never actually killed anyone in combat. Likewise, he has never operated in a jungle environment and he doesn't speak Spanish. This leads MSgt Beckett to question whether his new partner will be able to perform everything required of him. To further complicate things, their superiors have come up with instructions on how to proceed to their target which don't take into account several issues and Richard gets upset when MSgt Beckett deviates from those instructions. Further friction is encountered when an enemy sniper begins to track them down as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good film which I thought depicted the role of a sniper in a jungle environment quite well. Of course, some of the actions scenes weren't necessarily as realistic as they could have been but, as with anything in Hollywood, that goes without saying. Be that as it may, I have rated this movie as slightly above average and recommend it to those who might enjoy a film of this type.

The film would have been better had it further concentrated on the inner workings of the rebels in Panama and the drug cartel of Colombia desperately trying to influence the upcoming election in the former.Instead, we have jungle warfare where the government sends in Billy Zane to monitor the actions of expert sniper Tom Berenger. Naturally, the two are at odds almost immediately with Berenger questioning Zane's ability and inexperience and Zane questioning Berenger's ability to take orders.The bullets whiz by slowly as they take their aim on the bad guys, but naturally we shall reach a point where the two shall coalesce for each other's very survival.

Beckett(Berenger, reserved and experienced) is top-of-the-line for snipers. He works in the Panamanian jungle. People like him work in pairs, or alone. Trust between the two can mean the difference between life or death. And he's paired up with rich pretty-boy Miller(Zane, more of an office man), who's never killed anyone, for the next mission. Will they ever get out alive?This favors tension(with a constant low current of it through the 92 minutes, or 95 with end credits) over action, and those looking for a popcorn flick should look elsewhere(no offense intended). Aiming for a narrower audience, pun intended, this seeks to be a gritty, realistic and highly detailed depiction of the reality for war-time marksmen. For those of us who want such, it's satisfying, although this approach is occasionally broken by brief bouts with Hollywoodism. Acting and casting is great.It's a thriller with a focus on the psychological, and, indeed, one of the biggest conflicts is between the two leads, who are among the only characters in this. You'd almost be forgiven for calling this a minimalist piece - two people, in the one seemingly endless setting, and a straightforward plot. Both are human beings, with flaws, and as this progresses, they get to know each other, not everything goes as it should, and things will get pushed right to the edge.There is some strong language and bloody violence in this. I recommend this to anyone who likes the concept. 7/10

A jungle setting is the backdrop here as the "Heroes", one a lifer snipe with 300 confirmed kills and the other is a rookie with a fetish for bulls eye targets and not filthy foreign flesh. This, of course, sets off a chain reaction of a love-hate relationship in the middle of a deadly assassination assault.Both characters have moments of believability with Tom Berenger almost always assuring, but is haunted by his key-chain mementos of fallen fellow soldiers. Billy Zane is convincing as a whiny, reluctant participant that enters into a "Baptism of Fire" and becomes a convert.This is a somewhat inconsistent and incoherent insight into the mind and soul of the Military's role in global affairs and the personnel it trains and positions in ambiguous assignments where the motivations of the soldiers are "ours is not to wonder why...". Political and moral considerations aside, this can be enjoyed by the action and military fans that want their fiction to rely on psychology as much as patriotism. It is an engaging outing, if dense and heavy handed at times.