Overview: Chris Kyle’s (Bradley Cooper) mission is to protect his brothers in arms while being a prime target of insurgents. Despite the danger, as well as the toll on his family at home, Chris serves through four harrowing tours of duty in Iraq, personifying the spirit of the SEAL creed to Leave no one behind.

But upon returning to his wife, Taya (Sienna Miller), and kids, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind.

4K UHD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. Entertainment is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the highly-anticipated American Sniper (4K Ultra HD + Digital) in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this May 14th, 2024.

For my money, this American Sniper (4K Ultra HD + Digital) sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is American Sniper presented to us as a one-disc with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265 (51.23 Mbps), Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p), HDR: HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.40:1 and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable. For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision, we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color, which makes the eyes draw in, for sure.

As for the audio, well we get the huge choice of: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 16-bit), French: Dolby Atmos, German: Dolby Atmos, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1, Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1.

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the story to hand, well, director Clint Eastwood has made countless great movies in his career and even tackled the war drama in brilliant fashion with LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. This film here could have been clichéd in so many ways but thankfully a director with such masterful direction can take a familiar story like war and its impact on someone and make it feel fresh, tight and original.

Since movies began, the war genre has been one of the most popular and they continue to pump them out yearly so trying to find a fresh way to tell a story is always a challenge but Eastwood and company really pull it off.

American Sniper is certainly about the war but it’s main focus is telling the story of this American hero. The main goal of the screenplay is to show people what a special person Kyle was and balancing his personal drama and the war stuff was so wonderfully done that both story lines contained some real drama and one wasn’t overshadowed by the other.

I think that’s the most accomplished thing Eastwood does here. Making sure that the war at home is just as intense as the war in Iraq. Another major plus is that, on a technical level, the film is flawless as it contains some of the year’s best cinematography, a touching music score and some of the best sound effects out there.

The wartime scenes are all shot extremely well and I think the best thing about them is the feeling the director shows in the fact that these men are really in a trap not knowing where the next bullet is going to come from. The scenes of Kyle doing his job were full of tension as were the scenes where we get more gunfire.

There’s a sequence early on, highlighted in the trailer, were a kid possibly has a bomb and this here is perfectly handled. The ending is also incredibly intense and the terrific editing here really helps build up the tension of the combat zone.

What really pushes the movie from the opening scene to the very last is the terrific performance by Cooper who turns in his greatest work to date. I’m not sure how many people could have predicted that Cooper, who was mostly playing comedy roles, would turn into such a fine dramatic actor but he’s turning into one of the most dependable actors out there. He’s simply wonderful here and manages to really come across as a tortured person.

The film shows Kyle from various points in his life. His wild younger days. His rise through the Seals. Of course, some of the most talked about scenes deal with the depression and anxiety that starts to set in. We’ve seen many actors deal with the struggling vet returning home scenario, but Cooper manages to bring a real depth to the character.

In closing, American Sniper may not have impressed everyone, what film ever does, but it is certainly a very impressive film. Technically it’s quite sound and Eastwood once again proves why he’s one of the greatest director’s out there. As for Cooper’s performance, it’s certainly a terrific one and thus overall this is a great film that leaves the viewer with a lot to think about and be thankful for.