‘American Sniper’ Tops $200 Million Amid SAG Snub, Moore Sinks Further Into Irrelevance

In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Bradley Cooper appears in a scene from “American Sniper.” (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures)

“American Sniper,” the Clint Eastwood movie starring Bradley Cooper, who plays Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle has topped $200 million at the Box Office. The milestone firmly ensures this movie’s spot as a Box Office record-breaker, and for good reason.

However, the controversy that follows this movie, most notably involving leftist filmmaker Michael Moore, is ironic. From the left, those like Moore say that the movie “glorifies” war, but did any of the individuals actually watch the movie and, then, deploy their vast knowledge of the realities of war to make such an assessment?

If one actually takes the time to watch “American Sniper,” they would know the movie demonstrates the hardships that come with war, and the aftermath of those who fight it. American snipers like Chris Kyle, who is credited as the deadliest in U.S. history, had (and have) to make decisions that both save lives, and take them; lives not only of their fellow-brothers and sisters in arms, but everyday Americans that like to stay snug and warm within their beds.

For all of the anti-American rhetoric out of Moore and Kyle’s other detractors, the success of American Sniper unequivocally underscores Americans’ hunger for patriotism. The numbers below, which are staggering in comparison to this year’s films, show exemplify this truth.

American Sniper Lifetime Grosses At Box Office (As Of 1/25/15)

[twocol_one]Domestic[/twocol_one] [twocol_one_last]$200,137,000[/twocol_one_last]

[twocol_one]International[/twocol_one] [twocol_one_last]$47,500,000[/twocol_one_last]

[twocol_one]Worldwide[/twocol_one] [twocol_one_last]$247,637,000[/twocol_one_last]

Yet, the number of critics in Hollywood and on the political left misconstruing Kyle’s and other snipers’ role, is staggering. The narrative is that a sniper does not fight “fair,” as if the enemy doesn’t match these tactics, or that they are “trigger happy.” This is utter ignorance, dilution and delusion.

“His job is to strike a paralytic fear into the enemy.” Andrew Pedry, a sniper himself stated. “It takes a lot of introspection, faith, and care to wield that level of power.”

Despite Michael Moore’s comments, which garnered the most media attention, the supposition that snipers are “cowards” is contradicted by the very tasks they are asked to complete. Snipers are often the first operators in enemy-controlled territory, and are invaluable to the men who bravely enter behind them without the knowledge of what lays ahead.

“Snipers are the deadliest assets on the battlefield, it’s an asset to everybody.” said Dakota Meyer, a Marine sniper and recipient of the Medal of Honor. Meyer, who actually watched the film, said it was an accurate depiction of the role the American sniper plays in U.S. combat operations. He slammed Moore for his comments last week in a post, and has been vocal ever since.

“A sniper’s primary goal is to eliminate ground threats for U.S. guys on the ground,” Meyer said. “Is that what a coward is? A person whose goal is to save the lives of his warrior brothers?”

Meyer added that “cowards are people who didn’t have the guts to serve, and are happy to sit back in a free and protected country and call our service members cowards.” He also said Moore was a coward for not having the courage to stand by his comments, though the detraction was half-hearted, and has since been followed with more comments meant to shine light on an increasingly irrelevant filmmaker.

Hmm. I never tweeted 1word bout AmericanSniper/ChrisKyle. I said my uncle killed by sniper in WWII; only cowards would do that 2 him, others

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 19, 2015

In a recent interview, fellow Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, the man who killed Usama bin Laden, expressed great admiration for those who serve as snipers.

“I have been on over 400 missions and in every single one snipers did more than protect us,” O’Neill said. “They found the routes, they let us in, they found IEDs (improvised explosive devices) on the way in.”

O’Neill went on to explain that he, his teammates, and anyone conducting combat operations understand the advantage of having a sniper within their ranks.

“Once we started hitting our targets they would climb up high to cover our movement, look in doors and windows before we got there. It was not uncommon for us to be silent and hear shots go off. They have spotted insurgents that were trying to ambush us, they saved our lives.”

He shared a story of one instance when his team sniper shot and killed an insurgent who was unknowingly hiding no more than 3 feet away in an alleyway. If it was not for the team sniper, “I would’ve been dead,” O’Neill said.

Had Robert O’Neill died in that alleyway that day, he would never have shot and killed Usama Bin Laden.

“Using snipers shows the greatest amount of restraint,” stated Jim Lechner, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who served alongside Kyle in Ramadi, Iraq. “Innocent people are not getting killed.”

However, because the movie seeks and succeeds in humanizing the late Chris Kyle, rather than demonize the U.S. troops or portray them as “occupiers,” Hollywood and the left are incapable of seeing what the rest of American has seen.

Though “American Sniper” was nominated for six Oscars and has grossed more than any other R-rated film in history — including the most of any R-rated film in the first week — the movie, the cast and the crew were all snubbed by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. The film, including lead actor Bradley Cooper, garnered no nominations.

“SAG likes to pride themselves on having their finger on the pulse of the Oscar voter, and in the past has been very good at predicting who will take home the Oscar,” said Hollywood film critic Michael Tammero. “But I feel like this year they just got it completely off.”

Following the SAG snub, Moore again took to Twitter in a successful attempt to garner somewhat significant if only temporary attention.

From a reporter: Only 2 films about the Iraq War have had a U.S. box office of over $100 million: American Sniper and Fahrenheit 9/11. Hmmm.

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 26, 2015

Except, the $222,446,882 brought in by Moore’s film “Fahrenheit 9/11” was the total as of 1/25/2015 over the course of its lifetime (from date of release), which began on June 23, 2004. Further, nearly half of that number — $103,252,111, or 46.4 percent — came from foreign gross sales. In comparison, just 19.2 percent of the Box Office hit “American Sniper” came from foreign sales.

In the end, in spite of the detractors, most Americans obviously view Chris Kyle as a hero, one who dedicated his life to protect not only his fellow-brothers and sisters in arms but his family, friends, and his country.

Kyle, who post-service decided to work side-by-side with veterans, was sadly killed by a fellow veteran Eddie Routh. After all those missions, it was Routh, suffering from severe PTSD shot and killed Kyle, leaving behind a family and a story worthy of being told on and off the big screen. “American Sniper” is firmly in the record books whether the Hollywood critics like it or not, or choose to give their seal of approval at the Oscars. They could simply snub the film as their young counterparts at SAG chose to do, but the credibility of the older institution is on the line.

“The fact that Hollywood is out of step with Main Street America is not big news, but Oscar voters cannot ignore the numbers,” Tammero added. “This movie is raking it in.”