Tom Berenger's SNIPER 12-Movie Franchise Review Minisode

[00:00:00] This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios. If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information. He's a shadow. He's out there. Somewhere. Waiting.

[00:00:25] There's a major coup planned for Election Day in Panama. Ochoa's drug cartel is bankrolling it. Fighting a war no army can win. We have less than one week to prevent that. But a single bullet can. This is Alvarez, and that's where you'll find him. Heavily guarded inside and out. But this time, he set his sights too high. National Security Council is sending a guy along to help a shooter. Has he ever been in a jungle?

[00:00:55] Just trust me. Anybody the NSC sends down here is going to be fully qualified. And his only backup is a new recruit. You want to survive this, right? You do as I tell you to the letter, I think you got a chance. You don't have any choice about it.

[00:01:27] We're going with what I'll never expect.

[00:02:00] You beat out the Marine Corps rifle team and seven SWAT members. What, are you the awards committee? No, we need a sniper. A good one. Well, why me? Because this one's off the books. This guy's running a stealth operation of hit-and-run ethnic cleansing. It's got to be a two-man operation. Sergeant Beckett. Me and Jay Cole. You were an army sniper? Seven real world missions. Reconfirmed. There's a group of separatists in Galaud that'll help you. You people are the entire underground. We were expecting someone older.

[00:02:29] Not many people grow old in this business. We're here to put a bullet in a man's head. You better just pray we get out of this country alive. Center chest. Ready? Fire! Turn it down. They made us. There is no way they can see us up here. I'm done! Get up top, man. I'll provide cover for extraction. That's suicide. Don't fight me on this, son. Just do it. Sir, you can have your pick of a dozen of the Corps' best snipers.

[00:02:59] Not interested in him. I'm interested in Thomas Beckett. Best damn sniper I ever had the privilege of working with. On DVD, Beckett is back. First time in what you mean? Last time I was here, it was called Saigon. In a new mission. I want you to take out a target there. Making a new hit on an old friend. You're asking me to kill the man to save my life? This is not the man that you once knew. And taking one last shot.

[00:03:29] Target confirmed. Tom Barron jerk. When I kill a man, it's because he needs killing. Byron Magus. Some people are born for war. This isn't war. This is madness. You expect to go in there by yourself and come out alive. It's a game. Stand down. The director was to have won that mission. Come on, Tommy. Make your move. One shot is probably all you get. One shot is all I need.

[00:03:58] Sniper 3 on DVD. We missed. We loaded. We edited. Sometimes we get so deep into conversation that we have separate segments worthy of their own place in the sun. Here is a reshuffled mini episode.

[00:04:30] Did you ever see the sniper movies? Yeah, with I saw the first two of them with Tom Berenger. I am all caught up. Like I've seen all 10 movies. Then they got even better. There's 10 of them? Yes. Holy shit. Some of them are on Netflix now. But like, dude, they added the Allstate guy, you know, Dennis Haysburg.

[00:04:52] And there's some throwbacks to his 24 unit persona as he's often the boss who also gets in on the action, you know, and they often just call him like controller or commander. And they were just fun, dude. Like the first three were very solid, you know, just Vietnam veteran turn, you know, here's an impossible mission on a Tom Clancy, you know, type stealth. Part four reloaded introduced us to. You know, his next to kin, who was played by Chad Michael Collins.

[00:05:22] Who's done everything from Call of Duty to other TV shows. And he was again, he's a guy who could be bigger because he can do martial arts and gunplay. You know, then part five, they're like, OK, let's bring Berenger back. Have some cool IRA, you know, Patriot Games kind of villains who, you know, got political agendas and all that. But then, you know, part six, they're like, let's protect an embassy. And then let's bring Billy Zane back, who still looks pretty good for his age. That dude has not aged at all. I can't believe it.

[00:05:51] And now let's do an Expendables type get together. But part seven was really fun because they're like, let's just go all Sicario or clearing present danger. Let's have a Colombian cartel. And then let's and Berenger to his credit, even though there are some bloopers like he loses his finger in the first movie and they always struggle to cover up. That is, you know, middle fingers, the trigger finger. And you're like, yeah, you're clearly hiding your middle finger. Oh, yeah. But that's why I liked it. It was Discount Mission Impossible.

[00:06:20] But there were still moments where you're like, yeah, that's a love letter to Bourne Identity or and it's so funny. The first one is like the anti Rambo. But then by movie two, they're like, now we got to be Rambo on a budget. Let's do some fun, you know, espionage in Romania. You know, it's kind of like the art of war or Splinter Cell. Sergeant Brandon Beckett, can you tell us where you were on the 4th of August 2010? The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Africa.

[00:06:51] Can you describe the events that led to you going AWOL? Get down! There are shots coming for us. I know who killed our man. Do you have any evidence to corroborate your accusation? No. A secret world. You can't find something you don't understand. Who are you? I know your father. You taught me how to be a sniper. A conspiracy. Thank you for your report. My men were shot by U.S. weapons.

[00:07:21] My brother! Can you say thanks for the report? The only way to fight back. I'm not going back until I'm done here. It would be a suicide mission. Is to become the enemy. Are you kidding? We're not going to live through this. Billy Zane. We got company. It's too dangerous. Trying to stop. Chad Collins. What are you waiting for, sniper? You have your assignment shooting. I need to know. What do you need to know? That man is the enemy. You put a bullet in his head.

[00:07:53] Sniper reloaded. Thomas Beckett. He was the best shooter I ever knew. Got shot in Berlin two days ago. That's not just a kill. That's a statement. A U.S. sniper went rogue and killed your father. Thomas Beckett. Walk in the shadow of a giant. It's just a man, Brandon. I'm going to take a small team and tie this thing off. I think there's something to be said for revenge. We only set off for one target. Congratulations. You're a sniper.

[00:08:24] We're fighting a good war, Brennan. We're on the right side. Chasing a ghost? Takes a lot to kill a legend. Starting to get a bad feeling about this, Major. Identify yourself. Thomas Beckett, former U.S. Marine. Are you going to tell me why you're on this side of the ground? He's on the scent, doing what he does best. Tell your old man that I'm coming for him. You are the best Marine I've ever known.

[00:08:53] You get this Simpson in your sight, put some hot lead into him. One shot, one kill. Tom Berenger, Chad Michael Collins, and Dennis Haysbury. Sniper Legacy. Sergeant Beckett, I want you on the Black Sea with your crew. Trans-Georgian Pipeline.

[00:09:22] The Corps has offered your services for site protection. Intelligence on the ground attributes attacks to an Afghan militant, Roshan Gazakov. The MQ-1 Predator will be our eyes in the sky. I think I'm seeing something. Take the shot. Rampage. Rampage, take the shot. Enemy sniper team dialed into our exact positions. We were sitting ducks.

[00:09:51] You are your father's son, Gunner. You had courage. You had grit. We're gonna hit him back. And we're gonna hit him back hard. Welcome to the Wild Wild East. RPG! Welcome to South America. So what's my objective? Jesus Morales.

[00:10:18] His empire controls the routes across the U.S. border. We need to move on Morales tomorrow. I need to do some recon. Sniper had one target. Estrada. Morales clearly has himself a hired gun. El Diablo is what they call the sniper. You were made to kill him. The shot was just improbable. It was impossible. Rolling thunder.

[00:10:43] Part 8 was cool because they're like, okay, let's frame the sniper character and then introduce him to a Yakuza assassin gal and amp up the hand-to-hand fighting for the Hong Kong crowd. And then Part 9 was Rogue Mission. Yes, that's... These lowbrow names made it even more appealing. They're just like, let's do just 48 hours where we're taking out the trash, we're going undercover

[00:11:11] and beating up bad guys and traitors in our agency. And then GRIT, which stands for Global Response and Intelligence Team. They're like, now we're Mission Impossible. Let's go after a multi-cult leader and let's retrieve the Yakuza assassin gal who's going to help us. And then let's just flat out just... It's just endless just fight scenes. Let's dispatch half of them with just Kung Fu and then steal all their weapons

[00:11:40] and get rid of the main mastermind in this prison where he's holding one of our heroes. And it's just like, can you get any more 80s or 90s than that? So I'm sure there's going to be... That's like the Missing in Action movies. It really is. That too. But like Missing in Action, right? Let's go... We got to go back in... Chuck's got to go back in and rescue everybody. Just for the hell of it. Why not? Yeah. And they're all fun movies, just great dynamite entertainment.

[00:12:09] And I can't... Don't get me wrong. I can't blame anyone for being behind. Like, there's so many of them. Oh, yeah. And with kids, it's hard to watch anything. They're fortunately not too bloody or too foul-mouthed, so you can easily sneak them around, kids. Yeah. I like a lot... A lot of the 80s action flicks, it's not... Depending on the ones, they're not too bad. Some of them had some cool themes. Like, in part two, let's have Bokeem Woodbine as a prisoner gaining his freedom, but he doesn't make it out of the Impossible Mission. And then part three,

[00:12:39] they're like, let's have a diehard type villain who's like an old war criminal who, you know, went too far, but is now blowing up cities in Vietnam, and only Beckett, you know, can take him down because he was in the same platoon. And what a hell of a name. Thomas Beckett. So then when you see mainstream sniper movies like Enemy at the Gates or Shooter with Marky Mark, you're just like, yeah. But some of these frames, they're using similar stuff. And also, it's reasonable to point out how the first Sniper was like one of the first movies

[00:13:09] to use slow motion, but it flopped. Like, no one saw it, but it was a favorite on, like, TNT. Yeah. Well, a lot of movies are like that. They flop at the theater, but all of a sudden they're big hits, you know. Otherwise, did you know Cynthia Rathrock is 67 years old now? She should join this franchise. She absolutely should join this franchise. Like, they should get, they have all these martial artists and more martial artists. I always thought that, you know, they always talk about like a wish list for like the next Expendables movies.

[00:13:39] I think that needs to have like Atkins, Grillo, Rathrock, Speakman, you know, like that, that's who they need to bring in. Well, especially since they're not going to make any more Expendables. So let's have. Well, no, I mean, if they were doing that, that's, you know. Yeah, they can do something. Exactly like that. And they did have a good martial artist in these movies. And the third one, they had like a Vietnamese police officer played by Brian Mann. And if I show you him,

[00:14:08] you'll be like, oh yeah, the guy from Man in the Iron Fist, Big Short, the one Crooked Admiral in the Expanse. He's had a big TV career, but I always would see him in like Steven Seagal movies as like the second build hero. And I was always like, okay, he's one of those other Canadian, Hong Kong born, you know, American actors who's always in these different productions. But much like many of these actors, he is a reasonable actor and you can put him in anything and he will do the work

[00:14:37] instead of just be Mr. Ego headed guy who you want to speak sparingly, you know. I'm hoping that I know he's come out with some more action movies that definitely look like a similar kind of throwback to 80s films and I think that's why I like the cyber films though because they are playing up that impossible mission kind of scenario. Well, they're fun, right? They're also fun, right? I mean, it's, you know. Everyone has their favorite direct-to-video actors growing up. Wesley Snipes and Behringer were definitely my favorites because,

[00:15:07] you know, Snipes, his movies still look pretty professional like you would have seen them in the theater and Behringer is just a giving individual. You're just like, okay, he's not, he doesn't necessarily need to be where he is right now, but again, he can do the work. He escapes. And each time you see him in a movie, you're like, where did that performance come from? That was fucking amazing. You know what's funny with the sniper films? They remind me

[00:15:36] because they tried starting off with a serious movie, right? Like they tried making right and then it just like you said, didn't do well. It implodes on its own self. It reminds me of the Saints Row video game series. The first one, they tried being in Grand Theft Auto, but it was too cartoony. The car physics weren't great. The stories wasn't that good. And then they're like, fuck it, let's just go off the rails. Let's just be batshit. Yeah, let's just, if we're going to do it, let's go all out. Like you said, like the Fast and Furious movies.

[00:16:06] Leprechaun. The first one was a rather serious flick. Right. And it was actually a pretty good movie overall. And you would never know that it was trying to be serious. No, but it was a solid, it was a solid six or seven out of 10 for enjoyment. And the second, and then the second one, you're like, what the hell? Totally different movie. But it had, but it had that stylized Miami vibe that made it watchable. And then the third one, I was like, nope, I'm done. Never watch another one.

[00:16:35] Just take care for the third one and that killed it. Yeah. Sir, you need to see this. Only someone with Beckett's skillset could pull off this shot. Brandon Beckett is now our primary suspect. Now assume he's armed and dangerous. Let's find him now. Dad, I've been set up. Knock, knock. Now if you're guilty, it's going to get really ugly. But if you're innocent, whoever did this is going to want to tie up loose ends.

[00:17:10] Beckett's transport has been attacked. His father. Thomas Beckett is now a priority. It seems her son isn't working alone. Okay, everyone, now let's go. We gotta move. Sir, step away from the vehicle. We got company. Check that. It's locked and loaded. It is she, the shooter that framed me. We have to take her alive.

[00:17:40] Let's get to work. You better believe I'll be the one taking that shot. Commission situation. What are you suggesting? We'll go see our old friend. Nice to see you too. Wait. What do you want? We need you. They need your help so that these animals can't do it to another group of girls. What's the plan? We need anything you can find at the location,

[00:18:10] date, time, where and when they're bringing these... I have a text thread with an address to a shipping yard, shipping container ID, et cetera. Will that do? Ready or not, here I come. Good news. Lady Death is alive. I didn't know we thought she was dead, sir. I sent her on a mission to terminate Ivan Bubalo. The cult leader? His regime is quickly gaining the political

[00:18:38] and territorial foothold to cause serious unrest in the region. Gentlemen, your mission is to extract Lady D and finish what she started. Honestly, that was pretty easy. Thought there'd be more of them. So what do you know? Johnny Patoki and I were having a wonderful chat, ready to post this, but then, newsflash, there's two new movies that came out in the span. It was like, I thought they were

[00:19:08] gonna take a break for a while. It was like, nope, nope. The digital sales are good enough. So, yeah. Long story short, parts 11, Last Stand, and part 12, No Nation. Yes, they're followed up within 2025 and 2026. There will be a part 2 sometime. But,

[00:19:38] so long story short, I thought that was a pretty cool 10 movie run. And, despite liking what they did with Grit, Global Response and Intelligence Team, I just was not digging these new scenarios. so, Sergeant Brandon Beckett. I was sent because officially the CIA can't be involved. Not on this one. What do you say handpicked individuals from agencies all over the world? We're foreigners in a hostile land.

[00:20:08] Tomorrow, we remove a threat to humanity. The death broker, weapons designer operating here on Costa Verde. We complete the mission whether we live or die. Let's get to work. Movie 11, Last Stand, has Brandon Beckett on a mission to stop an arms dealer, Breiker Hovalab, played by The Mummy's Arnold Voslow. And so, yeah, Beckett and Agent Zero lead a team of elite soldiers against an unrelenting militia in Costa Verde.

[00:20:38] Directed by Daniska Estherhazy, who is a Canadian screenwriter and film director. Looking her up, she's done everything from the Banana Splits movie to Level 16, Slumber Party Massacre, Kari Farber, and all kinds of everything to be in Lifetime movies. So, this direction was pretty bland. I didn't warm up at all to the newcomers, the new people. I just thought they were just

[00:21:08] a dime a dozen. They did not stand out to me. Body count was pretty low, but it was just so ho-hum. And just the editing was very junky, needless slow motion, and it is recently on Netflix as of the time of this recording. So, it was a 2 out of 5 for me. Yeah, really not much to speak about. Really let down. So, probably, definitely the first one where I'm like, I will not defend this ever. So, this leads into

[00:21:37] No Nation. The United States completely denies any involvement in the incident in Casta Verde. The Global Response and Intelligence Team is an enemy of the United States of America. Anyone involved in this terrorist false flag organization will be hunted down and will face the consequences. Where is Brandon Beckett? Is he still alive? What the hell am I doing here? You're being detained under the Patriot Act.

[00:22:07] That's for terrorists! I'm all zero. Where's my son? There's been an attack. Over 50 Phoenix rivals were killed in the raid. Three were taken hostage. Give me Brandon Beckett. I'll give you an honorable death. Why would they kill 50 unless they want us to go back to Casta Verde? This is a trap. Tell me everything Beckett taught you. When he comes for you, what's he gonna do? You rarely think you can take on the Iron Legion on your own.

[00:22:36] We faced worse odds. You guys just barely made it back across the border alive. But we're going in. One shot, one kill. Let's get to work. Three, two, one, fire. We can't go home after everything we've done for our country. There is no going on.

[00:23:07] You're a man of no nation. Brandon Beckett. And so, hunted by mercenaries, Brandon Beckett and his legendary dad. That's right. We got Tom Berenger back as Thomas. They decide to mount an impossible rescue mission. And so,

[00:23:38] yeah, there's some good scenes that kind of made it into the trailer of Father and Son. But basically, yeah, it's their take on Mission Impossible. Again, it's like, let's save our fellow soldiers who are going to be executed by this terrorist fleet. Ended it on a cliffhanger to where it looks like Thomas, you know, is trying to kill the one terrorist and he basically decides to try and execute him on TV.

[00:24:07] It was all kinds of stuff, but really unneeded cliffhanger, especially for a directed video B-movie franchise. Just doesn't have much new even for long-time fans that keep talking about the backstories. Like, we already know his backstory and why he's a badass. I don't need anything else between Thomas and Brandon. I bought it on Amazon Prime. I might have it on in the background just because it is beautiful to look at. It's cool how

[00:24:37] they're on a limited budget and yet they make it look bigger, but yeah, I wasn't did not hit home. It's slightly better, but by the time you get to the action is very ho-hum, despite some initial interest in the takeovers and terrorist agenda. The villains were just very lame though, but about the only thing you'll like about it is that it's a merc group called Iron Legion. Yeah,

[00:25:07] I just did not leave me with much sadly, so proceed with caution, but the first ten, pretty solid. Nothing, no complaints there. I think they did exactly what they were supposed to do. So, yeah, if you're not digging any of the other sequels, you need not proceed any further. I personally can vouch for the mostly solid ten movies. I'm really not looking forward to part 13. I don't,

[00:25:37] you know, much like Puppet Masters, there's no need to go this far at this point, and I love Tom Barringer. He should just be on a new TV show for God's sakes, instead of continue this character. Whatever. They can't all be winners, but pretty mostly solid franchise, and it was a delight to talk about for this episode finally after years trying to plan it and then getting no takers. So, hope you enjoyed our episode. Hope I left you with all kinds of detail and

[00:26:07] fun stuff. We're going to have a favorite moments episode out next year, so stay tuned if you can't get enough of Tom Barringer as Thomas Beckett. In the meantime, leave us a rating, tell us what you think of the show, if you want to come on the show and discuss something with us, please let us know. We'll return after these messages. Hi folks, Hal's back here. We've got a 90-minute weekly Shack Stop.

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[00:27:37] Eastern Time, 9 p.m. Central, 1077 K Twins. Find everything on Howshack.com Howshack. Welcome to the Better Call Daddy Show, the number one podcast where we admit no matter what happens, Daddy has the advice we need to fix our problems. Introducing my dad, Mr. Wayne Friedman. That was good. It would be nice if you could also sing a song. What would the song be? You love Paris in the springtime.

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[00:28:37] but is just like her. I'm your host, Rena Friedman-Watts. Invite your friends, subscribe, and I'm excited to take this journey with you. Let's dive in. She was teasing this guy with the sword, and she accidentally cut his dick. Oh my God, I'm dying. And then he started to enjoy it. I started going down the phone sex rabbit hole. You've got the wankers, and you jerk off in five seconds, and then they're done because A, they don't want to spend money, and B, they're quick. My stepfather had mania. If I'm yelling at one of my kids, that fear, that rigid fear. Mom even said to me,

[00:29:07] I hope you have a kid just like you. There are lots of people that are being bought and sold right now for profit. If you think you're going to kill yourself, shut up and kill yourself. If you're not going to kill yourself, then shut up, smarten up, and it's all on you. The bullshit has to end. Wow. When I was 11 years old, I was raped and molested over the course of a year. What Jeffrey Epstein had was a sickness inside of him. I am Evan Castrilli Carmichael. I can do anything that I believe that I can. I'm so excited too. Let's go.

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