Eye In The Sky (Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet)
Blu-Ray Reviews | Jun 30th, 2016
Starring: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi, Jeremy Northam, Iain Glen
Written By: Guy Hibbert
Directed By: Gavin Hood
Studio: Universal
Buy On Amazon.com
I’m not sure if this movie was released in theaters in the US but it’s an interesting, intense and compelling look at the drone war that is happening today. It features an excellent cast and sadly, one of Alan Rickman’s last movies. That’s reason alone to see this.
Eye in the Sky is about Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren), who is running a secret drone operation in Kenya. Their targets are discovered in a safe house, and plan to use suicide vests. As American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to fire on the house, a 9 year old girl enters the kill zone. They have to decide to engage the target and kill everyone around the house including innocent people or do nothing. The incident sparks a debate between UK and US government and the people involved.
I’m not sure why I didn’t hear much about this movie when it was released. I usually like military movies but just didn’t hear anything about Eye in the Sky. Honestly, it should have gotten more press because of the cast. This was Alan Rickman’s last featured role where he was on screen (not animated in the Alice in Wonderland sequel). He was terrific and makes me just sad he’s no longer with us. Helen Mirren stars in an unusual role for her, as a Colonel leading the mission. Aaron Paul was good as the drone pilot operator, and seems like he was brought in just because he’s amazing when it comes to dramatic things. It’s all in his eyes, especially when he’s crying.
The movie itself was intense and definitely makes you think about the usage of drones. In one aspect it takes out your enemies with limited usage of your military (in a way). Then there’s the collateral damage part of it. You have to calculate how many lives you’ll be saving if some friendlies get killed. I’m glad i’m not in some position that has to make those tough calls. I can see both points of views on the usage of drones. I’m surprised there hasn’t been too many movies about drones yet. We get a little glimpse of it from TV shows like Homeland but not too many movies about it.
The extras were disappointing since it’s pretty much just 2 trailers or boring EPK videos. Not a lot of effort or money went into the extras unfortunately. The movie itself is worth watching of the performances of Mirren, Paul and of course Rickman. Eye in the Sky is an intelligent, very relevant war movie that shows you the consequences to drone warfare.
Features
Perspectives: Examining ethical conflicts of drone warfare.
Morals: Exploring the deeper questions raised in the film.
Audio
English Dolby Digital 5.1
English Dolby Digital Stereo
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Video
Widescreen 2.40:1 Color (Anamorphic)
Bottom Line: Intelligent and interesting movie about drone warfare
Running Time: 206 mins
Rating: R
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
