“Good Kill” (2014)

[bigburner]

Drone warfare is a big deal – well it is for me – even if most of it is conducted out of sight and out of mind of the citizens of the Western nations that are prosecuting the war. This film from director Andrew Niccol explores the dilemma of killing enemy fighters but also killing innocent civilians in the process.

Our hero Thomas, played by Ethan Hawke, is an ex-fighter pilot who now flies drones over enemy territory from an air conditioned container on an Air Force base outside of Las Vegas. The ‘collateral damage’ associated with his job is already causing him to be conflicted but it gets worse when the CIA takes control of his missions and the people giving him orders become much less concerned with the collateral damage.

I liked this film because it treated a difficult subject with equanimity and gave equal air time to both sides of the debate. I identified with Thomas’s situation. I had sympathy for him when his home life collapsed because of his problems at work. War is not fun and this film didn’t glorify it.

If you are at all interested in the ongoing war on terror then this is a film that you should consider watching.

Nigel.

[madmac]

I believe drones are the future of warfare, which is not going anywhere, anytime soon. I'm actually surprised that the military are not using them more now that the technology is there. We'll probably have drone ground troops too one day, so we can let the robots fight our wars for us!

......Then of course, we all know what happens next right???

They become SELF AWARE !!

[Chris D]

I hear ya, Nigel. This subject has some deep and very serious issues inside. I'll definitely check out the movie. Surprised I hadn't heard of it

[Chris D]

Whooooooooaaaaaaaa.... Rented this one. Very profound. As an Air Force pilot, I thought it was 95% very well researched and portrayed. The (large) part of the story about Ethan Hawke's character as a senior drone pilot was very well done, capturing how those guys are overworked, and have to deal with major issues, set against "regular" life just outside the trailer, and at home in the evenings.

Yes, the filmmaker Andrew does overall a great job of getting you thinking of the different issues without being preachy about his own take. Very tough to do. Some of it is fortuitous. Some of the situation and portrayal is wayyyyy out of line, things that would never happen in true combat situations. But in general it's well done.

I don't think this movie is for everyone. There are those that won't like it as a film, that it's not exciting or engaging enough for them, I.e. If they try to view it as an "action flick". Others, without an appreciation for the drone warfare issue, or that are VERY biased due to unwavering political agendas, may just get angry at issues or characters in the film. Sadly I don't think people can really understand Hawke's character, either, without having combat experience of their own. But the filmmakers got a lot of his character right.

:4: out of :5: for me, and I'll likely watch again, with the same heavy heart I bore with the first watching.