Drones (2013)

Totally unbelievable. Typical tripe from the Hollywood liberal establishment proselytizing their agenda. Two people like the two idiots in this movie would never be allowed to work drone missions. If we do in fact have people like those two working drone missions, our country is in deep trouble. One of the most horse poop movies I have ever seen.

I spent twenty years in the army as an infantryman and combat helicopter pilot. This movie does hit very well on the ethical dilemmas that can be found on the battlefield and in this case above it. These people are like modern day snipers who looks through a high powered scope and can see clearly the faces and activities of those they're about to pull the trigger on. The flaws, it does take some time to develop the story-line, but the payoff was worth it. The box cover has nothing at all to do with the movie. The pluses, this movie is a great example of how humanity may step in and make the job of "make contact and destroy" a much more difficult thing to do for some to do than others. No one expects these people to behave like the robots they're controlling, and in reality in the position of the drone operators, they are versed heavily in rules of engagement. As a team member operating a predator or reaper this possibility would have been covered before she was put in that command unit. There are times when they have to wait for the target to be in a position which would afford the ability to eliminate collateral damage. The principle of ground warfare today is that we do everything possible to limit civilian casualties, but as it's a war zone, there is absolutely no way to eliminate it completely. Some take solace in the fact that the technology they've demonstrated in the movie has caused much fewer civilian casualties than any other conflict in history along with keeping friendly casualties to a minimum. In reality, should this degree of an officers conscious present itself during a drone mission, one or both operators would have been relieved immediately. For the sake of plot, the fact that the woman was a generals daughter I'm assuming that's why it didn't happen immediately to allow her the opportunity to follow orders and not be disgraced as these missions are highly classified and likely would not have been exposed to the scrutiny of her peers in the air force or the public.I felt that the writing was pretty good except for the turn of events from her partners guilt at the end. Other than that my opinion was that it was a very good movie showing an officer who's moral difficulties in performing the job should have kept her out of that position in the first place. The acting was good in the fact that the conversations between Bowles and Lawson was exactly what I've experienced after 20 years in combat arms, especially the cavalier attitude of the airman. There are two facts in wars, (1) innocent people do die and (2) you can't stop innocent people from dying. His acceptance in that allowed him to do the job without the emotional toll the job was taking would not affect his ability to do his duty. He obviously had to deal with the death of innocent people his previous strike had caused but tried to play it off as sh*t happens or "the greater good".These missions are highly complicated matters which requires a great deal of patience as well as keeping an accurate account of the smallest of information observed to be reported and processed in the higher echelons of the organization which was demonstrated quite well. They did a really good job.

This modern military drama reminded me of By Dawn's Early Light and Lebanon. In all three, we watch a military crew in charge of a combat vehicle who have some serious decisions to make based on limited evidence. The consequences for not using deadly force could be just as disastrous as using it, to potential casualties and also to the careers and even the freedom of the actors involved. In all 3 films, we are limited to only seeing and knowing what the people in the bomber, the tank, or in this case the drone control shed can see and hear. The atmosphere becomes ever more intense as the consequences of their choices become less and less possible to avoid. There are some technical shortcomings to the film, such as background music that often overpowers the actors' voices. I was still quite impressed with the plausibility of the situation, even if the exact circumstances of the setting are an extreme example of brinkmanship and interpersonal conflict that could most likely only appear in a script. The dialog is authentic enough to pass muster. There are no obvious plot holes, and both characters seem to be trying their very best to do the right thing ethically while considering the awful, irreversibly life altering consequences of being wrong. Worth seeing and worth thinking about, because war is always messy and soldiers will always have to make life and death decisions based on disturbingly incomplete knowledge.

This is the first movie I've seen, or even heard about, that focuses entirely on military drone operators and their distant targets. Yes, there are lots of contrivances and manipulations, as well as misogynistic tones to the film, but I thought the filmmakers maintained a good deal of tension throughout and there are plenty of twists and turns here.I don't know if there is a specific agenda here or what the exact rules-of- engagement are for military drone strikes, but as noted by two reviewers before me on this site, the movie made me think as the drama unfolded and various concepts were presented on either side of the drone attacks, which I believe will be debated for many years to come.Eloise Mumford stars as Lt. Sue Lawson, who's on her first day at her job as a military drone console operator, at Creech Air Force Base, in Nevada. She's the daughter of a 4 star general, a trained boxer, and was "top stick" at the Air Force Academy before a detached retina forced her out of the skies.Matt O'Leary co-stars as Airman Jack Bowles, who's the more experienced of the two. He's the pilot at the drone controls, and has already had 23 successful "target prosecutions" over the past 11 months.The movie is almost entirely focused on their one shift to track a suspected terrorist Mahmoud Kahlil, in Afghanistan, and eliminate him with a missile strike. With Kahlil's parent's home being surveilled, it becomes apparent that Kahlil should be joining them and other family members for his birthday.However, as the tension mounts for a possible strike, a rift develops between Lt. Lawson and Airman Bowles which threatens the whole operation, despite direct orders from a supervising Colonel. As mentioned, this will lead to various dramatic twists and will escalate into a startling and disturbing ending.In summary, I thought the director Rick Rosenthal, as well as writer Matt Whitten, maintained good pacing throughout as well as a strong sense of realism. I feel this film will be controversial for many, as it raises a number of questions about drone strikes currently being used by the military.