5 War Movies That Real Veterans Hated (And 5 They Approve Of)

3. American Sniper

Clint Eastwood has plenty of experience in the war genre dating back to the 1960s and '70s when he starred alongside the likes of Richard Burton and Telly Savalas in Where Eagles Dare and Kelly's Heroes respectively. Both films are remembered fondly as classics of the era, but his more recent ventures into the genre have garnered significantly more criticism. American Sniper, recounting the experiences of Chris Kyle's involvement in and return from the Iraq War, has both critics and veterans alike divided. Though some sources may praise the film as beautifully patriotic, others are calling it warmongering. Garett Reppenhagen was himself an American Sniper in Iraq between 2004 and 2005, and although he empathises with Eastwood's look into the moral stresses caused by conflict, he disagrees with the harsh depictions of the Iraqis themselves. He takes special exception to the film's conscious decision to slate them as "savages". "During my combat tour I never saw the Iraqis as savages," he recalls, "They were a friendly culture who believed in hospitality, and were sometimes positive to a fault." His warning to take the film with a pinch of salt is a wise one, given the notable lack of political or historical context throughout. But despite Reppenhagen and other veterans denouncing American Sniper as a dangerously black and white depiction of war, they have noted its importance in bringing some much-needed attention to this unfinished chapter in America's history. Since the film's release, the questioning of war and in particular the treatment of returning veterans has rarely been out of the news, and that's a welcome change for a good amount of vets.