Drones (2013)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Absolutely brilliant

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Powerful gripping drama with faultless acting from Mumford and O'Leary. SPOILER: The "iron" is only dropped when for Mumford it becomes personal. Okay, so O'Leary's role reversal isn't totally convincing but this is a drama about ideas and the positions people take to adjust to their situations. And of course we are left to wonder if the target was a terrorist.

Not an action movie!I tend to like movies with onion layers to their central conflict, and this one did have them. It was not well written or acted though. Echoing the opening scene of WarGames, the movie explores the well- trodden dramatic area of 'orders versus morality' found so often in movies such as A Few Good Men.Better Dialogue, character development, and acting would add to this and crank up the tension. The perfect soldier (trainee) was difficult to believe as having moral qualms. The fundamental difference between warfare with piloted versus drone aircraft (in harm's way) was all but ignored with more of a focus on collateral damage. Well, F22's kill innocents too, so I have trouble understanding why the trainee has reservations. Assuming her strong education, not only in the military, but in theories of war and government, she should have come to grips with "following orders" long before she was put into this situation. The senior pilot (trainer) was a reasonable 1-dimensional character as the pizza- eating, video-gaming pilot that had no care in the world. The character growth and changes in point of view during the movie is sudden and slightly inexplicable. Additionally, the contact with the chain of command and the lack of support from the military for this pair of drone pilots was unbelievable.As all of the action takes place in a desert trailer, this movie would be better-suited to a stage presentation.

This film raises thought provoking questions about the intersection of technology, morality and war. It deals with several different moral issues. The story line is that there are two people assigned to man a drone spy plane and they have to decide whether the person arriving at the site they are spying on is correctly identified as the Al-Qaeda terrorist they think he is, and they have to decide whether or not they should take him out if it involves killing other people including children. They are also aware of how the attack will be reported and spun (i.e. the other people will be considered as conspirators, even though clearly that isn't the case.) There are issues involving the idea of the ends justifying the means, as well as the psychological issues including the effects of these decisions on the people manning the drones. It also raises questions related to the use of drones and privacy and the fact that drones provide a way to look into every corner of the world, including ones normally considered private. It makes a great movie to use as a springboard for discussions.

Thoroughly enjoyed how this movie's intensity builds. Though provoking and left me thinking about it long after. News stories on drones now catch my eye more than ever. Great acting, great cinematography, Great movie.There are a few tiny nuances that you need to go back and watch again to fully appreciate some of the character and story directional changes.Young, up and coming actors did a great job, especially as a lot of it is one on one dialog. No doubt, I am looking forward to seeing what they appear in next!