Sniper is a 1993 American action film directed by Luis Llosa. The film stars Tom Berenger and Billy Zane as snipers on an assassination mission in Panama. It is the first installment in the Sniper film series, and was followed by nine direct-to-video sequels: Sniper 2, Sniper 3, Sniper: Reloaded, Sniper: Legacy, Sniper: Ghost Shooter, Sniper: Ultimate Kill, Sniper: Assassin’s End, Sniper: Rogue Mission, and Sniper: G.R.I.T. – Global Response & Intelligence Team. It was shot in Queensland, Australia, and debuted at number two in the United States.

Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett, Force Reconnaissance Marine, an experienced sniper, and his spotter, Cpl. Papich, are on a mission to assassinate a Panamanian rebel leader in the jungle. Upon successful completion of their mission, Beckett and Papich covertly withdraw from the area to await extraction. Because they are erroneously extracted in daylight instead of at night, Papich is killed by a sniper (armed with an SVD Dragunov). Beckett runs back under fire to carry Papich’s remains to the helicopter.

Later, Beckett is paired with an inexperienced civilian, Richard Miller to eliminate rebel General Miguel Alvarez funded by the Colombian drug lord, Raoul Ochoa. Miller is an Olympic medalist and SWAT team sharpshooter, but he has no combat experience, no jungle operations experience, and no confirmed kills to his name. Miller is also ordered by his superiors to kill Beckett if he threatens to undermine the covert operation. While proceeding to the staging area, Miller’s UH-1 helicopter is fired upon by a guerrilla armed with an AK-47 Rifle. Several of the helicopter’s crew and passengers are killed. With his Heckler & Koch SR9TC rifle fixed on the attacker, Miller is decidedly unable to shoot him; instead, the helicopter’s fatally-wounded door-gunner makes the kill, but the aircraft’s surviving aviator believes Miller made the crucial shot, earning Miller a false reputation.

On the mission, Beckett insists on deviating from the plan that Miller was given. This, together with the fact that Miller has no professional experience or aptitude for jungle operations, sparks friction between the two. Early on, they encounter a group of Indians, who agree to lead them past the rebel guerrillas, in return for a favor: they must agree to eliminate El Cirujano (“The Surgeon”), an ex-CIA agent and expert in torture who has been aiding the rebels. Beckett agrees to do so.

Uncertain of Miller’s reliability and skeptical about his “kill” while recently aboard the UH-1 helicopter, he tells Miller to kill El Cirujano in order to prove himself. However, when the time comes, Miller fails again by first firing a “warning shot,” followed by a shot at Cirujano’s head. Cirujano is able to dodge the head shot by ducking under it into the river in which he has been swimming. In the ensuing firefight with the alarmed guerrillas, one of the Indians is killed. Although the Indians do not directly blame either Beckett or Miller, they withdraw further help.

En route to the target, they realize they are being followed by another sniper. They head to a village to contact their informant, a priest, only to find that he has been tortured and murdered by Alvarez’s men well before they arrived. Beckett speculates out loud that it is the work of El Cirujano, calling into question Miller’s credibility. That night, Beckett marks their track with a small piece of trash to bait the follower – the sniper that killed Papich – into a trap and uses Miller as bait to pull the sniper out of hiding to take him out.

The two men finally reach the General’s hacienda. While waiting for their targets to emerge, they find Cirujano to be alive after all. Miller isn’t hidden very well, and is spotted by one of the guards trying to sneak up on Miller. Beckett kills Miller’s attacker while Miller takes out the drug lord. Being forced to save Miller’s life instead of killing the General, Beckett insists on going back to take out the General. Miller’s refusal to complete the mission leads to an exchange of fire between Beckett and Miller. Miller ceases after running out of ammunition and suffers a mental-emotional breakdown complete with hallucinations.

As rebels close in on the two, Beckett attempts to provide cover fire for Miller. Seeing himself outnumbered, he surrenders to the rebels and, knowing Miller is watching, stealthily ejects a round from the chamber of his rifle while holding it up, then drops the bullet on the ground; Miller picks it up after Beckett is taken away.