Just came back from the theater. Excellent movie. But, the book is even better. There was a lot left out of the book that better explained the tension in Kyle’s marriage. Also Eastwood left out an important point that Kyle makes several times in the book. That is the futility of what they were doing. Kyle mentioned in Ramadi they would clear a block of houses and then have to go back a week or so later and clear them again. Even the houses that he used as sniper platforms would have insurgents in them right after Kyle left. He tells a funny story of getting ready to load up in the humvee and realized he left his rifle behind. He went back to get it with a buddy and the damn insurgents were already approaching the house. He’d been gone like 10 minutes! He shot a few of them and then went in to get his rifle. geez, just a hopeless situation over there.
They used CGI to make Gary Sinise a double amputee in Forrest Gump.
Were the disabled vets in American Sniper real or CGI? They looked pretty darn real too me. But geez the stuff they do these days with CGI is amazing.
btw, did you notice the incredibly bad fake prego belly in the scene where Kyle’s wife got the ultra sound? So obviously a plastic prop.
Yeah, why did they use that doll? movies and tv use real babies in short scenes all the time. Considering Eastwood’s directing experience its unforgivable.
I believe the real answer regarding the plastic baby is they had TWO real babies lined up. One got ill and the other just never turned up on set.
Clint Eastwood is legendary for moving fast and bringing films to completion on or ahead of an already tight schedule. No baby? Clint just kept rolling with a plastic doll instead.
Not sure what it says about artistic integrity but compared to some Hollywood excess it is refreshing.
I looked around and can’t find any articles on disabled vets used in American Sniper. Usually I see profile reports or short interviews with specially cast extras. How’d you get cast, war experiences, injuries etc.
Seems likely these are real people. Why waste CGI dollars and time when there are so many real war vets out there?
One of the veterans is played by Anthony Jennings, who has many other credits in his filmography as “amputee soldier,” “man with prosthetic,” “one foot zombie,” etc.
Another one is Jacob Schick, who also has a prosthetic leg.
The others don’t have any additional info or pictures on their imdb pages.
When it’s just a background character, production will almost always just cast someone who has the disability they are looking for - amputated leg, arm, etc. They’ll only start worrying about CGI if it’s for a role that will be cast for an actor’s performance rather than just what an actor looks like.