Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was very reluctant to give the makers of this movie my money because I was pretty sure from the previews what it would be. I figured I would bite the bullet and do it so I could have some credibility in my review. First of all, I work in the RPA (aka drone) community at the very base this fantasy is based on. The movie actually did not start out bad, much of it was accurate (the ground station setup, actually having an intel guy there, etc) except for a few silly cliches such as the commander having to use the "f" word in every sentence. Then the CIA took over, here is where the movie turned into complete fantasy and telling people what they want to hear rather than the truth. It is sad because this was an opportunity lost. PTSD in "drone" crews is a real thing, there is something psycho in overwatching a warzone for 8 hours then going home to your family. This movie became less about that and more about telling how evil the missions are. So I will list some things from this movie that were pure fiction: 1. The pre-CIA scene where kids run into the strike....and they went ahead with the strike. Would never happen in real life. 2. The whole "I want to go back to combat" crap. Real fighter pilots are never in "combat" these days. We are not fighting a military with surface-to-air missiles or other threats to shoot them down. This guy was as safe flying over Afghanistan in his F-16 as he was in Vegas. In fact I do agree, he would be more likely to die driving home in Vegas than he would flying in Afghanistan. There is no "combat" for an F-16 pilot over there. Yes if you do have a mechanical issue and crash you are in danger, other than that....give me a break. 3. Maj Egan talking about the thrill of landing on an aircraft carrier. Ummmm....the Air Force does not do that, and the F-16 is not even capable of it. Loss of credibility. If they cannot get simple stuff like this right why would you believe everything else? 4. Killing first responders after a strike. Bullcrap. Simply does not happen. The entire Langley thing was just absurd in general. 5. Waiting for a target to arrive at home with the family prior to killing it. Bullcrap. Again, complete fantasy. 6. Bombing the funeral. Holy crap, are you kidding me? 7. This was the kicker for me. "I did a good thing today". Really Ethan? You finally did a good thing? Funny because when we still had a heavy presence in Afghanistan that was 90% of our missions....overwatching friendlies to keep them safe. How ironic the main mission we had over there was turned into the "one good thing" this guy did in the entire movie. What a slap in the face to the real men and women who do this job. This movie is a fantasy to make money off of the whole "drone" controversy that has plagued this program. We have dozens of these things in the air 24/7, you hear about a wedding be bombed how often? Rarely. Why? Because when something like that happens it is an accident, NEVER intentional. In the several years I have been in this program I have never seen a civilian casualty. Strikes in general are rare, the majority of the job is flying in circles watching. Now for the bottom line. Would you rather have a Maj Egan over there putting his/her life at risk to drop that bomb? Or an unmanned aircraft? What difference does it really make? If you were Taliban would you care what kind of aircraft dropped that bomb? As a pilot tucked far away under the safety of your altitude and distance from the target does it really make you feel more brave to drop it from 30,000 feet away than it does 10,000 miles? This movie is fantasy. Watch it as such. Falling for this ridiculousness is a slap in the face of those who do work tirelessly to protect not only you here at home, but our troops overseas, as well as the civilians over there that these terrorist groups kill daily. Keep that in mind when you are watching this. The director could have had a great human story here about the true trials of these crews, the good they do, the mistakes than CAN happen that they must live with, and the PTSD that does come along with it for some. Instead he took the low road. Shame on you. Finally, in my years in this business I have NEVER met anyone on a crew that resembled the main character here. The vast majority have complete job satisfaction when it comes to the mission. Complaints come in the same form you see at any workplace....don't care for the hours, the commute, don't like your boss, etc. The vast majority are highly motivated professionals that believe in what we are doing. I personally would quit tomorrow if we started doing the crap that is claimed in this movie.