Drones (2013)

Drones: Directed by Rick Rosenthal. With Matt O’Leary, Eloise Mumford, Whip Hubley, William Russ. Two soldiers are tasked with deciding the fate of a terrorist with a single push of a button. With time running out, their window to use a deadly military drone on the target slowly closes.

“Not too many movies really make me think. This one did.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI donu0026#39;t know what motivated the people that made this film, but their work stuck me much deeper than I expected.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe main characters are two soldiers in a military installation where they are assigned to man a drone spy plane. They are searching for the u0026quot;enemyu0026quot; and when they find one the drone is equipped with weapons to u0026quot;take them out.u0026quot; Thatu0026#39;s their job; find u0026#39;em and kill u0026#39;em. All with the push of a button.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCausing collateral damage (killing innocent civilians) is supposed to be just another part of the job. After all, the good outweighs the bad because the people they kill, will themselves kill even more innocents – think 911 – if theyu0026#39;re not stopped.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is a new form of warfare. In the u0026quot;old daysu0026quot; you just dropped a bomb from the sky and never saw the people you incinerated. But now, super high definition cameras display the faces of the people you are about to turn into human hamburger on your computer monitor; up close and personal.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe drone team think they have spotted a super enemy. A high ranking member of the Al-Qaeda that is a must kill. Thereu0026#39;s only one problem: there are a house full of innocents at the same location. This includes women and children; even a baby.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eConscience begins to surface. Do they kill a dozen innocents to get this one enemy, or not? Think about what you know of Nazi soldiers who explained their actions by saying they were u0026quot;just following orders.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe find and kill operation takes two people to complete. One cannot fire the kill shot without the other being in compliance. Listen to the kill or donu0026#39;t kill conversation between our two soldiers. Ask yourself the same questions that they ask. What would you do?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDonu0026#39;t get me wrong. I support the military. I am grateful for the men and women that have made the decision to; if necessary, lay down their lives to defend and protect this country. That means your life, my life, and the lives of all the people we know and love. Many heroic men and women have already laid down their lives in the service of their country. They deserve to be honored, they deserve our respect, they deserve our gratitude. They have mine.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut this film raises moral questions about how we fight Al-Qaeda that did not exist when we fought our enemies of the past. Push button warfare. How much u0026quot;collateral damageu0026quot; is acceptable? Is it acceptable at all? Is there a point of depreciating returns where we become as bad; or even worse than our enemies? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTake a look at the IMDb listing of the u0026quot;starsu0026quot; of this film. See who is ranked first, second and third. There is a reason for it.”