British Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren, Woman in Gold) has finally tracked down terrorists 2, 4 & 5 from her Top 5 Most Wanted list. However, her top priority is British citizen-turned-terrorist Susan Helen Danford, whom she has been trying to capture for the past 6 years. Powell’s surveillance shows Danford, her husband and another terror suspect hiding out in a small town in Nairobi, Kenya. As she prepares her soldiers for a capture mission, new surveillance video reveals that the couple is fitting two suicide bombers with vests, making it too dangerous to go in.

So Powell tries to get approval to change the mission from “capture” to “kill” mission from a group of key political representatives back in London, led by Lt. General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman, Harry Potter). However, this sets off a chain of people trying to pass the buck as no one wants to go on record for giving the authorization to blow up two British subjects and a US citizen in a friendly country. Meanwhile, in a bunker in an Air Force base in Nevada, drone pilot Lt. Steve Watts (Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad) and trainee Airman First Class Carrie Gershon (Phoebe Fox, The Hollow Crown) prepare to launch the drone that will take out the targets. However, the situation gets even more complicated when a 9-year-old girl starts selling bread in the blast zone.

Eye in the Sky takes an interesting look at the ethics, behind-the-scenes political debates and moral quandaries of drone warfare. The film gives the viewer a look at the events from many different perspectives—Powell’s drive and determination to capture and/or kill these terrorists by any means necessary; the lawyers and politicians trying to justify the legal ramifications of the actions and whether or not they are following the proper Rules of Engagement; other politicians who are just adamantly against a “kill” action; the soldier in charge of computing the blast radius who’s under direct pressure from Powell to “make the numbers work”; the soldier with a conscience who ultimately has the blood on his hands if he pulls the trigger on the drone; the trainee who is new to this whole world of drone warfare; and the innocent people who are unaware any of this is going on until they are forced to deal with the death and destruction left in its wake. The film doesn’t try to make any political statement as to whether drone warfare is good or bad, but does serve as a great discussion-starter on the topic. One of the most fascinating debates to me was when one character raises the question as to whether it is better for them PR-wise to have 80 people die at the hands of a suicide bomber, or one 9-year-old girl die as a result of their drone strike.

The film takes place more or less in real time once Powell discovers her targets and is under pressure to get her OK to fire before it’s too late. This realtime pressure leads to some really tense moments as there is this constant sense of urgency and race against the clock. Additional tension is injected into the story when Powell needs to send a man on the ground (Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips) to set up surveillance as there’s this constant fear of him getting caught. And the major tension comes as the child, who’ve we’ve already gotten to know earlier, arrives in the danger zone to sell her bread.

In addition to building the tension, the filmmakers have also done an excellent job at conveying the frustration of all of the bureaucratic red tape that Powell must go through in order to alter her mission. Every time it seems like she has found the right person to make the final call, they pass the buck to someone else. These moments are also used to add a little humor to break up the tension of the mission. Whether it’s the U.S. Secretary of State who’s in the middle of playing ping pong in China or the Foreign Secretary (Iain Glen, Game of Thrones) as he’s dealing with food poisoning, some of the people in the “kill chain” are in some humorously-awkward positions when they receive their authorization requests.

Eye in the Sky has a stellar cast, both in the main cast as well as those who appear in the dysfunctional “kill chain” that has to approve Powell’s request. Helen Mirren is superb as this tough colonel on a mission who is willing to comprise ethics and the truth to do what she believes is right. Aaron Paul gives a great performance as the soldier with a conscience—he really conveys the moral dilemma faced by this man and how the situation ultimately changes him. During the political discussions, the film almost feels like a play. This is especially true of the situation room, where actors Alan Rickman, Jeremy Northam (New Worlds), Monica Dolan (The Casual Vacancy) and Richard McCabe (Doctor Thorne) add a nice level of realism to their performances as the characters debate.

The visual presentation on this Blu-ray looks quite nice, with a clear, crisp picture that captures the colors beautifully, both in interior and exterior shots. The drone/surveillance footage overlays are nicely blended in, and never become detracting or distracting. The audio track provides clear dialogue, but I only really noticed the surround track in one scene where the U.S. Secretary of State is in the middle of a hall surrounded by people playing ping pong. The Blu-ray Combo Pack release also includes DVD and Digital HD copies of the film. However, the on-disc bonus features are rather disappointing—just two 90-second promotional trailers that include some sound bytes from actress Helen Mirren, director Gavin Hood and producer Colin Firth. It’s unfortunate that no other material was included—I would have loved to have heard a commentary track on a film with such a thought-provoking theme.

What’s Included:
Film: (1:42:45)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

DVD:

• 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Digital Copy (See NBCUcodes.com for redemption deadline):

• Digital HD Copy redeemable UltraViolet (Universal, Flixster, Vudu or CinemaNow) OR iTunes

Extras:

• Perspective (1:22)
  Star Helen Mirren (“Colonel Katherine Powell”), director Gavin Hood and producer Colin Firth talk about the moral quandry at the heart of the film.
• Morals (1:31)
  Director Gavin Hood, star Helen Mirren (“Colonel Katherine Powell”) and producer Colin Firth talk about the moral issues and human costs of drone warfare and whether one outweighs the other.

Final Thoughts:

Eye in the Sky is a thought-provoking film that takes a look into the ethics, politics and moral quandaries of drone warfare. It starts off a little slow, but pays off later as it builds the tension and central moral dilemma. The Blu-ray video presentation looks great, while the audio track is sufficient but a bit underwhelming. Unfortunately, the discs include hardly any supplemental material—just two 90-second promotional trailers. Eye in the Sky is definitely worth checking out due to its stellar cast/performances and thought-provoking storyline. However, some folks may prefer a rental due to the lack of bonus features.