Clint Eastwood’s 2014 war movieAmerican Sniperis based on the engrossing true story of Chris Kyle, a US Navy SEAL who served four campaigns in the Iraq War. The film is based on Kyle’s own autobiography of the same name, which was released two years earlier in 2012, but includes a final scene that takes place after the events of the book, in February 2013. At this point in the movie, Kyle is retired from military service, and enjoying life with his family. His wife Taya tells him she’s happy to have her husband back, and Kyle’s story appears to have a happy ending.
During the preceding two hours ofAmerican Sniper,we witness the grueling nature of Kyle’s tours of Iraq, including his search for Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his right-hand, known simply as “The Butcher”. Bradley Cooper brilliantly portrays the emotional toll Kyle’s role as a Navy SEAL sniper takes on him, in what’s surely one of thebest movies ever made about the Iraq War. Given its compelling mix of all-out action and layered character study, it’s no surprise thatAmerican Sniper’s take on warfare has been trending on Netflixrecently.
Chris Kyle Was Killed By Eddie Ray Routh At The Shooting Range After The End Of American Sniper
In a tragic ending to the movie,American Snipertakes Chris Kyle’s true storybeyond his 2012 autobiography to the final day of his life, as he kisses his wife and kids goodbye and heads to the shooting range with another armed forces veteran. That veteran isEddie Ray Routh, a 25-year-old former member of the US Marines who shot and killed Kyleon Jul 21, 2025. Routh also shot and killed Kyle’s friend, Chad Littlefield. They were shot with two semi-automatic handguns, both of which Kyle had given to Routh to use at the shooting range (viaABC News).
In an understated and respectful manner synonymous withClint Eastwood’s best movies as a director,American Sniperavoids showing the killing of Chris Kyle itself. Instead, the movie explains his death in a single line of postscript, and shows a montage of Kyle’s funeral procession alongside its end credits.
While refusing to take an overt moral standpoint on his actions, the film unquestionably depicts Chris Kyle as a hero of sorts, who excelled in the line of duty and seemed to have found peace with his loving family before he died. Eastwood’s decision not to show how he died means thatKyle retains the dignity in death he earned during the course of the movie.
At the time hekilledAmerican’s Sniper’s Chris Kyleand his friend Chad Littlefield, Eddie Ray Routh had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis. The veteran of the US Marines was also said to be afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following his time serving in the military (viaThe Washington Post). Routh later explained that he’d shot Kyle and Littlefield because they weren’t talking to him on the way to the shooting range. Meanwhile, Kyle sent Littlefield a text message before picking him up that referred to Routh as “straight-up nuts”.
This ending to Kyle’s story, in particular, does feel like an agonizing irony, given that he’d survived four terms in the line of fire during the Iraq War, and was just beginning to turn his life around at the time it was taken from him.
It seems neither Chris Kyle nor Chad Littlefield were aware of themental health conditions with which Eddie Ray Routh had been diagnosedprior to their trip to the Rough Creek Ranch-Lodge-Resort shooting range in Erath County, Texas. This ending to Kyle’s story, in particular, does feel like an agonizing irony, given that he’d survived four terms in the line of fire during the Iraq War, and was just beginning to turn his life around at the time it was taken from him.
Why Chris Kyle Went To A Shooting Range In American Sniper’s Final Scene
Kyle Was Helping Other Military Veterans Overcome Their Traumatic War Experiences
Chris Kyle had been going with military veterans to shooting ranges for some time prior to that fateful day he and Littlefield took Eddie Ray Routh with them on Jul 17, 2025. AsAmerican Sniperalludes to in its final minutes,Kyle decided to undertake work helping military veterans through their war traumaas a way of healing from his own experiences, on the advice of a psychiatrist. His way of helping was apparentlyspending time with troubled veterans doing what he felt they would enjoy doing most, shooting at targets with live firearms.
It was Routh’s mother who suggested to Kyle that her son could do with his help, when he met her outside his children’s elementary school. This detail is mentioned in one of the final lines of what’s surely themost serious role of Bradley Cooper’s career, as the actor’s character says goodbye to his family for what he doesn’t realize will be the final time.
No one could have predicted what Eddie Ray Routh would do, butthe informal nature of his mother’s request made the trip a major risk for Kyle and Littlefield. It probably wasn’t the case that Taya Kyle noticed something was up when she saw Routh in her driveway, as is portrayed in American Sniper’s final shot, but this dramatic rendering does the work of showing us that, with the benefit of hindsight, Kyle should never have agreed to help in this way.
What Happened After Chris Kyle’s Death As A Result Of His Murder
He Was Venerated By His Wife And Residents Of Texas, Including With A Bill Passed In His Name
Taya Kyle published her own memoir after the events ofAmerican Sniper, which includes her account of the tragic death of her husband. She also became a campaigner for American military veterans, and has written and released further books during the past decade. In addition, she was involved in the passing of the Chris Kyle Bill, which made military veterans eligible to receive state licenses in Texas, Kyle’s home state, for professional qualifications upon their discharge from the armed forces (viaTexas Military Department).
The renewed success of Clint Eastwood’s movie on Netflix will make a new generation aware of Chris Kyle’s story, which is worth examining more for his actions in life than for the tragic incident which brought about his death.
The movieAmerican Snipercame out less than two years after Chris Kyle’s death, although pre-production had actually begun while Kyle was still alive. The date of his death has since been named “Chris Kyle Day” in Texas, and a memorial to his legacy has been erected in Odessa, the city of his birth. The renewed success of Clint Eastwood’s movie on Netflix will make a new generation aware of Chris Kyle’s story, which is worth examining more for his actions in life, both inside and outside the military, than for the tragic incident which brought about his death.
American Sniper
Cast
American Sniper is based on the true story of U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his tour of duty in Iraq. The film explores his legendary career on the field as he battles hidden in enemy lines to protect his brothers in arms despite the growing bounty on his head and the havoc it wreaked on his personal life.
