Great/memorable scenes in otherwise forgettable/substandard movies

[TrashMaster G 17668]

 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28824]

I’m sure I’ll catch some shit for this, but the D-Day invasion scene at the start of Saving Private Ryan because I thought the rest of the movie was bad. Here they’ve got a soldier somewhere in Europe and they don’t know where he is. Go find him! Because apparently they had no chain of command and soldiers in combat couldn’t send or receive mail. And then he got found! Totally credible. 

[Helobious 9483]

 

[TwiceHorn 31653]

23 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I’m sure I’ll catch some shit for this, but the D-Day invasion scene at the start of Saving Private Ryan because I thought the rest of the movie was bad. Here they’ve got a soldier somewhere in Europe and they don’t know where he is. Go find him! Because apparently they had no chain of command and soldiers in combat couldn’t send or receive mail. And then he got found! Totally credible. 

Agreed that the plot is not a particular strong point.  Not sure your particular criticism is on point as units were in pretty serious disarray in the days and weeks after the invasion.

But SPR is a movie full of pretty solid scenes.  The sum is not greater than its parts.

[WhatTheBuck 28824]

29 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Agreed that the plot is not a particular strong point.  Not sure your particular criticism is on point as units were in pretty serious disarray in the days and weeks after the invasion.

But SPR is a movie full of pretty solid scenes.  The sum is not greater than its parts.

The best thing that came out of Saving Private Ryan was Band of Brothers where they had a true story to tell and not a fictional one. And it demonstrated that chain of command wasn’t in disarray for all that long. How long did it take Tom Hanks to locate Matt Damon? Not a short period of time.

And I’d disagree that there were a bunch of solid scenes. I’d argue that most of the movie was made up of fictional scenarios designed to make Tom Hanks look like a heroic good guy. I used to love Steven Spielberg’s direction when I was a teen but when I got older I just came to see it as cheesy and heavy handed. (Like the little girl in the red dress scene in Schindler’s List. Just beat me over the head with a stick, why don’t you.)

Edited July 4, 2021 by WhatTheBuck

[Guest]

I thought SPR did a great job of depicting Captain Miller as an anti-hero.  He was an everyday, common man; digging deep to be the leader his men needed.  He was scared as fuck just like the rest of em.

 

As a veteran, one of the other poignant scenes in SPR was when Vin Diesel gets popped by the sniper. Nobody's going to just take their gear( helmet) off because there's a civilian in distress.

[TwiceHorn 31653]

25 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

The best thing that came out of Saving Private Ryan was Band of Brothers where they had a true story to tell and not a fictional one. And it demonstrated that chain of command wasn’t in disarray for all that long. How long did it take Tom Hanks to locate Matt Damon? Not a short period of time.

And I’d disagree that there were a bunch of solid scenes. I’d argue that most of the movie was made up of fictional scenarios designed to make Tom Hanks look like a heroic good guy. I used to love Steven Spielberg’s direction when I was a teen but when I got older I just came to see it as cheesy and heavy handed. (Like the little girl in the red dress scene in Schindler’s List. Just beat me over the head with a stick, why don’t you.)

Well, when I say solid scenes, I am focusing more on the drama of the realistic depiction of combat, which is probably something of a screenwriting cop out.  Meaning, the drama inherent to that depiction of the action overshadows any actual drama written into the screenplay.

After Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and a host of other highly realistic war movies since, that drama has worn off.  I re-watched SPR recently and while it is still pretty entertaining, it isn't really a standout flick anymore.

Agreed that it is pretty heavy handed at times.

Edited July 4, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[futureman 22562]

I’ve considered this concept quite a bit wrt “the counselor” written by cormac mccarthy. some of the individual scenes and their dialogue can be pretty great. javier bardem and brad pitt and even john leguizamo have some powerful screen presence and deliver some great lines. but the movie as a whole is one big pile of shit. and I’m not sure cameron diaz has ever been worse. still, I enjoy most of the characters and certain scenes I find highly entertaining. 

Edited July 4, 2021 by futureman

[Guest Lobo]

Yeah, that movie continues to puzzle me.  Superlative writer, above-average to very good director.  Tremendous cast (except Cameron Diaz, never has an actress traded so effectively on blowjobs given 20 years ago).  And the plot is still incredibly interesting, but the movie just fucking sucks.  It'll make for a fascinating case study in film school 30 years from now.  But there are two rather pedestrian scenes (one with coffee, one with beer) in the film between Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender.  And they bring to life Cormac's words like magicians working the most subtle way.  

[Surly Bevo 25289]

It's not a bad move, actually rather enjoyable but behold the first serious scene Jim Carrey ever delivers as a lead actor (yes a little heavy handed but I remember when I first saw it I thought...oh so this guy can do a bit more than talk out of his ass)

 

[CooterBrown 18039]

I thought SPR did a great job of depicting Captain Miller as an anti-hero.  He was an everyday, common man; digging deep to be the leader his men needed.  He was scared as fuck just like the rest of em.
 
As a veteran, one of the other poignant scenes in SPR was when Vin Diesel gets popped by the sniper. Nobody's going to just take their gear( helmet) off because there's a civilian in distress.

At the time I thought the opposite. His civilian life was too perfect. Of course he’s gonna step up. Would’ve been better if he was kind of a fuckup and this was his chance to finally do better but he dies.

[GreenspointTexas 9717]

On 7/4/2021 at 8:58 AM, Helobious said:

 

Not a bad movie. But yes that scene is tits

[yoladu 4114]

 

 

The rest of the movie sucked.. sucked bad.

Edited July 6, 2021 by yoladu