Saving Private Ryan

[Parliament 14260]

Released on this date in 1998.  The first 20 minutes changed war movies forever.  

Cool Twitter thread:

 

[Parliament 14260]

Also, please allow me to retract this statement.  Not sure what drugs I was on back then.

[bluto 4929]

Saving Ryan’s privates is a classic too

[RPM 26321]

2 minutes ago, bluto said:

Saving Ryan’s privates is a classic too

"She reminds me of my niece."

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

4 hours ago, bluto said:

Shaving Ryan’s privates is a classic too

fify

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

i love the movie.  it shows me what i feel like is the truth about war and about wwii specifically that i'd have no other window in to. 

 

but your screen shot isn't that wrong either.  i think you lose something when you go from the first scene -- everyone is anonymous, you don't know any characters, it is just absolute confused chaos hell, there is no greater meaning or subtext to anything any soldier says or does -- which communicates something about the war being 'real.'  it ends up being lost once you get character arcs.  they end up in a big action scene together.  you have heroics that feel a bit hollywood like.  you have story elements like steamboat willie being the guy that shoots tom hanks.  the coward guy ends up being redeemed by shooting folks at the end.  all of that seemed a bit too 'story' to me.

 

but, it is an unbelievable look into wwii in any event.  any you can't have a movie without movie elements, so it feels weird even mentioning it, let alone dinging the movie for it, i know.

[Knoxtnhorn 5976]

It was ok.  Have y'all seen Shakespeare in Love?  Now that was a masterpiece.

 

 

 

[Hermanator 7050]

4 hours ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

 

but your screen shot isn't that wrong either.  i think you lose something when you go from the first scene -- everyone is anonymous, you don't know any characters, it is just absolute confused chaos hell, there is no greater meaning or subtext to anything any soldier says or does -- which communicates something about the war being 'real.'  it ends up being lost once you get character arcs.  they end up in a big action scene together.  you have heroics that feel a bit hollywood like.  you have story elements like steamboat willie being the guy that shoots tom hanks.  the coward guy ends up being redeemed by shooting folks at the end.  all of that seemed a bit too 'story' to me.

 

 

So you want a big budget Hollywood movie... without a story

[Macanudo 12979]

1 hour ago, Hermanator said:

So you want a big budget Hollywood movie... without a story

I'm tired of war movies (in general, not specifically so with SPR) having a woman as a lead character or interjecting a love story into it for that reason.   If the movie is about the battle of San Juan Capistrano, the only chicks should be the flying ones.  

[Helobious 9454]

Movie was completely meh after the beach scene. Fight me.

[Genco 3040]

15 minutes ago, Helobious said:

Movie was completely meh after the beach scene. Fight me.

This is the equivalent of Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin Scorsese saying it's the greatest film ever made while Roger Ebert jams three thumbs up Spielberg's ass.

[Kennythetiger 9384]

50 minutes ago, Helobious said:

Movie was completely meh after the beach scene. Fight me.

I appreciated the tension in the sniper scene 

[RomaVicta 29908]

The D-Day landing was the beginning of what might have been a great war movie. It turns into an action movie after that. Entertaining but no longer realistic.

Kubrick's Paths of Glory and Full Metal Jacket easily surpass Saving Private Ryan. The last words of Tom Hanks leading to the final shot are pure Spielberg cornball. He's a brilliant filmmaker but lacks any sort of worldview.

I envy his skills and catalog, but he, to me, is no giant of cinema. Jaws is his best movie.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Movie was completely meh after the beach scene. Fight me.

Maybe you should shut up

[atomheartbevo 89672]

13 hours ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

but, it is an unbelievable look into wwii in any event.  any you can't have a movie without movie elements, so it feels weird even mentioning it, let alone dinging the movie for it, i know.

I love it, but even if I didn't, it opened the doors to Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and soon the series about the 8th Air Force.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

I love it, but even if I didn't, it opened the doors to Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and soon the series about the 8th Air Force.

Great… another golf movie.

[RomaVicta 29908]

7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

I love it, but even if I didn't, it opened the doors to Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and soon the series about the 8th Air Force.

8th Air Force, 8th Air Force, 8th Air Force. What about the other seven air forces, huh?

Excellent point about what follows SPR. Spielberg made a great template as he has done other times.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4976]

Anybody who starts a thread about a Twitter thread and only posts the first tweet should be banned.

[South Austin 52509]

7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

I love it, but even if I didn't, it opened the doors to Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and soon the series about the 8th Air Force.

Very good point.  As good as Saving Private Ryan was, I actually enjoyed Band of Brothers and The Pacific much more, and will likely watch them again a few more times in my life, and I'm not sure I can say that about SPR.

[deadshank 24653]

7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

and soon the series about the 8th Air Force.

So there will be plenty of AF barber shop quartet, rhythmic dancing  and other wholesomeness.  

[atomheartbevo 89672]

1 hour ago, slorch said:

Great… another golf movie.

1 minute ago, deadshank said:

So there will be plenty of AF barber shop quartet, rhythmic dancing  and other wholesomeness.  

I kind of think it’s going to show the part where they took heavier casualties than the Marines in the Pacific.  

The 8th Air Force alone had over 26,000 killed and 75% of the rest of the crews were wounded at some point.  

Given that visual effects have advanced to where they are and that Apple Money is backing it, I’m hoping we get Black Thursday done properly.  

[South Austin 52509]

1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

The 8th Air Force alone had over 26,000 killed and 75% of the rest of the crews were wounded at some point. 

Shit.  I didn't know we had a golf course on Guadalcanal. 

[CooterBrown 18012]

I never liked the Tom Hanks character. I felt he was too perfect. Perfect husband, perfect dad, perfect little league coach.  His death would've met more if he'd been a shithead, who the war changed for the better. he learned to be a responsible man and leader, reestablished contact with his wife and kids through letters, had a bit of a personal redemption arc and then got killed because war does not give a shit about you. It would've hit harder. 

[atomheartbevo 89672]

19 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

I never liked the Tom Hanks character. I felt he was too perfect. Perfect husband, perfect dad, perfect little league coach.  His death would've met more if he'd been a shithead, who the war changed for the better. he learned to be a responsible man and leader, reestablished contact with his wife and kids through letters, had a bit of a personal redemption arc and then got killed because war does not give a shit about you. It would've hit harder. 

We’re you rooting for Dick Winters to be killed?

[aggie08 21504]

14 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

I never liked the Tom Hanks character. I felt he was too perfect. Perfect husband, perfect dad, perfect little league coach.  His death would've met more if he'd been a shithead, who the war changed for the better. he learned to be a responsible man and leader, reestablished contact with his wife and kids through letters, had a bit of a personal redemption arc and then got killed because war does not give a shit about you. It would've hit harder. 

I completely disagree, respectfully. I think his character drove home how the war wasn't fought with "soldiers" in the truest sense of the word. The guys in foxholes and leading men--sometimes to their death--were your soft-spoken nextdoor neighbor, your teacher, the clerk at the gas station.

I didn't really like any of the other characters who all got shoe-horned into a respective stereotype. Band of Brothers did it a lot better in conveying that the bulk of the fighting force was just fucking kids.

[Guest]

On 7/24/2023 at 12:13 PM, bluto said:

Saving Ryan’s privates is a classic too

It is Shaving Ryan’s Privates and it’s a classic. 

[atomheartbevo 89672]

edit: nevermind, was tacky.

Edited July 26, 2023 by atomheartbevo

[mininghorn88 2292]

17 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

edit: nevermind, was tacky.

This is Surly. When did etiquette ever matter?

[atomheartbevo 89672]

2 hours ago, aggie08 said:

the bulk of the fighting force was just fucking kids.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

17 hours ago, Helobious said:

Movie was completely meh after the beach scene. Fight me.

I won't fight you but I've seen this sentiment a lot over the past two decades and I think it's born from watching the movie over and over again and analyzing it to death.

That movie is about seeing it for the first time in the movie theater and getting the visceral gut punch that is the Omaha landing. 

We've become numb to it now because it's been done over and over and over again from Black Hawk Down to Band of Brothers/Pacific, etc.

The Omaha Beach scene and then the ending battle are what makes it great because we'd never seen anything like it before.

Point being, nobody who walked out of a movie theater in 1998 when the credits rolled were like, "yeah the middle of that movie was kind of meh" because you were still reeling because you had just experienced ~40 minutes of the most realistic depiction of war ever put on film.

[RomaVicta 29908]

2 hours ago, aggie08 said:

conveying that the bulk of the fighting force was just fucking kids.

Respectfully, I think your view of the WW2 army is a little too romantic.

Also, the average age of a US soldier was 26. (Google page with multiple sources.)

Quote

 The average age of the United States soldier in World War II is estimated at 26 with the draft including all able-bodied men from 18 years of age to 45 years.

I think The Best Years of Our Lives (great war movie even though it's post war) represents the mix of soldiers well. The sailor is very young, the pilot a grown man, and the army sergeant pushing middle age. 

Plus, even the young soldiers who would see combat may have arrived as kids, but that would have to fade away quickly. That army was a cross section of America with the shameful exclusion of Black people for the most part.

[Deej 76796]

2 minutes ago, oSuJeff97 said:

I won't fight you but I've seen this sentiment a lot over the past two decades and I think it's born from watching the movie over and over again and analyzing it to death.

That movie is about seeing it for the first time in the movie theater and getting the visceral gut punch that is the Omaha landing. 

We've become numb to it now because it's been done over and over and over again from Black Hawk Down to Band of Brothers/Pacific, etc.

The Omaha Beach scene and then the ending battle are what makes it great because we'd never seen anything like it before.

Point being, nobody who walked out of a movie theater in 1998 when the credits rolled were like, "yeah the middle of that movie was kind of meh" because you were still reeling because you had just experienced ~40 minutes of the most realistic depiction of war ever put on film.

How annoying would it have been to be watching that in a theater for the first time and have to listen to Helobious' silver chain rattling as he made his way up the steps and out of the auditorium during the middle of the movie?

[oSuJeff97 3435]

5 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

Respectfully, I think your view of the WW2 army is a little too romantic.

Also, the average age of a US soldier was 26. (Google page with multiple sources.)

I think The Best Years of Our Lives (great war movie even though it's post war) represents the mix of soldiers well. The sailor is very young, the pilot a grown man, and the army sergeant pushing middle age. 

Plus, even the young soldiers who would see combat may have arrived as kids, but that would have to fade away quickly. That army was a cross section of America with the shameful exclusion of Black people for the most part.

Yep. 

But one area the did skew really young were the 8th Air Force pilots. I remember they covered it in that "Cold Blue" documentary that came out a while ago. The average age of the B-17 pilot and co-pilot in the 8th Air Force was something like 23-24 and the average age of the crew was like 20-21.  That's wild when I think about my top priority at that age was securing booze and banging chicks while running around Stillwater.

[Helobious 9454]

5 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

 

Plus, even the young soldiers who would see combat may have arrived as kids, but that would have to fade away quickly. That army was a cross section of America with the shameful exclusion of Black people for the most part.

More black people served for the US in WW2 than most people know about. Roughly a million were enlisted, over 100k served overseas, and tens of thousands saw combat.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

2 hours ago, Helobious said:

More black people served for the US in WW2 than most people know about. Roughly a million were enlisted, over 100k served overseas, and tens of thousands saw combat.

from new indy movie

Spoiler

best bad guy moment of the new indy movie was mads mikkelson asking the wwii vet black guy if he was enjoying his victory, as he was back in working in menial service jobs after risking his life for his segregated country.

 

[Kennythetiger 9384]

4 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

edit: nevermind, was tacky.

Come again?  

[kevwun 15789]

I think if he you look at actual combat troops, the age will skew to the lower end of the range.  A large number of draftees who were skilled workers ended up in support roles away from the front and a lot of those men would have been older.  The young ones ended up in the infantry.

Edited July 26, 2023 by kevwun

[mininghorn88 2292]

4 hours ago, oSuJeff97 said:

I won't fight you but I've seen this sentiment a lot over the past two decades and I think it's born from watching the movie over and over again and analyzing it to death.

That movie is about seeing it for the first time in the movie theater and getting the visceral gut punch that is the Omaha landing. 

We've become numb to it now because it's been done over and over and over again from Black Hawk Down to Band of Brothers/Pacific, etc.

The Omaha Beach scene and then the ending battle are what makes it great because we'd never seen anything like it before.

Point being, nobody who walked out of a movie theater in 1998 when the credits rolled were like, "yeah the middle of that movie was kind of meh" because you were still reeling because you had just experienced ~40 minutes of the most realistic depiction of war ever put on film.

I recall leaving the theater after the end of SPR.  It was so quiet.  No one was saying a word.  Not out of displeasure of the movie but of the emotional toll it took on people, particularly the opening sequence.  I have watched it several times and will stop to watch it whenever it is on.  An all-time favorite of mine.

[TexEx15 17531]

On 7/25/2023 at 5:24 PM, Helobious said:

Movie was completely meh after the beach scene. Fight me.

Well you are known for being wrong so this checks out.

[HiggyBaby 2529]

Movie was completely meh after the beach scene. Fight me.

Agree 75%. The movie was still good, but hard to live up to the opening sequence for sure.

[Parliament 14260]

10 hours ago, oSuJeff97 said:

I won't fight you but I've seen this sentiment a lot over the past two decades and I think it's born from watching the movie over and over again and analyzing it to death.

That movie is about seeing it for the first time in the movie theater and getting the visceral gut punch that is the Omaha landing. 

We've become numb to it now because it's been done over and over and over again from Black Hawk Down to Band of Brothers/Pacific, etc.

The Omaha Beach scene and then the ending battle are what makes it great because we'd never seen anything like it before.

Point being, nobody who walked out of a movie theater in 1998 when the credits rolled were like, "yeah the middle of that movie was kind of meh" because you were still reeling because you had just experienced ~40 minutes of the most realistic depiction of war ever put on film.

That's a great way to put it.  Prior to SPR we had movies, good one, that discussed the drama of war.  A few, like Platoon, got into the savagery of war.  But NONE captured both, especially the savagery, like SPR.  Omaha beach sucked you in, Carpazo's death and Wade's death, if they don't get you, well I just don't know.  There's a reason vets got PTSD out of it.  My dad said the only thing it lacked from real war was the smell.  Gunpowder and death.

 

[Steamboat1874 4066]

21 hours ago, RomaVicta said:

Respectfully, I think your view of the WW2 army is a little too romantic.

Also, the average age of a US soldier was 26. (Google page with multiple sources.)

I think The Best Years of Our Lives (great war movie even though it's post war) represents the mix of soldiers well. The sailor is very young, the pilot a grown man, and the army sergeant pushing middle age. 

Plus, even the young soldiers who would see combat may have arrived as kids, but that would have to fade away quickly. That army was a cross section of America with the shameful exclusion of Black people for the most part.

Great movie.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

17 hours ago, mininghorn88 said:

I recall leaving the theater after the end of SPR.  It was so quiet.  No one was saying a word.  Not out of displeasure of the movie but of the emotional toll it took on people, particularly the opening sequence.  I have watched it several times and will stop to watch it whenever it is on.  An all-time favorite of mine.

100% this.

I remember thinking it felt like when people leave a funeral.  Nobody said a word and just somberly walked out of the theater.

[Felix 607]

When I saw it in the theater a WWII vet was sitting a few rows in front of me with a few members of his family.  About 10 minutes into the Omaha Beach scene he got up and started staggering out of the theater and had to be helped by his wife.  It struck me hard and I love the movie but I have a very hard time watching parts of it.

[mininghorn88 2292]

On 7/26/2023 at 11:12 AM, RomaVicta said:

Respectfully, I think your view of the WW2 army is a little too romantic.

Also, the average age of a US soldier was 26. (Google page with multiple sources.)

I think The Best Years of Our Lives (great war movie even though it's post war) represents the mix of soldiers well. The sailor is very young, the pilot a grown man, and the army sergeant pushing middle age. 

Plus, even the young soldiers who would see combat may have arrived as kids, but that would have to fade away quickly. That army was a cross section of America with the shameful exclusion of Black people for the most part.

Out of curiosity I did an unscientific check on the soldier's ages.  I collect WW2 uniforms of which I have about 160.  Of the 160 I have the actual name of the soldier that wore that uniform in about 130 of them.  Simply taking the average birth year (1919) of the soldier from the average enlistment date (1942) the average age is 23 from my collection.  The oldest soldier that I have a uniform from was born in 1900 and the youngest was born in 1926.  

[wutang75 449]

The D-Day landing was the beginning of what might have been a great war movie. It turns into an action movie after that. Entertaining but no longer realistic.
Kubrick's Paths of Glory and Full Metal Jacket easily surpass Saving Private Ryan. The last words of Tom Hanks leading to the final shot are pure Spielberg cornball. He's a brilliant filmmaker but lacks any sort of worldview.
I envy his skills and catalog, but he, to me, is no giant of cinema. Jaws is his best movie.

I’ve watched the first half of Full Metal Jacket countless times, second half not so much.

Saying SS is not a giant of cinema is a bold statement.

Raiders
Schindler’s List
SPR
Jaws
Jurassic Park
ET
Close Encounters

That is a hell of a resume.

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20400]

WTF, @RomaVicta?  The highest-grossing director of all-time, adjusted for inflation, isn't a giant of cinema?

Also, @wutang75  , your list left out "Duel." 

[RomaVicta 29908]

I know the movies he's made. Hugely popular and mostly very entertaining. 

I stand by my opinion. He has the skills of a giant but not the output. He is the director Michael Bay would like to be but not nearly there.

I should have included Close Encounters as one of his top efforts. Many of those other movies are meh to me. (Please, nobody come back with the tired, "every movie isn't supposed to be Shakespeare! So dumb.)

Michael Mann, Chris Nolan, Martin Scorcese, and the lesser known Tom McCarthy have work that I consider superior to anything of Spielberg's. And that's just Americans. Korean cinema is kicking major ass now.

Again, to be clear, I'm not deriding or derogating Spielberg. He's brilliant at putting together a very well told mainstream movie. The guys above do the same thing, but there's some meat on the bone. Something to chew on.

[South Austin 52509]

3 hours ago, Felix said:

When I saw it in the theater a WWII vet was sitting a few rows in front of me with a few members of his family.  About 10 minutes into the Omaha Beach scene he got up and started staggering out of the theater and had to be helped by his wife.  It struck me hard and I love the movie but I have a very hard time watching parts of it.

My dad turned off Saving Private Ryan in the middle of the opening scene.  He said it was just too much.  He served in Vietnam, not WWI, but I guess if one war traumatizes you, it's hard to watch stuff like that no matter the context.

[RomaVicta 29908]

8 minutes ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

WTF, @RomaVicta?  The highest-grossing director of all-time, adjusted for inflation, isn't a giant of cinema?

Also, @wutang75  , your list left out "Duel." 

Then Michael Bay is also a giant? You posted before I did, so you didn't see my list. That illuminates what I mean.

Anyway, it's just like my opinion, man. I get the argument for Spielberg. I just don't feel the same way, and I don't think you're crazy.