Saving Private Ryan

[Underdog 28773]

1 hour ago, wutang75 said:

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

FMJ is a classic, no doubt, but I usually lose interest right after 'me so horny' scene. 

[atomheartbevo 89794]

On 7/25/2023 at 11:56 PM, 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.

On 7/26/2023 at 7:01 AM, RomaVicta said:

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

On 7/26/2023 at 7:21 AM, South Austin said:

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.

SPR definitely opened the doors for Band of Brothers, and from there, you could arguably make the case that Band of Brothers opened the doors for Rome, which led to Game of Thrones.   SPR showed a renewed interested in WWII and gave HBO confidence with Band of Brothers, which was the most expensive TV series ever made at the time (over $125 million, around $200 million today).  HBO took a chance, it paid off handsomely, and that paved the way for Rome (which was also the most expensive TV series at the time it was filmed).

And that doesn't even touch on all of the World War II games that came out of SPR/Bob, which then spawned all of the other non-WWII FPS combat games.  The Battlefield and Call of Duty game series definitely both owe a lot to SPR/BOB.

[Biff Tannen 45737]

4 hours ago, mininghorn88 said:

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.  

Whoa, that's quite a collection.

[Eskimohorn 5642]

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.

Your conclusions are all wrong

[RomaVicta 30017]

Just now, Eskimohorn said:

Your conclusions are all wrong

That makes me sad.

[cabowabo 4514]

I was able to do a Normandy tour last month. The Normandy American Cemetery was something else. Unfortunately I was on a day tour from Paris so we rushed through things. I could have spent a couple of hours at the cemetery easily. I will return one day.

[Parliament 14296]

TR Jr. was a badass.  Highest ranking man on the beach, died of a heart attack 6 weeks later.  Also did this:

 

[PRONG HORN 3159]

On 7/27/2023 at 8:21 PM, cabowabo said:

I was able to do a Normandy tour last month. The Normandy American Cemetery was something else. Unfortunately I was on a day tour from Paris so we rushed through things. I could have spent a couple of hours at the cemetery easily. I will return one day.

 

Is this star a significant symbol?  Did you see any writing on it?  

 

[Wade 464]

On 7/27/2023 at 12:13 PM, RomaVicta said:

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.

[mininghorn88 2298]

49 minutes ago, PRONG HORN said:

 

Is this star a significant symbol?  Did you see any writing on it?  

 

Medal of Honor recipient.

[Buzzrock 14941]

It rocked me in the theater. I still can’t watch that part where the kid is looking for, and then finds, his fucking ARM. True horror.

[Macanudo 13012]

Go read TR Jr's wiki page.  He had to argue his way into being in the landing party.   Just as much of a bad ass as his dad.

[cabowabo 4514]

1 hour ago, Macanudo said:

Go read TR Jr's wiki page.  He had to argue his way into being in the landing party.   Just as much of a bad ass as his dad.

His brother, Quentin, is buried right next to him.  He was shot down in WWI.  The only WWI soldier buried at that cemetery. Also took a pic between the two headstones. I’m not a big self photo guy, but this one I’ll treasure. 

[Davis Lane 5617]

Not one mention of Ryan's granddaughter.

Igits.

 

[Horn80 6131]

On 7/27/2023 at 8:21 PM, cabowabo said:

I was able to do a Normandy tour last month. The Normandy American Cemetery was something else. Unfortunately I was on a day tour from Paris so we rushed through things. I could have spent a couple of hours at the cemetery easily. I will return one day.

Sacred ground which appears to be well maintained with much appreciation.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Davis Lane said:

Not one mention of Ryan's granddaughter.

Igits.

 

It was worth it...

[kingkoopa6 8377]

FUCK UPHAM.

that is all 

[South Austin 52603]

On 7/29/2023 at 10:23 PM, Davis Lane said:

Not one mention of Ryan's granddaughter.

Igits.

 

Never forget.

[Davis Lane 5617]

On 7/27/2023 at 8:21 PM, cabowabo said:

I was able to do a Normandy tour last month. The Normandy American Cemetery was something else. Unfortunately I was on a day tour from Paris so we rushed through things. I could have spent a couple of hours at the cemetery easily. I will return one day.

[RPM 26354]

On 7/25/2023 at 3:56 PM, Macanudo said:

 If the movie is about the battle of San Juan Capistrano, the only chicks should be the flying ones.