Saving Private Ryan - Page 4

I recently watched this film and The Thin Red Line, and when thinking about the films in hindsight, I just kind of hate this movie. Its an engaging film, but from the flag-waving bookends to the sappy music, I just feel that it fails on so many levels. For a film that prides itself on being aesthetically faithful and realistic so as to honor the veterans of the war, the movie shows no respect for the people who fought it. Many of the soldiers in the film die in an ironic fashion (Like the soldier who takes off his helmet only to be hit by a stray bullet in the opening), and I think that kind of dark humor dilutes the serious nature of war. Sure the blood and guts are all there, but not the humanity. The German enemies are also portrayed despicably, those who aren't mowed down are painted as treacherous villains without any grace, and the film gives off the feeling that Spielberg doesn't understand that opposition was facing the same hardships as our troops. WAR IS HELL! seems to be the theme of the movie, and the men in the battlefield are divided into those who accept it, and those who don't (like Upham), who are put into such a negative light its surreal. I don't know, I just feel like the whole film acts as propaganda to further glorify the Second World War.

Well I think that is essentially correct, and Spielberg is open about the film being a "love letter" to the Armed Forces....the US Armed Forces. This is a film shot from the American's point of view, about America's sacrifices. Though the one German solider we meet does play an important role late in the film :)

Let me say a few things first yes this film fumbles the ball a few times in a huge way (Damon is right).

However this is a film that will be remembered in 50 years SiL will not. This is very similar to The Kings Speech and say Inception.

The Academy is bullshit and usually gets things wrong.

This is one of Steven Spielberg's greatest cinematic accomplishments and yes that counts.

It changed the way movies were shot and the way we saw war films in general.

Oh and I love The Thin Red Line too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac 
For a film that prides itself on being aesthetically faithful and realistic so as to honor the veterans of the war, the movie shows no respect for the people who fought it. Many of the soldiers in the film die in an ironic fashion (Like the soldier who takes off his helmet only to be hit by a stray bullet in the opening), and I think that kind of dark humor dilutes the serious nature of war. Sure the blood and guts are all there, but not the humanity. 

This is kind of a weird complaint.  What are some other examples of the dark humor?  I always felt like SPR was practically drenched in humanity, almost to a fault - stuff like Wade crying out to his mama, Vin Diesel passing off the note to his father, etc may be extremely heavy handed and manipulative at times, but I don't think it ever trivializes the seriousness of war or the sacrifices made.

I don't want to sound combative, but its also kind of weird that you'd prefer this movie humanize the Nazis.  I'm sure there were German soldiers who fought out of a sense of duty / loyalty to their country and not the Nazi regime, but it doesn't get much more black-and-white anywhere else in history - Nazis were horrible horrible people. 

Maybe the way it's done is as blatantly ironic as you suggest (I haven't seen the movie in awhile, so I'm not sure), but based on your description, I don't think it sounds that way. It sounds more like a cautionary lesson about being careless than an example of dark humour through ironic death. It's like saying a soldier can't just take off their helmet because it's making them uncomfortable since the slightest misstep could cause immediate death.

When it comes to whether or not Nazis should be humanized or treated as straight up villains, I think it can be a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. I heard people thought "Downfall" humanized Hitler too much, and it didn't come close to making him a sympathetic person who people could root for. I remember how Roger Ebert wondered why the Ralph Fiennes Nazi in "Schindler's List" was clearly psychotic and if he couldn't have been portrayed differently. It's an interesting question, but I think depicting him that way could have just opened up a whole new can of worms as people would protest Nazis being portrayed in even the most remotely positive way.

I recommend A Midnight Clear to those who haven't seen it and want to see a different side of WW2 and Germans.

QUESTION: if The Big Red One had cone out in the age of video games, would it have been co-opted in the same way as Saving Private Ryan? If so , would it affect your opinion of that movie as it obviously has of Saving Private Ryan?