Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by mochnoor, May 23, 2012.

  1. Serbian

    Serbian Junior Member

    Great movie.
     
  2. bugleboy2323

    bugleboy2323 Senior Member

    Originally Posted by Drew5233 [​IMG]
    The film was rubbish because they had the wrong boots on - The US Army wasn't issued those boots until after the war.

    That is all. drew meant these boots aren't made for war, kin. seriously I think Saving Private Ryan is another great classic and I know that every time I see it on TV Im left with a different set of feelings.great movie great acting.I give it*****[stars *]
     
  3. sherlock

    sherlock Member

    Not one of my favorites. The landing scenes are as graphic as any you'll find. If that's what you're looking for in your entertainment then the first half hour is probably your favorite part of the movie. Even though its loosely based on an actual event, Hollywood once again goes overboard in an attempt to rewrite history and improve its profit margin. As you can probably tell, I'm not a real big fan of Hollywood "history". Don't get me wrong, there are some classic war movies out there, this just isn't one of them.
     
  4. Earthican

    Earthican Senior Member

    While not real entertainment, the first 20 minutes of the movie are the most historically accurate. They represent the worst part of the beach at the worst time of day. Watched once, they convey the true horror of the worst of WWII combat. After that, in historical terms, the movie falls apart completely. The Americans did not win the battle by frontally attacking and destroying bunkers. Elements that landed between the strong points infiltrated and cut off the beach defenses.

    I saw SPR in the theater when first released. The audience left in complete silence and many, I would guess, have never seen the movie since. For an experience it was very unique.
     
  5. Thunderbox

    Thunderbox Member

    The first 20 minutes was quite good, also in that it ushered in an era more realistic movie making in combat sequences.

    I thought the rest of the film was the usual Hollywood rubbish.

    Probably like most Brits, i particularly resented Hanks' line "Monty is still dicking around Caen" - not only anti-British, but twice inaccurate (1) Hanks' character would hardly know of or make an issue of Caen at only D+1 or D+2, and (2) Monty was, of course, in command of Hanks' own unit at the time and thus US forces were also part of Monty's "progress"....
     
  6. Goodygixxer

    Goodygixxer Senior Member

    Capt Bill, I heard a rumour that Spielberg (or someone from the production team) visited the last remaining D-Day Mk3 LCT in Birkenhead and considered restoring it for the film. The LCT had no engines and considerable superstructure alterations at the time and restoration would have been too expensive. Any truth in that?

    Back in the Summer i visited Normandy with my Son and we went to the Grand Bunker museum in Oiustreham. In the courtyard outside they have an LCT actually used in the movie that was restored in England. This could be the same one. If you google the museum it'll probably show a picture of it.

    EDIT: Sorry, just checked, it's not an LCT it's a higgins boat!


    http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTj_7KTSOBreUSjnPPsE-dxGqpI5ceUPZXMp6ulloXWs1PAjMDZOt29oYA http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQH73hsRWFnVFyf7H2AZOzCH-bHmVer958nGd4dD-f3hqXN_MLCUddwTYk
     
  7. arnhem44

    arnhem44 Member

    This film is really Fantastic. Must watch this film. :) ...I say this as a US Marine.


    Hi mochnoor from yogjakarta.

    Are you yogjakartan indonesian ? I have family there (in Bantul).
    That explains why you may have seen this movie only as late as 2008 (the one cinema in Yogja for some reason only shows older movies... in Jakarta they are more up to date).
    However, you say you are a US marine ? Living in Yogja ?
    Or you mean you are an Indonesian marine; KorMar ?



    What is striking (actually not, considering way of teaching history at schools) is how little Asians know about the horrors of ww2 in Europe.. actually also the horrors of the Japanese in Asia is also "underexposed".
    Over there generally germans are cool because BMW is cool, and so their tanks are cool and the german occupation and invasions are nothing dissimilar to how we view on the Roman Empire today.
    (I am certain the Gauls and some of the Goths were not particularly happy about having their populations slaughtered under the blades of Julius Caesar....yet today there is only admiration towards Julius C.).:p


    PS you may also want to see The Thin Red Line movie. It came out the same year (1998)....
     
  8. arnhem44

    arnhem44 Member

    The Germans might have won even after 6 June but only if the Allies had a) settled down into complete inertia, as at Salonika in WWI, or b) committed some gross errors that exposed their forces to defeat, as nearly happened at Anzio and Salerno. There was no likelihood of the first at all, and with Montgomery and other competent commanders in charge the Allies were safe from the second.

    I wouldn't go as far to elevate Montgomery beyond criticism and make him the pinnacle of competence... He made his errors too (Falaise pocket letting go at least 500.000 germans before capturing the last 100.000, Arnhem? Stopping at Antwerp but not securing the Antwerp estuary at the same time?) and even in his meticulous preparations and building up of forces before an attack -which is a safe thing to do, and may appear competent- that in itself means for many certain situations, he loses the initiative or cannot exploit a breakthrough to the max (1944 N-France being the exception..but then there were no germans at all retreating faster than Montgommery could advance.., and most pushing came from the French towards Paris, Patton and Canadians....).

    Anyho...
    What if the Germans/Rommel did push the allies back into the sea in June 44 ?
    Western Allies had to reassemble for a next turn...meanwhile not suffering groundtroop losses as they would now (Ardennes, Arnhem, Hurtgen Forest...Italy would be so-so and mopped up quicker, but then static), more and more air bombardment (special attention to V1 sites), crippling the german navy and Luftwaffe...and let the soviets take more of the brunt and receiving german reinforcements.
    By the time the soviets would reach the old german/polish border (in 1945), the western allies could just sail in on any location (Belgian coast? Or West Danish coast ?) with also much more paratroopers deployed to silence coast artillery.
    All in all probably the war had ended in the same 1945 spring with the US tanks leaping forward to the soviets with even more speed..but with much less casualties.
    Stalin would not have appreciated it ..and may have not been committed to yield occupied parts of Austria..but, I'm sure he would not lightly think of further advancement to the west given the utter devastation of the western bomber forces.
    And in august came the 2 A-bombs...

    Lovely hindsight:icon-mrgreenbandit:
     
  9. paulberryman

    paulberryman Junior Member

    This movie had the best opening scene.....I guess after that it was a bit hard to keep the same level of intensity, although I did enjoy the whole movie.
    If anything, they overdid the opening to the detriment of the rest of the movie.
     
  10. Terang

    Terang Junior Member

    I watched it with my Father in law who is a veteran of the Dutch war in Indonesia post ww2 and I remember him swearing a lot after the movie ended . Myself , i felt quite shocked after it finished . I think it would be very realistic of what war is about .
     
  11. Little Friend

    Little Friend Senior Member

    I've got the video of this, yes my old player still struggles along :rolleyes: and I have watched it loads of times.
    Obviously the start is the best part, but I enjoyed it all, everytime ! :mellow:
    Also part of this was filmed at Thame park, Oxon. The actors staying in the local Hotels. Thame park was actually used as a training area for agents during WW2 :poppy:
    So I'm told it was a well-kept secret at that time.
     
  12. sandwichery

    sandwichery Junior Member

    A prime example of why I'm not a fan of Hollywood's version of history. Apparently, the powers that be in "tinsel town" lack the imagination to create an original story. They find it easier to distort actual history to fit their needs and increase their profit margin.
    As for the movie itself, the initial scenes are graphic enough, if that's what you want in your entertainment, but after that even many fans of the film lose interest. Several that I've talked to continually referenced the beach scenes, but after the action moves inland they apparently headed to the snack-bar because the details of the next hour and a half are abit fuzzy.
    I know that I'm dating myself when I say that I prefer a film that emphasizes story over special effects, but that's my opinion.
     
  13. idler

    idler GeneralList

    Not sure I follow the argument. SPR is an original story played out against historical events. Make it too original and it ceases to be history, take out the imagination and it becomes a docu-drama that only us die-hards would go to see (and we'd still pick holes in it).
     
  14. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    PS you may also want to see The Thin Red Line movie. It came out the same year (1998)....



    Whilst I normally take Hollywood movies as they are, films designed to attract viewers and make a profit, sometimes they can produce good movies.

    I also accept that Historical contect, many times, flies out of the window.

    Just look at the war movies as war film designed to entertain you.

    Otherwise stick to Documentaries, which incidentally, sometimes make mistakes.

    I like SPR as a film that entertains and I also think that the previously quoted film "The Thin Red Line" is excellent viewing with tremendous music.

    One of my favourite films is the original B+W film "Sahara" complete with unadulterated wartime propoganda quotes.

    Regards
    Tom
     
    James S likes this.
  15. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    The first half hour of this film was so realistic that many veterans could not watch it, And indeed some left the cinema in tears. After that it went downhill. But that opening? I must confess I watched it when no one else was around, for it bloody choked me.... and that wants some doing believe me! I do know that many Vets were affected by some of the scenes.
     
    James S likes this.
  16. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    .
    .
    One of my favourite films is the original B+W film "Sahara" complete with unadulterated wartime propoganda quotes.

    Regards
    Tom

    "And we ain't got room for a load of spaghetti!" :)
     
  17. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    The first half hour of this film was so realistic that many veterans could not watch it, And indeed some left the cinema in tears. After that it went downhill. But that opening? I must confess I watched it when no one else was around, for it bloody choked me.... and that wants some doing believe me! I do know that many Vets were affected by some of the scenes.

    Brian,
    When I first saw it in the theatre, many older men of veteran age left at various times through the showing and never returned. I often wondered!
     
  18. Hesmond

    Hesmond Well-Known Member

    Took me dad who was ex Normandy WW2 ,and wounded 19th August 1944 , he found it superb his comment was that the sound was very very realistic with the different sounds the bullet strikes made .
    Me same as most opening 35 mins outstanding and set the bench mark , the middle was Spilbergs normal John Ford aspects , with the superb climax .
     
  19. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    Great movie! The only downside was the really bad job on the Tiger replica. Stephen should have paid some rent to Bovington and leased the real deal.
     
  20. Hesmond

    Hesmond Well-Known Member

    Issue is the Bovington tank was not a runner , at least they made the effort though with the mock up ,which is more than can be said for the German heavy tanks in A Bridge To Far , just covering Leopard tanks in camo net does not work?
    The only post war film made in the west with real German armour is i belive the 1954 They Were Not DIvided ? which has some superb stuff in fact the Tiger seen may be the Bovington one?
     

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