Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Based on the comments on this thread, I watched it all the way through again last night.

Its been a few years since I first saw it and I recall enjoying the film. This time I found that apart from the opening sequence, it was actually quite slow, had a very thin plot and was really quite boring.

Its funny how perceptions change with time.

 

In many ways must agree with the above ,yes the opening sequence set the bar for quite a while , but yet again with Speilberg its his hommarge to John Ford and yet again a spin on the Searchers theme from a diffrent view , and the story does bog down a bit but there are some great set pices , for me i still rate overall Band Of Brothers but find watching it over 2/3 nights makes it much better?

 

There's Theirs is the Glory as well.

 

Nobody mentions the last half an hour which had me on tender hooks after seeing the first twenty minutes.

 

But when i first saw the movie up Leister Square ,in the opening sequence at the cemetry on the huge screen Ryans veterans badge is quite prominent so it gave a bit of a clue?

 

Forgot that one ! if i recall its a Panther ? also thr POW film The Captive Hart in the 1940 sequence you can see a Hetzer! Is Paris Burning has some intresting armour in it ?also if i recall in the early sequence in The Eagle Has Landed ,you catch a quick of some thing loaded on the train behind Steiner .

 

20 years ago: Saving Private Ryan - Wikipedia

 

As entertainment SPR certainly works, just so long as one is prepared to leave one's sceptical nature at the door. Outside of that I do have my issues with it, not least the Monty-bashing scene which was un-necessary, adds nothing to the story and in many ways inaccurate, reflecting post-war opinions! In many ways it almost feel maliciously done!

Most everybody bangs on about the beach assualt scenes but AFAIK Spielberg lifted these, almost directly, from Cornell Wilde's 1967 movie 'Beach Red'. I have both on DVD and keep meaning to watch both scenes back to back for comparison's sake to see if my memory of Beach Red's Assault scene and it's similarity to SPR is actually correct.

As for the Basic plot line, a secretary 1000's of miles away finds the death notices for four boys killed in separate theatres, and so soon after D-Day as well. But to then assume that an elite Ranger unit would be despatched into the chaos of the Normandy countryside to look for one Paratrooper who may or may not be still alive. Given the loss of life on Omaha and the urgent need for consolidation I serioulsy doubt that any commander would have given credence to such orders, even if someone higher up was stupid enough to issue them, But as others have already noted, Spiellberg is a real sucker for schmaltzy sentimentality in his movies and it is the one thing that puts me off his stuff.

One thing that SPR did do was to wake-up an entire generation to what occured between 1931 and 1945. Even if only a few of these people went onto delve deeper into the subject. The sad part was that so many American young got the impression that WWII was a predominantly US operation to free poor old Europe from Nazi Tyranny.

Of course it's hard to complain about SPR when we see what Ridley Scott did (a Brit who should know better ... we presume) to Robin Hood. French "Landing Craft" invading 12th Century England! Still, very enjoyable nonsense and kept me entertained and I didn't give two hoots about Russell Crowe's 'West Country' accent. Beats Sean Connery's Spanish accent, and Christopher Lamberts Scottish accent, in Highlander. That scene in the boat where the French man, playing a Scottish nobleman, explains to a Scotsman, playing a Spanish Nobleman, what a Haggis is, is beyond comparison ;-)

Incidentally, I was reading something recently where it was indicated that the one of the major reasons the Yanks eventually got off Omaha was that by midday the Germans in the bunkers (cut off from re-supply by the Para drops behind them) simply began to run out of ammunition. Interesting thought and perhaps requiring of debate in its own right!

 

There are a couple of short films here on the making of SPR etc.

 

Not just Americans unfortunately! That is really the problem here in France, and I suspect, in the whole world save the UK and perhaps Canada. The sheer weight of Holywood, and now also of the TV Series (Band of Brothers et al) have been hammering that the US did it all, the major part the UK took being all but ignored in almost every single post-war production except maybe The Longest Day.

A sad reminder that money is often stronger than facts.

Michel

 

We got over that years ago. Mostly!
When I've mentioned Juno Beach to most Americans, they think I'm either outright lying or having some Maple Leaf hallucination. Then, very surprised when the truth is discovered. The Great Escape bothers me even more actually. The large Canadian participation in key roles is almost ignored. As you noted, money talks and all those films are made for the large U.S. domestic audience. We get a passing reference in U.K. war films as well. Being the younger, smaller brother makes for a low profile.
I've often thought we should have held on to the U.K. gold reserves (stored in Ottawa vaults until the war was over) until some recognition was forthcoming.

 

Not sure about that.

There are many parts of France which remember the Canadian contribution in both world wars. Dieppe, Bayeux Caen, Falaise and Arras in particular.display lots opf Canadian flags

 

I was referring specifically to movies. The liberated people of Europe, particularly the Dutch, have never forgotten.

 

Well you could have done, but you would have had to have taken it up with the Yanks, as it all pretty much belonged to them by that stage!

Incidentally, the entire Gold reserves of Estonia was stored with the Bank of England before war broke out. When the Soviets occupied Estonia at the end of the war they demanded the gold reserves back. Britian refused to hand it over to a puppet government. When the Soviet Bloc collapsed and the Estonian's got free elections, the Bank of England returned the gold, calculated for inflation, and the new Estonia suddenly found itself with a nice injection of liquidity upon which to base their newly freed and democratic state!

 

Most Americans don't know or care anything at all about WWII so I don't think it is accurate to say we think it was a predominantly US operation. If pressed a few might know the word 'Holocaust' but that's about it. SPR is just another old war movie that WWII buffs know about.

My mother overheard some high school students in a shopping food court studying for final exams and one kid said, "I can never remember is Hitler was a good guy or a bad guy," and that was over twenty years ago.

 

Lee Marvin talking about war movies. Interview as made way before Private Ryan was made but it kind of sums up why I don't care for.

"Nobody wanted to see a newsreel of true death and destruction so it's much better to do it theatrically, which is less painful."

 

208. Marty Morgan

"208. Marty Morgan
In the first of our Thanksgiving Specials, Al and James are joined by historian and weapons expert Marty Morgan. Marty talks about his experiences leading tours in Normandy and working with hit video game franchise Call of Duty as their historical advisor."