A great beginning, the rest is so-so
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Saving Private Ryan
lonnieanixt — 9 years ago(January 28, 2017 01:34 PM)
The Omaha Beach scene is one of the greatest ever filmed, there is no doubt about it. Shocking and beautifully shot, choreographed violence,, Tension filled, masterfully done,one of the best things Spielberg has ever done. one feels he had a vision of that scene running in the back of his mind his whole life, which is why its so inspiring. He wanted to make that scene, and the rest of the film is the appendage that goes along with it, the story thats tied to it.
After Omaha, the film settles in to a trek across France, and with the usual thinning of the Platoon. Seen it all a thousand times before. There is nothing new after Omaha, if Speilberg had kept up that intensity and ingenuity.then we would have a masterpiece, but the Omaha beach scene was really the only thing he had in him, the rest of the film is him following a script to its inevitable conclusion. Which is why a lot of it falls flat.
I think he got scared, it was his love letter to the greatest generation, the ones who fought in Europe , and he didn't want to slip up, so he makes a conventional war movie. With the usual cross section of humanity making up the platoon. It's all totally cliched. A history lesson, nothing more or less, and all the characters are cardboard cut outs , with not an ounce of real humanity in the bunch. Their deaths don't hit hard because there is no characterization at all, its similar to Rogue one in a lot of ways.
If you want to see real World War 2 movies , that lack cliche, and that feeling of," didn't; i see this already" I recommend:
: Battlefront
The Thin red line
The Victors
As for the story of D-Day: 'The longest day" released 30 years before SPR, did it 10 times better. And still feels fresh and interesting no matter how many times you see it.
FUBAR indeed. -
fud-slush — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 07:51 AM)
Surely the nature of war makes the killing-off of characters realistic?
No characterisation? Perhaps it was purposeful. We only get to hear of Miller's profession very late on, but we're made fully aware of just what sort of person he was. I think the characters of his platoon were touched upon more than enough to make their deaths moving. I don't think there was much time nor need for any more characterisation than that.
I see nothing so-so about the final battle, nor many of the scenes that preceded it. I'd say it was a greater piece of film-making than the opening. Only the slightly syrupy ending grates a little, but you expect such things from Spielberg, & besides, there's the cute, nice-bodied blonde in pink & purple to look at again.
I think it a masterpiece - production, direction, acting, editing, photography all superb.