Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film

Rating:
Summary: humungous & worth every word
Review: This is a mighty tome that has something intelligent to say about virtually every war movie made in Hollywood, and even some that weren't from the Hollywood studios.

More amazing yet, where I have a good remembrance of, and a firm opinion about, a given movie, I find that Suid has hit the nail on the head with his comments. Especially notable was the treatment he gives to two fairly recent films, Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbor. Almost everyone I know, and the critics as well, hailed SPR as a work of genius. I thought it was dreck, that it got just about everything wrong that it could have gotten wrong, and finally I walked out of the film when the beleaguered Yank says he's run out of ammo and does anyone have any "bandoliers"? Over the course of half a dozen pages, Suid explains to my satisfaction exactly what I found SPR unsatisfying.

He even gives a preview of such very recent films as Blackhawk Down, and there too he's right on the money.

Full disclosure: I know Suid, because he interviewed me about a book that became a film that is mentioned (mostly favorably) in his text.