Rating: Summary: Guts, Gore, That's About It. Review: This is the worst war movie I ever saw. The plot is very unrealistic, and the whole movie is just an excuse to use lots of blood and guts. No real impact, just bodies flying around and blood spraying. You get tired of it, fast. The movie also seems as if it was a propaganda movie made back in the '40s. This is nothing like the war films made back in the glory days of war films. It's garbage. It's focus on just the Americans is stupid because most war movies out there tend to focus on BOTH sides struggles, and this is too patriotic. If I was a German I would feel deeply offended by this mess. Also, it's no surprise that they chose Omaha Beach, the bloodiest action fought during D-Day, as an opening to the movie (they even chose the bloodiest sector of the beach). It's just an excuse for more blood and gore. What about the other beaches like Sword, Gold, Juno, even Utah and Pointe du Hoc? If the movie industry wants to show the horrors of war on the big screen, why don't they make a movie about World War 1 for once? Don't bother with this dull, flat, weak movie. You'll only waste valuble time.Check out other movies like Stalingrad, The Winter War, Das Boot. All these movie show the war from the point of view of individual soldiers fighting, and they have a much greater impact. Or even a good documentary (Like Mein Krieg, available here at Amazon) on the subject is also a better choice than SPR.
Rating: Summary: D-DAY COME TO LIFE Review: THIS IS AN EXCELENT MOVIE WITH OUTSTANDING GRAPHICS. YOU'LL FEEL LIKE YOU ARE IN THE THEATER BECAUSE THE SOUND IS SO REALISTIC. IF YOU ARE STARTING YOUR DVD COLLECTION THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ALL AUDIENCES.
Rating: Summary: The dts edition with well worth the extra cost Review: Up until I picked up SPR (DTS Edition), I had never heard a dts encoded DVD on my home system, and found it difficult to justify the higher cost. I finally made the plunge, figuring that for a movie as spectacular as this the extra sound quality would be worth it. Boy, was I ever right! The audio quality of this DVD blows me away, wiht bullets whizzing behind your head and mortar shells whooshing in an arc overhead. Video quality is also top notch with crisp lines and intense realistic colors. As for the movie itself, the story is very well written. Special effects are used to enhance the story, not overpower it. If you plan on buying this on DVD and you have a capable receiver, spring the extra bucks for the dts edition. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: Summary: Saving Private Ryan Review: Best war movie to show how it really was
Rating: Summary: Striking verisimilitude but not sure about the message Review: (warning: may contain spoiler) The most noteworthy contribution of this film to the genre of the war film is it's realism in depicting scenery and battle scenes. It sure as heck isn't the story, which examines the question of wheter one life is worth risking several. The film doesn't really answer this question, nor, I think, is it supposed to. My problem with the story is that it just seems a bit contrived. And I'm not sure about the framing device. The older Ryan character bookends the film, but this is comes off as somewhat awkward because if the sequences related in the film are meant as flashback, Ryan is not the best character to use for this technique, since he wasn't there for half the film. Initially, it keeps people guessing as to the identity of the old man in the film's beginning but that only works once. The movie succeeds at conveying the horror of war, but I could've done without the constant platitudes and swelling violins (not one of John Williams' better scores). On the big screen, paralyzed by the gruesome spectacle of massive carnage and anxious about when the next bout would explode on the screen, I paid little attention to these matters. But when I saw it again on cable, the impact was mostly lost and the films's sentimental elements came rushing to the fore and proved to be a major distraction. I was actually considering buying the film until seeing it on TV changed my mind. I still think the film highly noteworthy but I can no longer see it as truly great.
Rating: Summary: TWO THUMB UP WAAAAAAAAAAAY UP! Review: The best war movie I had ever seen,from beginning to the end.I like Tom Hank he good in this movie and Steven Spielberg, he the best director.
Rating: Summary: Great Movie, Awful DVD Picture Review: The movie was great, but what is up with the quality! That was horrible, so many scenes were washed out and there was a skip at one point, also. I returned my original copy to Amazon and got a new one, but the new one is just as bad. What was Dreamworks doing when they released this. I was wondering have other people had this problem our is it my player.
Rating: Summary: Grabs you by the neck. . .and then. . .lets go. . . Review: The opening sequence in this film grips the viewer like a soldier grips a yet-to-be-thrown grenade. It takes your breath away and make non-veterans think, "Is war REALLY like that?" The performances are solid with Tom Sizemore--not Hanks--possibly turning in the best of all. (Don't think that Hanks wasn't good though. He was as always.) The only problem with this movie is its surprisingly thin plot. About halfway through the film, it slows to the point of allowing the viewer to finally realize that this movie is quite long. With a careful shaving of unneeded scenes, this could've been a much better film. The power that bolts off the screens at the bookends of the film is definitely worth the time though.
Rating: Summary: A wonderful movie and a tribute to the "great" generation Review: I have seen this movie twice and will watch it occasionally the rest of my life. Tom Hanks did his usual great job of bringing his character to life. Spielberg, the great movie maker, also has the special talent of showing the greatness of the characters in his films. This is definately the greatest war movie made to date, but it's also a fine tribute to the greatest generation of people that ever lived. I'm, of course, talking about our 75 to 90 year old national treasures that are about to be gone forever. Yes, it's got great color, the most realistic war scenes, great sound, great stunts, etc, but this is a movie about ordinary people doing what has to be done. It's a must see.
Rating: Summary: War is Hell, but at times a neccessary evil Review: WWII was perhaps the defining moment of this century and certainly for those born during the first quarter of it. This movie clearly brings out how bad it really is from the getgo with all the carnage on Omaha Beach in what would be America's bloodiest day this century and indeed since the Civil War some eight decades earlier. The current generation only hears how evil and politically incorect war is in any circumstance, but fails to understand how evil the tyranny and oppression was in this instance and how much more difficult Nazi-Germany would be to endure a cold-war with than Soviet Russia over the remainder of the Century. Kudo's to Steven Spielberg for producing this masterpiece. --David Claudius Moore, Salt Lake City
|