A Bridge too far- the best made war film ever?

Private Ryan was a massive load of bollocks.

What makes you think that?

What makes you think that?

Total lack of historical accuracy, apart from (arguably the first 20 minutes) – it devolves into a typical American Alamo storyline – except with automatic weapons. Flag waving guff.

Total lack of historical accuracy,

you mean it’s a work of fiction?

you mean it’s a work of fiction?

Well, yes? But it’s worse than that – it makes an attempt to appear as something more provoking than a typical action movie, the attempted realism of the action implies something that should be dealt with gravitas – and then at the end the US airforce saves the day like the cavalry in a 1950’s western – cue cutting to an ageing Hanks crying over a grave….it’s just utterly fake. Either make Inglorious Bastards or base it on a book by someone who was there.

I try to view things like this through the lens of my grandfather, I think he’d have spat on the floor and walked out of SPR.

WW2
+1 Das Boot
A Bridge too Far
opening scene in Saving Private Ryan
(visited the IWM in Duxford, one of the hangars houses the landing craft used. You can sit in the craft and listen to the approach and the god awful sounds)

Vietnam
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket

Tom_W1987 – Member
cutting to an ageing Hanks crying over a grave..

It was an ageing Matt Damon Ashley, Hanks character died.

It’s almost as if they were making a point about how that character – Private Ryan, was it? – had been rescued. Saved, if you will. A minor part of the plot, not surprised you missed it Tom. 🙂

Tom_W1987

Flag waving guff.

Accurate summary.

craigxxl

Having served I can relate a lot more to some of the scenes and characters in Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down and American Sniper than I can in The Thin Red Line

What was it about the portrayal of soldiers in those films (I mean American Sniper and Black Hawk Down are awful) that you related to? Did you by any chance serve with a load of people who were constantly attempting bad american accents?

..it’s just utterly fake.

I know what you mean about the flag waving guff and stuff, but to be fair it does have a few realistic sub plots.

Hanks character is someone at breaking point, he is struggling to carry on. He’s a Ranger Officer but in “real” life he’s a school teacher. Ordinary men doing extra-ordinary things. There was quite a few on them at the time.

The equipment was also pretty spot on.

Besides, it spawned Band Of Brothers, which can only be a good thing!

It’s almost as if they were making a point about how that character – Private Ryan, was it? – had been rescued. Saved, if you will. A minor part of the plot, not surprised you missed it Tom.

Again, they could have told the actual story of the Niland brothers – but Spielberg instead decided to make a feel good (but sad) movie.

Generation Kill, seek it out, it’s worth it.

Tom_W1987, Capt Miller (Tom Hanks) dies on the bridge. Private Ryan (Matt Damon) is stood at Capt Millers grave

Jim Jam, worked alongside plenty of Americans with real accents furious no the Gulf War but that’s not the reason I choose those films. American Sniper reminds if the work we were doing in Northern Ireland, lots of patrols, searches, massive operations to protect much smaller groups of workers. Black Hawk Down for the chaos that happens when well planned operations go wrong.

Gawd, if you like a film, you like a film. Why give a toss what anyone else thinks!

By the way – the Big Red One is superb. The beach scene just as harrowing as Saving Private Ryan. Really brings home the futility of it all.

DezB

Gawd, if you like a film, you like a film. Why give a toss what anyone else thinks!

Yes, by all means have an opinion. But if you can’t back it up or justify then what’s it worth?

Loved Zulu as a kid and can still love watching it now.
Downfall was brilliant.
Black Hawk Down was a good book. The films best bit was showing the futility of that particular operation and what a **** up they made of it – makes you cringe watching it, though not a great film.
I read one review years back about Saving Private Ryan that said that the first half an hour was some of the best flim-making ever, and that from that point onwards was some of the worst! Probably not too far off.
Waltz with Bashir was different and good, saw it recently.
Apocalypse Now – yet to see it, which is terrible. Sorry!

Not sure how I could have forgotten this, but I second “Come and See” – it’s considered by some to be the best war film ever made. Up there with Schindlers List with its matter of fact brutality.

I don’t know how factual it is but I found Empire of The Sun pretty moving when I was younger. I also enjoyed The Pianist. Both dealing with the more human side of war.

But if you can’t back it up or justify then what’s it worth?

Justify? Back up? Your taste? 😆

DezB

Justify? Back up? Your taste?

The thread title is “best war film ever”, as opposed to ” I like this film”. The difference is subtle, I can see why you would have a hard time with it.

Have I missed someone claiming Escape To Victory?

American Sniper reminds if the work we were doing in Northern Ireland, lots of patrols, searches, massive operations to protect much smaller groups of workers

Then you need to see the BBC film “Contact”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088949/

Bridge over the river Kwai
Where Eagles Dare
Dr Strangelove (it is totally a war movie)
Rambo first blood
The Eagle has landed (although the book is better)
Operation Crossbow
The Dirty Dozen
Etc etc, I could go on

spursn17 – Member

IMO ‘Fury’ was a load of old poo! 4 Shermans (Ronsons!) charging over open ground towards a Tiger? Easy meat for an 88mm.

Um, did you maybe miss the bit where it takes 3 of them out and damages the 4th? And it’s all at fairly close range, reducing the advantage- it ends up at point blank. But also, 2 of the Shermans in the scene are 76mm variants, and 2 are diesels- so not Ronsons, and the tiger’s a mk1.

TBH the main problem with that scene was the low rates of fire.

How aboot Hamburger Hill.

TBH the main problem with that scene was the low rates of fire.

LOL I love this place

But yeah, I mean that’s why Pearl Harbor was so shit – the roll and climb rates were totally off! 😀

Not seen Fury though, but didn’t the anti-tiger tactics effectively amount to charging them in groups of four, hoping that one tank was able to flank and get a side shot?

Tom_W1987 – Member

Not seen Fury though, but didn’t the anti-tiger tactics effectively amount to charging them in groups of four, hoping that one tank was able to flank and get a side shot?

Yup- well, there’s 4 of them passing through the area, not expecting any real resistance, but they run into an ambush and need to get past it. So they cover it in smoke and charge in, because they’ve not got many other options. Someone makes a point of saying “there’s no armour in the area” earlier on.

(2 of them have the 76mm gun so they wouldn’t really have needed the rear shot, they could poke through the front of a tiger at these ranges. Though that’s a bit finnicky on detail, they used real tanks so it’s a total mixed bag of whatever they could find.)

It all runs into cinematography too, it’d be dead boring watching the tanks sling shells at each other from 2km apart, they obviously want to get lots of movement and closeness on screen.

It’s a pretty interesting film, I enjoyed it- it’s never shooting for veritas though, and the later stages can be taken in different ways- some people thought it went too Commando comic, others thought it went intentionally unreal (not unrealistic but unreal; it takes on a totally nightmarish, fairly stylised feel, there’s a theory that they’re all already dead and in purgatory, another that you’re watching the myth not the reality…) So it’s not really comparable to, say, your Das Boots.

Done right, I think a long range tank engagement could be quite nerve-racking for an audience – in a Das Boot kind of way.

Probably. But in this case, it’d have led to 4 burning shermans, and they’d have to rename the film Zorn and have it follow the Tiger around instead.

Sounds awesome, yanks burning to death, the Horst Wessel song, Schnapps and **** tigers? What’s not to love about that?

jimjam – Member
DezB
Justify? Back up? Your taste?

The thread title is “best war film ever”, as opposed to ” I like this film”. The difference is subtle, I can see why you would have a hard time with it.

POSTED 20 HOURS AGO #

Since there is no definitive way to decide which is “The best war film ever” then all people can offer is an opinion based answer . If you really need to take issue with somebody then you could do worse than pick on those who have mentioned half a dozen films as the best ever . Numbers we can quantify , opinions we can’t

Sounds awesome, yanks burning to death, the Horst Wessel song, Schnapps and **** tigers? What’s not to love about that?

Panzerleid surely?

But yeah, I mean that’s why Pearl Harbor was so shit – the roll and climb rates were totally off!

Let’s not forget the following:

The sound producers working on Pearl Harbour overdubbed the sound of the Rolls Royce Merlin engines during the Battle of Britain scene with those of Alison engines, an act of sacrilege unparalleled in cinema history. It even tops the insinuation that an American pilot actually won the Battle of Britain on our behalf.

Oh, then there’s this line: “I beg you ma’am, don’t take my wings”.

The film had many other problems of course, but those two should damn it to obscurity forever.

I watched Kajaki yesterday based on reviews on here. Wow. A simple, short, but utterly absorbing film.