| By Pete on Saturday, July 25, 1998 - 08:40 pm: |
Excellent cinematography and some very fine performances all around. Really points out the randomness of war -- who lives and who dies. A few of the images that have stuck with me: A soldier gets shot in the helmet but is unhurt. As he looks at his helmet in amazement, he gets shot in the head. Killed.... A soldier with his arm blown off staggers around until he picks up his own arm.... The sharpshooter who prays to god for his deadly accuracy.... Someone blown to bits while running with a bomb.... This is one movie where you can ignore any negative reviews you may read (and there haven't been many from what I've heard) and go see it for yourself and decide for yourself. Absolutely worth the price of admission.... |
| By -oDDBALL oDD- on Sunday, July 26, 1998 - 07:18 am: |
I love this movie. I think that is the difference between this and other favorites of mine. This film lives in front of your eyes like an organism. It does not just wash over you like most movies. There is a huge emotional involvement. I once heard Norm MacDonald say, sort of tongue-in-cheek, that compared to the men who fought in WW2, the men of today are like women. I certainly felt a little diminished as I left the theatre, and grateful. |
| By PetRock on Sunday, July 26, 1998 - 10:33 pm: |
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| By Spiracle on Thursday, July 30, 1998 - 07:20 pm: |
wish that were true... |
| By Quidam on Thursday, July 30, 1998 - 11:35 pm: |
It was very powerful. I appreciated the way the germans weren't portrayed as cold and ruthless killing machines, but rather as soliders, no different, except in uniform, from the protagonists. Everyone shared the same motivations, the same fears, the same hopes. (Notice, I really don't want to get into a discussion of Nazi ideology or American jingoism or any of that. I am simply referring the the horror of being in war, of having to kill or be killed. Of seeing death in a way in which no one ever should.). I don't think this was a movie about US pride or about being grateful to WWII vetrans, or to America's honored dead.... I think it was simply to show how war cheapens life. This movie made me appreciate my crappy little life a little bit more. That sounds a little grandiose and I'm sure the feeling will fade, but when I went into the movie, I was kind of in a bad mood. My car shit on me, I was thinking about my money probs, about the usual pain in the ass things that come with living. When the movie was over, none of those things seemed to matter as much. Oddly, the fact that I was complaining about my car seemed kind of welcome and very human and very alive. I think that was the point. Well, it was for me anyway. |
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