Posted on 11/11/2009 5:34:19 AM PST by Saije
Some reviewers have called "Saving Private Ryan," Steven Spielberg's World War II film about D-Day and the search for a soldier, one of the greatest war movies.
Military historian Antony Beevor begs to differ.
Not only is it not the greatest war movie, it's not even the best cinematic depiction of D-Day, says Beevor, author of the newly published "D-Day: The Battle for Normandy" (Viking).
He admires the famed Omaha Beach opening -- "Probably the most realistic battle sequence ever filmed," he said -- but described the rest of "Saving Private Ryan" as "ghastly."
"It's sort of a 'Dirty Dozen' cliche of the worst form," he said.***
Beevor says a director would do well to remember that the Allied effort to retake the continent extended well beyond that single day of June 6, 1944.
"D-Day, although an iconic moment, was not actually the end of it. Films like 'The Longest Day' and 'Saving Private Ryan' almost give the impression that D-Day was 'it' and then the next thing people know about was the liberation of Paris," he said. "But in fact it was the fighting in Normandy which was far worse. Casualties on D-Day were far lighter than expected -- [military leaders] had expected 10,000 dead and only 3,000 died.
"The real fighting and the real casualties," he added, "came in the Battle of Normandy."
So what does Beevor prefer in the way of a Hollywood treatment of D-Day? Another project Spielberg had a hand in, "Band of Brothers."
"On the whole I think [it] was pretty close to the truth," Beevor said of the 2001 HBO miniseries, which Spielberg and Tom Hanks executive produced. He called it "incomparably more realistic" than "Saving Private Ryan."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I agree that the opening sequence is unforgettable.
Nothing wrong with them, I'm married to one. It's just the absolutely leftist liberal dogma that the public schools are force-feeding the youngsters. "obama mmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmm."
Gag a maggot!! The teacher's national organization and academe in general is run by burned-out 60's hippie dope-smokers like schpielberg.
“That was Vietnam...”
...just sayin’ my favorite “war movie”.
I prefer Band of Brothers on both counts. Better drama, WAY WAY more accurate.
I’m looking forward to the made-for-HBO series on the war in the Pacific that’s supposed to be coming out soon.
That said, Band of Brothers is a work of art. I've got the DVD box set and would recommend it highly.
Happy Veteran's Day. Remember our heroes.
“Battleground” may have been the best treatment of the Battle of the Bulge...
Crapgame: “Maybe he’s a Republican.” (speaking about the Tiger tank commander)
LOL
I’ve always liked “Battleground” though I’ve never seen the beginning.
When I was in 6th grade our teacher read us Guadal Canal Diaries over a period of several weeks.
Yeah, I know, they don’t do stuff like that anymore.
From the viewpoint of pure special effects..before the era of computer generated stuff..my vote is for "Battle of Britain"..amazing aerial photography..using real vintage WWII planes...at the time the movie was being made, the studio as said to possess the 3rd largest air force on the planet.
My personal favorite is one that rarely turns up on the tube.."The Cruel Sea", based on Nicholas Monserrat's novel..about the crew of a Royal Navy corvette, and battles against U-boats. One of the rare instances where the film was very faithful to the novel, and almost as good.
“Victory at Sea 2?”
ah, gotcha... :)
“Yesterday’s Enemy”: a good “hidden” British WWII film about action in Burma. While it goes into the anti war mode, it was gritty and had good actors from what I recall. Been awhile since I have seen it, tho’...
Or "Enemy at the Gates" - the first thirty minutes of that movie is even more gut-wrenching than the opening of Private Ryan - where the poor conscripts are stuck between the machine guns of the Nazis and the machine guns of their commanders.
My favorite scene in that film is when the returning soldiers are flying over thousands of mothballed bombers..actual footage.and one says to the other.."Man, could we have used those a few years ago.."
Big Joe talking about..."if I hear any more talk about going down to headquarters and killing the general, or raping the nurses at the field hospital is going to be in big trouble!"
Always with the negative waves......
“Maitland, did you LOSE my aerial photographs?”
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