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Thin Red Line was about people who actually had dimensions and complex feelings, who inspired the audience to think about what was on the screen, and consider war from some other perspective than simply gung-ho blind machismo and God-given American superiority. No wonder it completely sailed over the heads of so many.
I agree. 100%. But then again I feel like that about most great films. Machismo crap and Jingoism still sells, as do overblown special effects etc.. Mainstream films to me tend to suck big time. The more thoughtful films tend to go completely over people's heads it seems.
Its okay that we disagree on Thin Red Line. I hated it. Everyone I know who have seen it hated it. This includes folks who are/were special ops, marines, swat members, mixed martial artists, even a few chicks. It just really pales in comparison to other war movies of that period.
Hurt Locker was fantastic, but that is not from the 90s.
Cute ! I know "The Hurt Locker" was not from the 90s. I was comparing "Saving Private Ryan" to it. Nothing more. Oh and i also know that "Battleship Potemkin" or "Das Boot" are also not from the 90s...
Everyone I know who has seen "The Thin Red line" loves it,but then again they are British Army Soldiers so I suppose maybe not quite as warrior like as Americans and as understanding of the true nature of the theatre of War. ...
Bottom line. TRL was about the human mind at war. SPR was about the human gut at war.
A discussion about the pictures, over a case of Bud Light:
SPR: It was awesome. These dudes kicked some serious butt to save this guys a$$.
TRL: I didn't get it. What the hell's a Red Line?
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There is an old phrase about the thin red line protecting a nation or a bevy of soldiers guarding off a heavy attack, referring to the thin red line on the covers of all tan uniformed soldiers or the red coats seen from a distance(not sure which is the exact origin). The term blue line or thin blue line is used similarly with police as the last bulwark against crime and anarchy.
I liked Saving Private Ryan's opening scene as they stormed the beach, as well as the sniper sequence, but the rest I thought was Disney-Hollywood fare typical of Spielberg anyway, so no surprises to me.
Glad you all mentioned Stalingrad. Loved it! Really enjoyed the tank sequences, and the actors were so believable and amazing. Another tank movie I loved was The Beast, but that was 80s. Jason Patric and George Dzundza as Russian tank soldiers in Afghanistan.
I liked Saving Private Ryan's opening scene as they stormed the beach, as well as the sniper sequence, but the rest I thought was Disney-Hollywood fare typical of Spielberg anyway, so no surprises to me.
Saving Private Ryan made a big impact, because it was really the first big Hollywood World War II film for a generation that didn't sugarcoat the violence and intensity of warfare that a lot of people saw. There were a lot of Vietnam movies from the late 70s and 80s that were dark and violent in how they portrayed war, but for a child of the 80s and 90s growing up, World War II movies shown were usually old John Wayne films on TV with a lot of patriotic talk from the Duke about "How we're gonna win this war".
Saving Private Ryan portrayed D-Day closer to reality of warfare---you never saw guys getting burnt alive or getting their legs blown off in most famous World War II films before that. It subsequently influenced the HBO film Band of Brothers, but also was responsible for a whole new generation of World War II themed shooter video games in the last decade.
But I agree, Saving Private Ryan was a few excellent battle scenes in between a fairly average war movie.
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