alleywayambush
Joined Feb 2018
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alleywayambush's rating
Well let's just say you can only expect so much from Spielberg & Tom Hanks combined!
The 1st 25 minutes of the film shows extreme violence from The Normandy Landings, some of which is hilariously unrealistic, like the soldiers were really gonna run up the beach when they were fully on fire, and like that bloke would really casually search for his severed arm and pick it up like he was looking for and retrieving his dropped wallet ! Thi s1st 25 minute sequence was probably intended to 'entice' the viewer into the remaining 2.25 hours of irrational sentimental tripe !
Kinda unlikely how the men on the irrational mission to save 1 man (?) were given much more dignifying deaths, Vin Diesel dying from a wounded hand ?? No spilled intestines or 1/2 obliterated bodies in the remaining part of the film !
The one positive thing I can say for this film is that while it appears pro-war - Spielberg & Hanks were both given civilian medals of honour by the US army for it - it does (ironically) portray war for just how unspeakably evil and irrational it really is ! I mean, if justified violence is ALL about justice & defence (someone hits you, you hit them) war is portrayed here as a mere game; rules & 'fairness' are persistently addressed !
The 1st 25 minutes of the film shows extreme violence from The Normandy Landings, some of which is hilariously unrealistic, like the soldiers were really gonna run up the beach when they were fully on fire, and like that bloke would really casually search for his severed arm and pick it up like he was looking for and retrieving his dropped wallet ! Thi s1st 25 minute sequence was probably intended to 'entice' the viewer into the remaining 2.25 hours of irrational sentimental tripe !
Kinda unlikely how the men on the irrational mission to save 1 man (?) were given much more dignifying deaths, Vin Diesel dying from a wounded hand ?? No spilled intestines or 1/2 obliterated bodies in the remaining part of the film !
The one positive thing I can say for this film is that while it appears pro-war - Spielberg & Hanks were both given civilian medals of honour by the US army for it - it does (ironically) portray war for just how unspeakably evil and irrational it really is ! I mean, if justified violence is ALL about justice & defence (someone hits you, you hit them) war is portrayed here as a mere game; rules & 'fairness' are persistently addressed !
All right, so this would appear to be a film of double extremes:-
On the one hand it was made by children at the writer's local drama school, and subsequently very amateur, what with appalling unconvincing acting, where plastic knives were rammed into people who appeared to be laughing rather than screaming in terror !
On the other hand there was all the hype & controversy surrounding such a naive film, such as "The child actors were never seen again" (ie: didn't act in other films!), and how it was a supposed reconstruction of real events that happened on (particular date) 1984 that the press initially covered up. Not to forget how the Tori press thought the children were 'corrupted' by the subsequently banned film! (Star Wars would corrupt kids more!)
The hype aside, it should just be enjoyed as simple, low-key, low-budget, non-corporate and quite naive light entertainment !
Also, it's certainly a good objective insight to culture in the 80's. Yes, ordinary people DID adopt those hairdos and fashions, as made clear in the (real) nightclub scene. Also interesting to observe how people spoke differently in the 80's; there were obviously no voice coaches here ! Also interesting to observe 2 ethnic minority kids in the childrens' care home; nowadays political correctness would probably require plenty of others to be drafted in !
Let's give it a fair 6/10 for being nothing spectacular but still raw & fun - likewise quite naive & funny, and an insight into real 80's culture.
On the one hand it was made by children at the writer's local drama school, and subsequently very amateur, what with appalling unconvincing acting, where plastic knives were rammed into people who appeared to be laughing rather than screaming in terror !
On the other hand there was all the hype & controversy surrounding such a naive film, such as "The child actors were never seen again" (ie: didn't act in other films!), and how it was a supposed reconstruction of real events that happened on (particular date) 1984 that the press initially covered up. Not to forget how the Tori press thought the children were 'corrupted' by the subsequently banned film! (Star Wars would corrupt kids more!)
The hype aside, it should just be enjoyed as simple, low-key, low-budget, non-corporate and quite naive light entertainment !
Also, it's certainly a good objective insight to culture in the 80's. Yes, ordinary people DID adopt those hairdos and fashions, as made clear in the (real) nightclub scene. Also interesting to observe how people spoke differently in the 80's; there were obviously no voice coaches here ! Also interesting to observe 2 ethnic minority kids in the childrens' care home; nowadays political correctness would probably require plenty of others to be drafted in !
Let's give it a fair 6/10 for being nothing spectacular but still raw & fun - likewise quite naive & funny, and an insight into real 80's culture.