Good, but not excellent

Rating: 7/10 (25 June 2006)

Basically I agree with the majority of the critics, a good movie, but I didn't find it to be as outstanding as most claim.
I missed the background information at the beginning, then a lot of necessary info regarding to the why's and how's of the various battlefield decisions and situations. The movie was sometimes difficult to follow. Another thing that puzzled me, and I don't know if this is true, but the film portrays the Rangers as a bunch of idiots, or better said a bunch of ordinary soldiers, "cannon food" as the Germans would put it, not in any way the elite troops they are supposed to be. Only Delta is portrayed as an elite force, it's members are seen as self confident, knowledgeable and experienced, and the difference between the two in the movie is mind-boggling.
Furthermore, I found a lot of scenes, dialogs and ideas (especially at the beginning of the film) have been "borrowed" from films like 'Apocalypse Now' and other Vietnam classics. On a positive note, the camera and sound effects where excellent. Once again, good, but not excellent.