A moving film, although from the usual US-saves-the-world perspective.

Rating: Null/10 (16 June 2005)

As an addendum to the very fair report on SPR by Bob the Moo, I'd only point out that the basis for the story is not an American one, but a British one from WWI. That's the only nod to the usual US view of themselves as the world's favourite saviours. That said, it's a great film. The deaths, especially as a result of close-quarter combat, are rightly harrowing. You do get the sense that war is not about glory and that heroic actions often go unrecorded, often resulting in tragic endings. The attempt at combat realism is commendable; the sound of machine gun bullets zipping through air and flesh will remain with me. In an action film there is often limited scope for developing depth to the characters, and this is also true of SPR. To blame any of the actors for this is a tad unfair. It simply soars way over the heads of such films as Full Metal Jacket and the closest comparison I could make is to the Band Of Brothers series, which is closely based on real events, and possibly The Wind Whisperers. Oh, and regarding the comment about Michael Caine removing his kids from a US school over it teaching that WWII began in 1941: It is sad but true that US kids might be taught this; however, are Brit kids taught that WWII began on 3rd Sept 1939? To a Pole, the war began 2 days prior to that. To a Czech, maybe a year, to a Chinese person maybe 3 years... it's all a matter of perspective.