Spielberg & Friends

Rating: 10/10 (27 April 2017)

*NO SPOILERS* As I look at my hodge-podge,of a movie collection I see a growing appreciation of WWI movies and war movies in general including: Wings, All Quiet of the Western Front, Paths of Glory, Sergeant York, Hell's Angels, La Grande Illusion, Ace's High, Lawrence of Arabia, The Blue Max, Gallipoli, War Horse. Plus, and I won't torture you anymore by listing another 25 or so WWII, 6 Vietnam War, 7 Revolutionary War, 5 Civil War and 5 Iraqi War period films. Right now I'm contemplating a 4 pack of war movies("Von Ryan's Express", "12 O'Clock High", "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and "The Blue Max") I just picked up, and also a used "Flyboys" on Blu-Ray Disc. After watching the four pack, I was prompted to write a review of "The Blue Max"(1965) because I was so impressed with how it stood the test of time, with good action sequences in the sky(the ones on the ground were nice and spicy with Ursula Andress at her sexiest), and all that WITHOUT CGI. Of all the movies made about WWI with great flying sequences, which you might be able to count on one hand, I found "The Blue Max" a pleasant surprise. I later re-watched "Flyboys" to listen to the added commentary track provided by the Director and Producer, giving background details of the filming, but what was really the nice bonus was the historical details of the Lafayette Escadrille, a wholly American squadron flying, and fighting for the French against the Germans, just prior to the US officially entering WWI. It's fun revisiting these older movies which are being reissued with supplements, including commentary soundtracks- featuring the Directors and/or Script Writers, Cinematographers, Production Designers, Producers, and sometimes even the actors and critics(but who cares what they think). I've been adding Blu-Ray offerings of my favorite movies to get all the "extras" which I find informative and interesting. Now to the subject of this review, "Saving Private Ryan"- a Steven Spielberg masterpiece. I gave it a 10(which I use very sparingly), and was so impressed I would have given an 11 if I could. For me, Ryan was only the second movie I immediately watched a second time(unfortunately I didn't see it on the big screen), the other being Glory, Denzel's acting tour de force about a black regiment in the Civil War(I was glad to have caught this on the big screen). All that said, Ryan has become the standard by which I judge a great movie of any genre. I think the crime of the century was "Shakespeare in Love"(I actually liked it) winning the Academy Award for Best Picture over Ryan.