Oscar Winner, some of the most realistic scenes ever

Rating: 8/10 (15 November 1998)

First... there was a comment from someone about taking their 8 year old step-daughter to this. Yeah, let's show a child the horrors of war in a brutally realistic fashion and then tell everyone here what a freakin' idiot they are to drag an eight year old to this movie. I'm a parent and there are films which obviously are ones they should not, under any circumstances be exposed to. #1--they have nightmares #2 --they are very very much bothered by many of the scenes and are told --don't worry it's only a movie--although it's a pretty damn accurate one about a real event with fictional characters #3--they are numb to depictions of violence, filmed, or real. They might not differentiate too much between film or real life and therefore might have a tendency to act in a violent way or be attracted to violence and shock... in order to FEEL something... because they are numb most of the time....
You get the idea.
Okay the film has some flaws. The framing device doesn't work particularly well and feels .. well like an attempt to do what Speilberg in Schindler's List. If the movie is a character's memory, then why are some scenes not possibly the memory of the character?
Not a serious flaw but a really unnecessary device to use in
the film.
The characters are not particularly well-drawn, and what little back story they do have (with the exception of Hanks) is very cliche'd stuff.
These things don't matter much however over-all. It depicts in a gruesomely realistic and emotional way what war is about. And that's a feat that has rarely been accomplished.
This is a powerful anti-war film for the coming millennium, much as All Quiet on the Western Front was in the 1930's.
There is a minimal amount of pathos and sentimentality in the film, and what there is, although cliche'd, works to some degree.
There are some wonderful moments. The man who picks up his own arm (or is it leg) on the field of battle. The young man who is amazed his helmet has saved his life. He takes off his helmet looks at the dent where the bullet was and then.... that's right... he gets shot in the head and dies.
The nervous breakdown Hanks house in the battle.
The inability of the interpreter character to be a hero and save someone's life....during the final battle scene. More affecting perhaps because some of the film does resort to cliche's. But not here. When you really want it to. When you hope it will. It doesn't, making the scene more powerful.
Bravo.
Please stop letting your kids see violence in movies. Sex and language is one matter and isn't going to hurt them. Violence particularly realistic violence (not slapstick or cartoon) is having an effect on young children. DON'T BRING THEM TO VIOLENT FILMS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...