Realistic, But Not Perfect

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2002)

I like to contrast "Saving Private Ryan" with "Thin Red Line." Both came out in 1998, and both deal with WWII from the American perspective. Yet it would be difficult to find two more radically different films. Each has strong and weak points. "Saving Private Ryan's" strong point is its intense realism. Viewers who were used to the traditional WWII movies of the '40's or '50's, or even later WWII epics, were not prepared for the intense violence of this film. For the first time, we saw what sighted-in MG-42's and a line of Mausers can do to advancing troops. This was not gratuitous. It is important for us to remember that the Nazis did not simply fall over. The allies, including our own soldiers, had to fight very hard to beat them.
Yet "Saving Private Ryan's" strength doesn't go nearly as deep as "Thin Red Line." SPR is at heart a sharpened version of all the WWII movies that came before. It is a very good war movie, but that's all it is. There is no deeper exploration of the characters or the nature of humanity. That's not a criticism, just an observation.