Terrifying

Rating: Null/10 (27 June 1999)

This film truly moved and terrified me at the same time when I watched it at the cinema. Not many films can do that except for maybe Schindlers List. Recently I rented it but could only watch it until half way through the Omagh Beach scene. I think this film is the kind that you can only watch once. My Dad watched it and it moved him also, he even had tears in his eyes by the end of it. I can't believe that some war veterans involved in D-Day could actually begin to watch this film, it must bring back some terrible memories. I think it's something that we all should watch because it brings home the horrific nature of war that books and even pictures cannot even begin to illustrate. Most kids like me should definitely watch this as it makes us realise just how trivial our troubles in life seem. we should not be allowed to forget the millions of ordinary men who were slaughtered in this conflict, what they died for and just how lucky we really are. My only critcism of the movie is how like many Hollywood films only concentrate on the American side of it all when many other nationalities participated. Ok I accept that Omagh was a mainly American thing but even now the American soldiers are all portrayed as the good guys who can do no wrong and the Germans as inhuman monsters, take that bit at the end for example when the german stabs the american. What I think the film fails to illustrate is that even the Germans were just ordinary men just like the American soldiers with mothers and families and I think portraying all the german soldiers as pure evil is a bit outdated and sad we should realise that now. I also wish that this film could have been about and dedicated to all the men whatever their nationality who gave their lives on D-Day, it wasn't just the americans. Despite this however I think the opening scene is about as close as we can come to how D-Day actually was and i think its about time we knew what the war veterans went through for us and how eternally grateful we should be to them.