throwback to old war movies

Rating: 7/10 (15 May 2007)

This is a throwback to old war movies, make no mistake. We have an identifiable group of men (eight of them), who go on a mission. This one is to risk their lives to save one man. Its based upon the story of the Sullivans, a group of brothers who all died, and the Department of Defense decided it was time to act so that not all of a family would perish in war. The Sullivans served together on the same ship (The Indianaplois), and perished. Of course if they had lived, they probably would have just moved to the East coast, had their own ship, go hunting for a giant shark, and made fun of college kids, then get eaten by a shark any way. So these eight soldiers look for Private Ryan, the last of his family, and are to make him return home. Along the way, they suffer casualties. There isn't a lot of new material here. A lot has been made of the gore, but even the old films had gore to equal or outdo this. Old World War Two films didn't hesitate to have men lose their legs when tanks would run over and amputate them, or to be horribly disfigured. So there is nothing new. The action comes in bits and pieces until a big fight in the end. Some of it looks a little too contrived, to be honest, as though the director was aiming at some conclusion with all the little conclusions coming first. True to old time movies, minor characters die first, and also true to old time movies, men from New York and cigarette smokers get a free pass and cannot be killed, so you know some who will survive. Just a little too trite and Hollywood to be recommended, but not a bad movie.