War Movie

Rating: Null/10 (25 December 2001)

It is particularly depressing that folks can't watch this movie and enjoy its technical achievement without bashing its "Americanism". Give us all a break. The soldiers are very flawed, and the US is shown to make blunder after blunder. The Germans are portrayed as an external menace, but so what? Isn't that what war is about? So one of them is a coward? Big deal. Most of them are shown as very determined soldiers, unlike the Rangers, who are all over the map.
As for Americans being proud of helping defeat Nazi Germany: What is wrong with that? By the time the US entered the war, 3/4 of the Western war effort had been shouldered by that country, not to mention the colossal undertaking in the East.
As far as serious war movies Americans make of themselves, I can only say that, recently, Americans almost always portray themselves in a negative fashion. The "Hollywood" that folks love to bash is notoriously anti-American (these last 30 years). Don't believe me? Watch Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Born on The Forth of July, Hamburger Hill, The Thin Red Line, etc. If you think there is much flag waving in those films, you're very much mistaken. Some of them were very good, however. It is charming to listen to foreigners equate "Hollywood" with "America".
If prejudice against Americans precludes you from enjoying American films, then don't watch them. If you do, however, I suggest you review the movie, not its country of origin.