125 minutes of cinematic excellence

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2012)

I have seen this movie many many times... that is, the first 125 minutes of it. I can't watch the final 40 minutes, they... suck. Somehow, at that point, the movie loses focus, tension and yes, even craftsmanship. The imagery gets weaker, the voice overs get tedious, the misery of the characters stops reaching inside you. However, what comes before that is just overwhelming cinema.
It's a shame John Toll didn't get the Oscar for cinematography, but obviously, at that time Saving Private Ryan was too groundbreaking in its visual aesthetics to not steal it. Today, however, after zillions of other movies have turned the shaky hand-held-fast shutter-bleached bypass look of SPR into a lame cliché, we realize that the cinematography in TTRL is outstanding in a much more profound and timeless way.
Same goes for Hans Zimmer's score, which is inspiring and beautiful and could stand it's own ground against anything simply as a great piece of modern music. It's a score that can easily bring tears to your eyes, but it still transcends the movie rather than blatantly forcing fake emotions onto you.
The acting is great and i've never felt cheated by those short appearances of Travolta and Clooney. Travolta, as always, is really into his character and has a tense chemistry with Nolte. Clooney, well... in my world, this movie is only 125 min long, so i never get to see him anyways. Nick Nolte is indescribably awesome as Col Tall. Way over the top, but in a believable way, and every time he's on screen, the movie is just so damn gripping. So there you have another Oscar TTRL should have won but interestingly, Nolte had another nomination going that year (which didn't make it either).
Now, it's said that this movie came down from a first 9 hours cut to a 6 hours version and finally reached the 3 hours mark for theatrical release. Well, i wish they would've taken it one step further and shed away everything that comes after the storming of the Japanese camp. Maybe after Staros is relieved of command and flies off. That would've been a perfect point to end this movie...
Regarding comparisons with Saving Private Ryan: These two are completely different kinds of movies, so comparing them is just as pointless as arguing whether Bruce Lee would kick Chuck Norris's ass or the other way around. I think that in 2012, SPR looks a bit outdated while TTRL continues to be a very appealing movie with timeless, beautiful and transcending cinematography and music. One that can and, if you allow, WILL make you contemplate about human nature, love, life and war on a level way above the usual cheap morality play.