is there a such thing as Too Realistic?

Rating: Null/10 (25 July 2002)

is there a such thing as Too Realistic? there answer is no, exept in the ther war genre, then the answer is yes. Why, would I say that? because do you and I need to see brutal, bloody and gruesome dipictions of violence to know that war is ugly? ...ther answer is "of course not" -- this film disturbed me. First, I want to say that this film has a great & wonderful story.this film is perfectly cast, and very well acted. the special effect are flawless (the effects are too good -I'll explain later). the film score is beautiful.This film is handsomely photographed and the scenery is amazing.and the battle scenes are some of the best i've ever seen.I have no quarrells in calling this John Woo's finest production to date.
However, I want to call this a near perfect film,but there is one small problem. This is not a film I could watch over and over. The brutal violence and gore in this film are just too much(although realistic) I felt was unescesary. this is more voilent and gorey than Saving Private Ryan.(Ask yourself these questions - is all of that gore nescesary to tell this story?? Do you enjoy watching this much gore and violence?? - for me the answer is no on both questions)I do believe that in order to tell an effective war story that you do need to show some degree of bloodshed.--however,this film goes so far over the top that I began to wonder if this film was just made to be a special effects showcase of carnage. --And I'm not suggesting in any way that war stories should be presented like fairy tales, however I am suggesting that there is a such thing as too much gore.(how much is too much? - when the producer has pounded you with so much carnage that it is no longer contributing anything to the story,then he has gone too far, and that is what happened with this film) I give this film 6 stars out of 10 - see it once. dont eat anything before you see it