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My God The Audacity of Joe Hallenbeck's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN review!!!
Alright, get ready to let loose on Joe. He gave SAVING PRIVATE RYAN 3 and a half stars out of four, which
obviously means he hates the film.... right? All kidding aside, Joe here states some legitimate problems he
felt the film had. I personally disagree with each and every single one of his negative points, but hey who died
and made me god? Right, so as Joe would probably tell me, "Shove it up your ass Harry!" To which I look Joe in the
eye and say, "shove harder you heartless bastard!" (Ya have to talk to Joe in a certain elegant tone, he doesn't
understand we gutter trash. However if you feel Joe should be crucified for depriving the film
of half a star and actually explaining it, then by all means send your death threats and hate mail to hallenbeck69@hotmail.com!
If you are not familiar with Joe's style, beware, I told you so....
War is Heck...or at least that's the impression I got while watching
God's latest opus, Saving Private Ryan. Of course, with that blasphemus
statement one would think that I, The Mighty Joe Hallenbeck, is prepared
to knock the hell out of this flick. The truth of the matter is I
thought it was one heck of a film...certainly not the greatest War Movie
ever made, but a good film -- the third best I've seen this year(2nd
being Very Bad Things and 1st being a movie I haven't written a review
for yet). This movie, on the Hallenbeck scale, gets a solid 3 1/2 stars
out of 4...a rare feat for any film. I don't hand out 4 stars as if it
were candy like most critics/movie lovers. In the past 5 years('93-'97)
only 9 films(none in '96) received that rare, coveted 4 stars. So, when
I give a movie 3 1/2 stars that's a pretty impressive complement.
Before I give you the reasons why this movie didn't earn 4 stars in the
Book of Hallenbeck, I'd like to take this time to briefly examine 6 War
Movies that are far better than SPR. I'll go in chronological
order(meaning War to War):
Glory - The best Civil War movie ever filmed(of course, I can't recall
that many CW films being made). The battle scenes were spectacularly
filmed and the characters were rich and well drawn out.
All Quiet on the Western Front - The greatest War/Anti War film
ever...PERIOD! Nothing in cinematic history can match the 2nd most
haunting, symbolic shot to ever be filmed (1st being in Schindler's
List). If I have to tell you what it is then don't even call yourself a
movie fan. This particular moment should be view at least 3,000,000
times during your life. It should be hammered into your psyche like the
time Uncle Billy asked you to sit on his lap and you felt something
uncomfortable underneath you!
Paths of Glory - Honor. Loyalty. Discipline. Are we human beings or are
we soldiers when we walk onto that battlefield?
Platoon - Innocence lost at its best. When Charlie Sheen killed Tom
Berrenger a part of me died. I was Charlie at that moment. Oliver made
me feel as if I was pulling the trigger. That's something I'll never
forget.
The Deer Hunter - Nothing will ever match the most intense scene ever
filmed. I've seen this flick numerous times and I still have to get up
and walk around after watching that particular scene. I ain't saying
what it is cause you know what scene I'm talking about.
Full Metal Jacket - Two incredible movies in one. You went through Boot
Camp with Joker, Cowboy and Pile. You felt their pain. And when the time
came, you went through hell with them...both on the battlefield and in
camp. Them sniper's are sons a bitches.
Of course, this is just a smattering of War films that I would take over
SPR anyday. Hell, I'd even throw Born on 4th of July, The Longest Day,
Apocalypse Now, and Patton in there.
Well, enough about those flicks. Let's deal with the movie at hand.
THINGS I'M GONNA BITCH ABOUT:
1) It ain't better than Schindler's List. To say so is an insult and
should be deemed a crime...punishable by death! Once again, the critic's
blow their wad and praise a movie that's good(very good in this case)
but ain't the masterpiece they claim it to be. When I walked out of
Schindler's List I felt ashamed of being a Human Being. When I walked
out of SPR, I asked myself, "I wonder if I'll make it home in time to
watch Dave?"
2) Apparently all battles were fought in the daytime. Both Nazi's and
Americans slept at night. Only one shot took place during the night and
it was breathtaking. I, for one, would've loved to have seen just a wee
bit more take place during those Twilight Hours.
3) It looked too clean to me. Maybe it was the dull hues or filters he
used, but it just didn't look gritty enough for me. It looked to
"Hollywood."
4) The Hype on the Violence. God kept on tellling everyone that this
flick is incredibly violent...that it has sickened people. Granted, I'm
as descensitized to violence as the next cold-blooded American Male, but
I didn't feel the violence portrayed was excessive. It's a war movie for
christ sakes! It's supposed to be violent! I've seen more violence in
Dead Alive and Starship Troopers! God was blowing smoke up everyone's
ass by proclaiming this film is really excessive in the violence
department. It's war. It's Violent. It's disgusting. That's just the way
it is. Take your five year olds to go see this. Give them a history
lesson and teach them about the horrors of war, but for God sakes ---
Let them know there are more violent images out there...some of which
I've seen on TV!
5) The Characters - this is the main reason why the movie didn't get 4
stars. I don't mind if they were somewhat cliched. What I did mind is
that only two of them were remotely interesting! 2 out of 8 (9 if you
count Chief Big White Teeth who's barely in the movie) stuck out in my
mind. I can't remember one soldiers name, nor do I care to. When a
character would die I didn't shed a tear. I didn't care about them. They
weren't a family...a unit like those boys were in those movies I
mentioned above. As a matter of fact, I didn't even care for Tom Hanks
in the film. I just felt that it was Tom Hanks trying to play Soldier in
his backyard! Now how's that for a blasphemus statement?!
6) Only one money shot...the calvery arriving on the beach after it's
been taken. I would've loved to have seen a few more money shots...you
know, the breathtaking epic scope shots that can only be seen on the big
screen. What's with God and shooting a movie flat? A movie like this
should've been shot in scope. It should have been grand and spectacular,
yet intimate at the same time.
7) I, for one, was disapointed that I didn't see Indy duking it out with
them Nazi's in the background. Ah, C'est la vie.
THINGS I AIN'T GONNA BITCH ABOUT:
1) The Battle scenes are some of the most specatularly filmed sequences
ever(although, some of that steady cam work really gave me a migrane. It
was like NYPD BLUE on acid!). What a pain in the ass it must have been
to film that stuff. People are saying God didn't even storboard those
scenes. BULLSHIT!!! God doesn't even take a piss without storyboarding
it. He had it written and drawn down somewhere.
2) Jeremy Davies and Adam Goldberg - these two gents were the only
soldiers that injected any kind of personality and character into their
roles. Davies was particularly impressive as the the young coward with
no combat experience. His character is the only one that grew and
blossomed during the course of the film. Him on that stairwell and at
the end with those soldiers are two moments I soon won't forget.
As for Adam, I felt he was perfectly cast as the Jewish Soldier fighting
against them Nazi, Kraut Bastards. Every time you see a Jew in a World
War II movie they're being persecuted. Not in this case. That scene with
him and the POW's is great!
3) And the ocean turns red with blood. Now that's a powerful, haunting
image if I've ever seen one.
4) Adam breaking down on the beach.
5) Two words: "Earn this."
I look at SPR this way, "That's one down...one to go." I hope and pray
Terrance Malick and Co. come up with a war movie that is so intense, so
revolting, and so hypnotic to watch that it makes me seriously ill to
think about War after I watch that movie. Sorta like a Clockwork Orange
kinda experience. That's what I want in a War flick... unfortunately,
that's not what I got in SPR.
On a more personal note, I just want to say it was a fuckin insult to
the men that fought valiantly during that battle to be completely
ignored during the final shot of the film. To end the movie on a Marker
for a ficticious character's grave and on the flag was
disgusting! To truly pay homage to those brave men that died over there
God should've ended the movie on a wide shot(cliched as it is) and shown
us all the hundreds...if not 1000's of graves that layed there. That
would've broke me.
...and a butterfly flaps it's wings.
Joe Hallenbeck
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Dear Mr. Hallenbeck,
I am not here to gripe about the 3 and 1/2 stars that you gave SPR. Even though I enjoy many of your reviews, I could care less how many stars you give them. Being a movie critic is a completely objective profession so it's really not my place to demand that you hand out any stars to anyone...especially considering that the stars are not mine or anyone else's.
First off, I do agree with you about the fact that SPR was, "One hell of a movie." Also, having reviwed most of the others you listed as better, I also agree that they were great movies.
However, there is one thing that bothered me about your review. It seemed, for the first time, that you became too caught up in the movie-reviewers web of conformity. One of the main things that you and many other move reviewers bitched about was the lack of character development. Unfortunatly, you failed to look deeper at your objection. Just think, maybe the lack of character development was meant to make us think that we really have never given much thought to who the actual people were behind the dirty bloodstained faces of the soldiers in any wars, and maybe it doesn't really matter. If you wanted to cry for Tom Hanks, then I suggest that you see a movie about Tom Hanks'life(Of which there are none, because his life was probably not that interesting or tragic) When I say "maybe it doesn't really matter" I mean that maybe it doesn't matter who they were, what clothes they wore, where they came from, what they ate for breakfast, or who they had to go home to. They were all humans, and whether they died with a name or a character, or as an extra in the beginning Normandy scene, they still died. The only reason that there is any character development at all in this, or any war movie, is to make us feel for a particular character so when Joe Shmoe dies we can feel sorry because he didn't get to go back and see his wife and kids. Well guess what...neither did all the others who died so why should we cry for Joe...why not cry for all the others. Or, why not cry for the people who just had to go through it. Frankly, I found God's little message quite intensly clear in that aspect, and the only reason that I think that you didn't was because you, "left the theater wondering if you could make it home in time to catch Dave."
War is an indescribable hell that no piece of cinematography, no matter the amount of tears shed while watching it, can even remotly begin to describe. When reviewing a movie such as this you have to break down the typical conventions and boundaries of review. Do not write about the acting of Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, or any of the other actors. Do not write about how the battle scenes were not bloody enough(and certainly not that children should go see this movie to get a sense of realisim. War is one of the most surreal things I have ever seen or heard about.) Do not write about the way movie ended unless you think that really really made a difference. Do not review it like a movie...review it like a history lesson, cause that's what it is.
Please do not take this letter as an insult to your character or your profession Mr. Hallenbeck. I am not trying to sling mud or proclaim myself as a higher intellect. Certainly not. I happen to think that your wit and wisdom on your reviews is unmatched in your field. I am only a 19-year-old kid who happens to be attending college and is extremely happy that he has never experienced, first hand, any type of war. I concede that fact that I don't know everything...not even close; nor do I want to. I have also reviewed very little movies in my time, none of which have been published. Therefore Mr. Hallenbeck, I will leave the movie reviews to you and, as far as I'm concerned, you may hand out your stars and words wherever you please. Just remember, you can hand them out, but you have to be prepared to get some back. Everyone's a critic!
Sincerely Yours,
Colin Sullivan
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i agree with Mighty Joe in some respects.
1)Many of the characters were not fully developed but all the actors did really well with whatever lines they were given to work with. I loved Barry Pepper!
2)Speilberg did miss a great opportunity by framing the picture with the old guy at the cemetery. A simple wide a shot of all the crosses at the D-Day Memorial would have been much more effective ending.
However...this is merely quibbling with details. It is a masterpiece of filmaking. You can tell that a lot of thinking and planning went into every shot and close-up. It was art.
I have just one for Mighty Joe question....
Since when is Schindler's List a war film? Sure it takes place during WW2 but but the heart of the film is human connection and intimate moments. A war film, to me anyway, signifies battle scenes and that respect SPR is one of the best war movies ever made at least #2. That D-Day sequence blows everything else out of the water. As for "The Thin Red Line"...I think that it's too big named stars may distract the audiences from the plot. -
In an age of instant gratification, we content ourselves to reward anything that smells like a decent film with the status of "classic," "masterpiece," or "the greatest movie ever made." Mighty Joe is perfectly on-target and I for one feel that virtually all the films he cited as being superior to SPR are in fact better than Spielberg's latest. What do these films have that SPR doesn't? The benefit of time to discover how they age and develop in the canon. I was deeply impressed with SPR, but come talk to me in ten years and then I will be better equipped to cinsider whether the movie deserves to be ranked alongside All Quiet On the Western Front, Glory, and Apocalypse Now.
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Joe-
I, too, have problems with SPR but I don't agree with your objections and I think you miss the real problem with this film.
The characters:
You say you didn't care for the characters and that Spielberg failed to create a group of men that cared for each other like a family.
I thought Spielberg did a masterful job of placing the audience with these characters at this specific situation and time. The distance we felt from them served to illustrate the kind of distant relationships men had during the war. These guys weren't buddies. If anything, they all represent to each other the worst time of their collective lives. This whole notion of a family bond is Hollywood smaltz. For me, the most emotional scene in the movie is when Tom Hanks tells his troops what he did before the war. "I was a schoolteacher. I taught English Composition." A perfect illustration of the Citizen Soldier.
Money Shots:
This comment confuses me. You list other war films that try to get past the fantasy John Wayne heroics, yet you're looking for "the Calvery?" Epic Scope? This film is about the claustrophobic chaos of war, the very notion that a bullet could tear into you from thin air. From which one of those distant smokey pillboxes comes the bullet with my name on it. I didn't miss any widescreen vista shots from the cliffs. He's not trying to emulate David Lean. 1:185 is just fine, thank you.
The Hype on the Violence:
A moot point. I didn't take a stump count but the film was as brutal as it needed to be. The battle scenes played with me more psychologically than visually. If anything, the really graphic stuff (the sniper HEADHITS hits on the Germans) took me out of the movie, elicitng more of a Wow!
THINGS YOU AIN'T GOING TO BITCH ABOUT (but I will)
Two words "Earn This". Didn't need to hear it. All I could think about during the final, excruciating 30 minutes was just that.
But that's trivial.
I have one HUGE problem with SPR and I'm surprised you don't mention it. It is this:
Soldiers don't question their mission. It happens constantly in SPR. "Why risk 8 to save one, why not go around this bunker instead of through it, why not kill the prisoner. Why, Why, Why!"
Soldiers rarely talked about their wartime situation at all, they certainly didn't whine to their Captain.
It's an unfortunate misstep in an otherwise groundbreaking WWII film.
To sum it up for me: Conventional script made into a great film through the sheer cinematic genius.
An aside comment about your list of GREAT WAR FILMS:
Totally Agree with Paths of Glory and Full Metal Jacket. No one will ever depcit the de-humanization, callousness and surreal strangness of war better than Kubrick.
But The Deer Hunter? The most disappointing (read manipulative) 2nd half of a movie I've ever seen. How a film could go so wrong after such an amazing first hour.
The Longest Day?! I assume you just want to raise some cackles. All those phony strategy sessions. Talk about a bloodless account of D-Day!
Finally, Schindler's List. I may be the only person on the planet that doesn't consider this a GREAT film. Not after seeing the first hour of Lena Wertmuller's SEVEN BEAUTIES. Schindler's List is more a document than a film.
that's it
Jeff
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I love the movies "GLORY" and "FULL METAL JACKET", but PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT "ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT"!!
I rented this movie two days ago. I put it in one night and fell asleep after 15 minutes of it. The next day I tried to watch it with my 15 year old brother (I'm 18) and my friend that was over. I was hoping that having someone watch it with me would help me to get in to the cheesy acting, cheesy sets, cheesy etc. Talk about Hollywood! This movie is another one of those movies that the people that made it were so clueless. Was this movie made for little kids. I have nothing against it being as old as it is or black and white because I am a major movie fan and will give almost any movie a chance. But this movie really shows the time it came from. It was no different than any of those sitcoms with the perfect happy families. Did people really act like that??? Was war that tame back then. I understand that movies in that day did not allow cursing and violence like our movies of today, but the acters were still cheesy. ANYWAY, My friend, my brother and I lasted about 45 minutes before we forgot that it was on and started talking about other stuff while the movie just played. I know special effects werent great then and all that junk but the acting could of had more feeling and been more realistic. I am not trying to offend anyone's opinion or anything. I just want to know why this movie is so great besides the fact that it is so old that it is a classic. -
Saving Private Ryan is a war movie, right? When watching SPR we want to experience war, right? Then what is everyone complaining about!!! I know that it lacks 100 percent perfect character developement, but so the fuck what!!! Do all of you movie critics want to know what I think about your criticism? I get really pissed off that every time a sorry movie comes out everyone talks about it being ok and everyone talks it having this cool part and that cool part and generally it is accepted. In the end alot of shitty movies get more credit than they deserve and when a good movie comes out everyone nit picks at the little details of how it should be. Oh " I didn't like that one little shot, and I didn't like that 10 seconds of that scene. BOO FUCKING HOO. I know that I pay sound like trash right now and I usually don't but hell. Are any of you ever satisfied with anything. After shit loads of shitty movies come out a good one finally comes out that is so good that every one has to find something wrong with it. I know that there were some things wrong with it but please. I dont think that this movie was intended to give us a perfect story with perfectly developed characters. It is a movie to show us what war was like and the D-Day scene is as close as you will get to it!!!
I loved the techique they used with the camera bouncing around in the battle scenes. I think that the D-Day scene is a perfect example of what war was probably like. If you watched it and you were sickened and horrified by it then the movie accomplised what its mission. I think Spielberg made a 20 minute MASTERPIECE!!!!
thank you
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Joe,
I liked your review, disagreed with it, but liked it. While the gore level in SPR is on a level with Starship Troopers, I think what sets SPR apart is the camera movement and use of sound (like when the camera dunks under the water during the invasion). I'm a History Major, and responding to someone else who posted (about soldiers not questioning their missions)...well, they don't question them after the war, sure enough. They want to forget the wwhole damn thing. But a 2nd or third or something cousin of mine (who fought in Italy prior to being wounded and shipped home in WW2), told me that he and his buddies (of whom he was the only one to return home) constantly bitched about their missions. They did them, and they paid a high price for completing them, but they did bitch none-the-less.
How realistic is the violence in SPR? A WW2 vet who saw the movie in Baltimore (I'm 20min. south in Columbia) remarked on the news that he was so afraid the bullets were going to start flying out of the screen and kill him that he peed in his pants. An 80 year old man who stormed the beaches of Normandy. I'd say thats pretty realistic...
--Jeff -
Gretings and Salutations. I know this is a rather late note on saving Private Ryan, but I have some comments on the film that no one has seemed to notice.
SPR has one fatal flaw. According to the film's story logic the old man we first see at the cementary in Normandy appears to be remembering (e.g. the closeup eyes shot)what will eventually follow as the film progresses (So much so we initially believe the old man is Tom Hanks.) The fallacy occurs when it is revealed that the old man is actually private Ryan, which destroys the logic of the story. Private Ryan jumped from a plane, he was never near Omaha beach, and has no recollection of most of what is retold in the film. How can this character (acording to the film's logic) be remembering all the shit that happends to Tom Hanks and co. when he wasn't even there? Would'nt Ed Burn's character be better suited as the final narrator? Isn't he the one who ends up keeping the letter that passed from dead soldier to dead soldier? Shouldn't he be the witness? Spielberg goofed up on this detail, in favor of some melodrama, which in turn may undermine the realism intended.
Anyways. Thanks for letting me blabber. Please excuse the spelling. Sincerely. roach.
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And not been to war ?
********
"All Quiet..." and "Der Brueke" are the other class films.
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SPR captures so much more, including the decades later dead spots.
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The "bookends" are not mentioned in the review. For real life parallels, visit Washington and The Wall.
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