Heh.
I found TRL a bit esoteric (or seemingly intended to be).
I know what the movie seemed to be shooting for (perhaps the book did better) but Nick Nolte's character (Lt. Col. Tall) is introduced more by his inner dialog lamenting a wasted life in pursuit of advancement in the military as he walks about on the deck of a ship with his lips figuratively attached to John Travolta's character's (Brig. Gen. Quintard) backside.
Quintard is portrayed as a stuffed shirt with his own insecurities who occasionally spouts off something he thinks of as insightful and inspiring, in spite of it's general disconnectedness. He treats Tall condenscendingly, which just makes the colonel more determined to prove himself. Apparently proving himself involves ordering subordinates to follow reckless tactics so glory can be bought with blood.
The "main" character's thoughts/inner monolog is offered up as a man questioning the useless slaughter of war where the gains are measured more in aquiring enemy property, no matter the cost, than anything else.
All in all, an interesting counterpoint to SPR but not particularly moving, inspiring or entertaining.
Now, SPR, from the first seconds of the movie, is sensory overload. It numbs, it shocks the senses .... but it does drive home a very hard point. A point it shares with TRL .... wars cost lives. Good lives. Maybe some not so
"good" (but that's a perspective denied since once a young life is snuffed out who knows the potential lost). But it certainly evoked emotion when Hank's character (Capt. Miller) tells Ryan (Matt Damon) to "earn it." To earn the price Miller paid to save Ryan. And the movie comes full circle when the older Ryan weeps at the grave of Miller and the audience, hopefully (and I think the movie succeeded at this, for the most part), feels the full realization of what it's relied on suspician before. The brotherhood of men who served together in combat transends just about any other kind of relationship possible.
Both movies came out in `98. And their differences are as interesting as the critques surrounding them.
Anyhoo .....
*ShruG*
Not like I'm a professional movie critic or nuthin'.
p.s. TRL is a remake of a 1964 film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058648/I've not seen the earlier film. May be worth a try just out of curiousity.
