A Comparative Film Review Essay

Today, the depiction of war is becoming more vivid and realistic. Audiences are more critical of how a move catches the true(a) events that transpired and of how they can relate to the emotions in the plastic film. The movies Saving toffee-nosed Ryan and We Were Soldiers are two of the most popular modern day films with the subject of two different wars, human creations War II and Vietnam War respectively. They have similarities in many aspects However, they have even more differences. They have completely different themes, and completely different objectives. This stem explores on how these two films are alike and how they differ.When Duty Calls A Comparative Film Review There has been much development in the movie manufacture since the onset of computer graphic imaging. This technology has enabled producers to depict subjects that were con billetred impossible. Today, humans are capable of transcending limitations on time and cultural differences. They can reenact historical events, reinstate buildings, and recreate natural sceneries. Equipped with a blue screen, computers, and actors, an entire war can commence right before an audience. With both simple and complicated movie techniques, anything is accomplished.The movies Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers share a common subject and this is war. This topic has interested the curiosity of millions of viewers since time immemorial, as those who have witnessed it want to endure the events and those who did not wish to learn the events. Both tackled common themes and presented different angles of a war. They share many similarities and possess many differences. But there is one real aspect that both these movies have successfully translated. This is the price that war claims to those it chooses to affect (Spielberg, 1998 Wallace, 2002).Both stories of these masterpieces were derived from two of the most engaging events in the history of mankind. Saving Private Ryan was based on the life of a rea l individual named Sergeant Frederick Niland, a United States paratrooper sent to France on D-Day. We Were Soldiers, on the other hand, is a version of the book written by Lieutenant Colonel Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway virtually the war machine engagement in the la Drang Valley in 1965. Both contained fictional characters and limited events, plainly little truths must be altered in rules of order for the actual truth to emerge (Spielberg, 1998 Wallace, 2002).Saving Private is neither a biopic nor a tale of heroism. Its story is a protest against the wraths of war and how humans condemn it. It has clear anti-war sentiments, as characters struggled through and through the horrors of war and suffered both insanity and distraught. The D-Day amphibious invasion at Normandy was an excellent prologue to the film. It had brutal depictions on the consequences of being a soldier, on the gruesome reality of battles, and the uncertainty of life. It is a story of comradeship, of realization of fears, and living an pass on away from death (Spielberg, 1998 Wallace, 2002).In addition, We Were Soldiers is a film that shares absence of political themes of war. The primary objective of both movies is to relay to the audiences the lives of soldiers as soldiers, who are entities that can be separated from the entire picture of military and political debate. They are men who chose to be in the line of duty and take arms in order to fight for what they believe is righteous. But We Were Soldiers pictured a relatively more intimate aspect, the scenario of the soldiers relationships with those they left at home.It prudently conveyed the lives that soldiers have before they leave for an engagement and after they have accomplished their missions (Spielberg, 1998 Wallace, 2002). In the sequence where Mel Gibson with Madeline Stowe and Chris Klein with Keri Russell were spending their last night together prior the soldiers departure for war, the intense emotions were effe ctively depicted. It relayed the fear being contained when lovers are being parted without any assurance of reunification. It is a scene where there is pain because of the uncertain.Another important aspect of war that this movie portrayed was not only the lives of men in the battle zones, but also those of their families awaiting their return. In the scene where the women would gather together and watch television for updates, one would aroma the intensity of fear that these women are trying to suppress within. They would not want to cry until they hear something concrete, but just the prospect of losing their husbands is cruel. Every knock on their door was a possibility of the word that they have lost their beloved men (Spielberg, 1998 Wallace, 2002).Both movies focused on a hero, an officer of a military unit. Tom Hanks was the captain in charge of a platoon assigned to search for Private James Ryan while Mel Gibson was also the captain leading his men through Vietnamese jungle s. In Saving Private Ryan, heroism is to fulfill ones duty, regardless of its nature. As long as it contributes to the efforts of war, and that it is a soldiers mission, then one is to be considered a genuine soldier. In We Were Soldiers, heroism is making a decision, although detrimental for a certain number of people but crucial for the entire outcome of the war.Saving Private Ryan was not a film about a countrys victory or defeat. It is a story of personal victory in ones struggle to maintain his conviction amidst a world gone half mad. We Were Soldiers, in contrast, is about how a military unit lost a critical battle and most of the men involved (Spielberg, 1998 Wallace, 2002). Both shaped the American understanding of the realities of war. Because of these movies, the human beings has learned to further their appreciation of the sacrifices that men in uniform give in order for peace to prevail.The price is clear, their lives and the structure of their families are put in the l ine of fire each time they board the helicopters or boats in order to fight in the beaches or jungles. Both movies gave significance to the human side of war, concentrating on the people that comprise a war and how a war shaped these people (Spielberg, 1998 Wallace, 2002).ReferencesSpielberg, S. (Director). (1998). Saving Private Ryan. Motion Picture. United States Amblin Entertainment. Wallace, R. (Director). (2002). We Were Soldiers. Motion Picture. United States Icon