Patron Exclusive Vote: Films of War

Would love to see an ep on Band of Brothers

I always found the main theme of SPR thrilling. Is it worth saving one human being if you have to risk the life of more than one? The question is obviously applicable to Private Ryan but in the end applies to the whole second world war. How many lives are you willing to spend to free those being oppressed by a murderous regime. This is such a painful question and the movie makes it very painful (right from the extremely impressive and disturbing start) for the audience to find out how they would have decided. SPR is still painful to watch and it made me even want to visit Omaha Beach and get an idea of how it might have felt during those important days ( I just did that this year after a long time contemplating). I would love to hear your thought on this topic the way Spielberg approached it.

I ended up going with Full Metal Jacket because Dunkirk was too far behind to catch up, but FMJ might be able to overtake Saving Private Ryan. Ryan is a good, solid movie, that seems boring to talk about. Dunkirk seems more relevant than any of them, especially with my fears about how Nolan will Nolan up Oppenheimer.

Grant Henninger

Dunkirk is one of my favorite movies to hate when it comes to structure. It's Nolan being Nolan for no reason other than he's Nolan. However, Full Metal Jacket is just bonkers. Two totally separate movies, jammed together in the middle. I have no idea which one to pick.

Grant Henninger

My first reaction was ‘what, no Apocalypse Now?!’ But I will accept your apology in advance that you have, in fact, covered it already. So, definitely a vote for FMJ from me. I had to look back again but am surprised you’ve only covered one Kubrick so far. Dr Strangelove or Clockwork, anyone?

1917 is probably my favorite but i think it’s more due to technical pieces rather than the screen play. Dunkirk or FMJ structures are probably the most interesting

Jacob Doan

I'd be interested in Full Metal Jacket because it has a quite unusual structure and plot. Not of lot of arcs. Like, you get Lawrence/Pile's descent into madness in the first half, but then that's over, and then you get Joker not really doing much of anything until the end when he chokes and fails to kill that sniper. What does it all mean?

The 1917 script is a great example of the Hero's Journey.

Cherie

All good options 😱

All of these would be amazing but I think 1917’s screenplay would be very interesting to analyze since so much of the story is dependent on the visual storytelling

pattyt08

While not my favourite, I feel Full Metal Jacket would be the most interesting to discuss

Andrew

Tbh I feel like the discussion of SPR will be less interesting than 1917, Full Metal Jacket or The Thin Red line.

A. Person

Saving Private Ryan is my favorite of these movies but the 1917 screenplay would definitely be the coolest to hear about from a screenplay perspective! I remember going over it with a professor briefly and would love to hear the team’s takes on the concepts!

This is such a hard choice!