Which movie is better, and why?!

This is what I'm talking about, rufnek, at least I think so because I'm unclear what you mean from your explanation of what you say happens in Saving Private Ryan. "Steamboat Willie", the German who's released halfway through the film does reappear at the bridge, but he's a totally different German than the guy who walks by Upham on the stairs after knifing the Jewish American. Two different characters played by two different actors whose only resemblance is basically they have shaved heads.

P.S. Saving Private Ryan usually wins "Best War Film" in polls of American veterans so I believe that they have as many different ways of seeing things as the rest of us.

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This is the most difficult one for me so far. Not because I don't know which side I'll choose, but because I don't think the film I'm going to choose is as good as the other.

I'd pick Die Hard each and every time I was given this choice, but, although it's been a long, long time since I saw Lethal Weapn, I think Weapon is the better film. Gibson actually acts (and shows that he's rather good at it, even with a character as hokey as Martin) and, if I remember correctly, the film looks pretty great too and, in terms of quality, it's far and above all of the sequels that came after it put together.

But Die Hard... Well it's Die Hard isn't it? I'll always pick a loved one over anything else, no matter how much better the other is. I'd pick Charlie's Angels over Les Enfants Du Paradis. Sick I know, but I would.

Die Hard. No sequels involved, then it's Die Hard, at least for me.

Alright, I just finished Platoon. I prefer it over Saving Private Ryan. As I said before, there were a few dull scenes in Saving Private Ryan, and frankly some things I just didn't like, even though I was amazed at the last hour.

Platoon, though, just had me captivated throughout. It's a great character study, with great character development. It's also deeper and has more plot than Saving Private Ryan.

This one is easy for me. They are both nice holiday fa la la la la movies, and all, but I watch Die Hard every year. I even like the sequels. Well, I never bothered with that 4th one. It had too much CGI horse ***** in it for my taste. In order, I love the first one a lot, I really like the third one, and the second one is OK.

With Lethal Weapon, I've never really been into it enough to watch it numerous times. I've seen it maybe 3-4 times. I own all of them, just like I do with Die Hard 1-3, but I'm not very interested in the Lethal Weapon sequels. I've never watched Lethal Weapon 4, but I will eventually. Mainly because of Jet Li.

So yeah, Die Hard it is.

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Jet Li is the man! Seeing Fists Of Legend is a must for any Jet Li fan. As for Lethal Weapon 4 Jet Li was the only good thing in it. In an interview he said that they had to slo-mo the camera for his action scenes so people could see what he was doing.

Allow me to post a vote for Lethal Weapon.
I know y'all think I'm crazy, but I just don't like Die Hard. Sure it has some great action set pieces, but the cardboard characters and their downright stupidity is hard for me to overcome.

Lethal Weapon is smart and funny and has plenty of action. I just like it better.

OK, let's see if I understand you correctly. The released German shows up at the bridge but as a different character than the guy in the knife fight. Two different actors playing two different characters yet in the same scene near the end of the movie?

If that's the case, then I was right in my original argument with that other party that the released guy was a different person from the one in the knife fight in that they were in different uniforms and to me, didn't even look the same--seems I remember the Kraut in the knife fight being taller than the other. If the released German showed up again, I never noticed him.

That's the problem when you take a bunch of young actors who I haven't seen that much and put them in uniforms with helmets that hide their face at times--I sometimes just can't tell them apart. Had a hell of a time keeping up with who was who in Memphis Bell when the whole flight crew were in oxygen masks, too!

Well, regardless of who played whom, letting an enemy walk away on a battlefield is just asking for it to bite you in the butt later!

Don't know if my dad (an air corp veteran of the Pacific Theater) has ever seen SPR, but I gave up on his taste in movies when he told me how funny Grumpy Old Men was.

The released German ("Steamboat Willie") is the guy who

SPOILERS (highlight to read): shoots Hanks at the end and is subsequently shot by the coward. We never find out what happens to the German in the knife fight.

No guys SPOILERS the german they released is the same german in the knife fight passing the translator at the stairs. I dont believe anyone was revealed as Hanks killer. At the end of the film when the translator has all the germans lined up the one that says "Upman?!" like a buddy since he let the translator live at the stairs plus they chit chated when they released him, and then the translator kills him. A huge Speilberg touch that got lost due to everyone being in helmets.

John Adams (HBO Miniseries）(action and adventure)


Yor must remember that many people have made the journey before you ,some of them enjoied success,some of them experienced failure .All of them can teach you something. Role models can enable you to both learn from experience you havn’t had yet or you may never have.This movie ispire everyone ,no matter what you have been through ,where you come from ,who you parents are .None of that matters .What matters is how to choose to experience ,how to live through your work ,through your family,through what you have to give to the world.

Well gee whiz, thanks for that. WTF!?!

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

No he isn't. Go and watch the movie again. The German who kills Pvt. Mellish played by Adam Goldberg is a completely different person than the "Steamboat Willie" that we first meet and then subsequently see again later. I agree with you though about him not killing Captain Miller (Hanks), I thought Upham killed "Steamboat Willie" because Upham was so upset at seeing him again after they let him go the first time.

Jeez, PW, they are obviously a John Adams fan.

Sorry I missed the whole Platoon/Saving Private Ryan argument. I like both of them, but watching Platoon makes me incredibly uncomfortable (I remember my hands being clenched in the theatre, and I saw it decades ago!) and Saving Private Ryan is a tad bit more enjoyable. I also cry at the beginning. I see those graves, hear that music, and I'm gone. In terms of trying to ascertain which is the better film, though, I think Platoon is bloody brilliant in all aspects.

And Die Hard/Lethal Weapon?! OMG, I sincerely cannot choose! Die Hard has the great Alan Rickman in it, it's so much fun, and I even like Bruce. And then Lethal Weapon is the king of buddy movies with a great scene of Mel eating pistol and doing the Three Stooges.

How can anyone really decide??? AH.

About Saving Private Ryan:

You guys have me totally confused. The german they let go is the same guy in the stairs, right? And then the guy who kills Miller isn't really anyone we've seen, right? And the translator kills the german that had been let go and seen again, right?

Yeah, I can't pick either. I love them both way to much. Tie.

No Im right. How else would the german know Uphams name.

Check the ending of Ryan again. I've probably watched it more than anybody here, but it was crystal the first time through in the theatre. "Willie" greases everybody's fave teacher. There isn't even any editing for anybody to question it.

The guy on the stairs is a different guy. Miller "runs into Steamboat Willie" again, Bastard!

Also, in case you don't remember this part either, Upham witnesses "Willie" shoot Miller at the bridge. There is no ambiguity at all here, but I've been listening to people misinterpret this part of the movie for 10 years now. Just take a deep breath and watch it. Nothing is even slightly confusing.

The one they let go . . .





The one on the stairs, from the knife fight scene . . .
(That scene disturbs the hell out of me. I need meds now! )