When I watched "Saving Private Ryan" for the first time, I was just a young man who didn't know anything about military sophistication and film appreciation. I watched this film to satisfy my interest in the battlefields of World War II. The first time I saw it, I didn't feel anything, and the visual elements and historical sophistication inside didn't make me feel refreshed. And I don't think the film has any depth, I think the truth in it is just some cliché - the superiority of guns without eyes and a beacon of American democracy under war, that's all. The second time I watched it, I found that the depth of the film was actually intriguing. When a person shoulders the weakest hope of a mother for his son, rather than just a few lives, the greatness of human nature can be shown; And the meaning of life is to finally understand that others are strong enough to live for their own efforts. The reason for repeating so much is to draw out the most important protagonist, Matt Damon. The success of "Saving Private Ryan" can be said to be inseparable from Damon's performance. When he was young, Damon won the recognition of most audiences with his real and emotional acting skills. After 17 years, it was like fate that Damon was "saved" again, only this time not on the Western Front, but on Mars.
I didn't pay attention to this film when it came out, until recently. When I heard the return of Ryan's leading role, I couldn't help being excited and watched it with great interest, expecting to have the shock that "Interstellar" brought me, but I was greatly disappointed.
First of all, let's define this film, this is a drama science fiction film, a modern Robinson story. The story begins with a man being dropped on Mars after the narrative environment has been perfectly articulated, and then he - struggling to survive - thinking it's over - is rescued. The plot of this story is destined to be a mediocre linear narrative film from the beginning, and this kind of narrative needs a perfect plot and a refreshing climax to win the audience's love. Fortunately, this movie does it, and the tight plot, climactic plot, and interspersed laughs make this movie look less inferior. It is precisely because of these factors that it has become a very orthodox sci-fi movie. There is no procrastination, and the plot is handled in one go. The audience is concerned about whether Mark can survive and also laments the wonder of physics and the driving force of high IQ groups. Human development... blah blah, while at the same time downplaying elements such as the American spirit and heroic love that's long gone. And so a high-quality Hollywood movie was born.
After watching it, I was hooked. Like most audiences, they all sighed at the survivability and willpower of modern Robinson. Unfortunately, after reading it, I always feel a sense of powerlessness, and even regret - is this the Ryan of the year?
First of all, the development of the story is too linear, and there is no shock when multiple main lines come together. The plot of Mars Robinson makes this film destined to not have too much suspense. The only thing worth looking forward to is how NASA can save Robinson. The Chinese cameo seems to be an old stalk in the Pacific Rim to please Chinese audiences, and the film quality has to shake his head in the face of the box office. Watching it once and applauding it, the second time it can be said that it doesn't feel anything.
The movie's effort to substantive sci-fi elements is really lacking. The spacecraft took off, flew back to Earth from Mars, used acceleration to get rid of gravity and then launched a ball-like connection from Earth at the same time...I think anyone with high school physics can understand this. There are also hexadecimal languages, I think anyone who has used Nokia mobile phones to send text messages knows. A horizontal comparison of the concepts of spanning dimensions and wormholes in "Interstellar" has given the audience the biggest challenge to the imagination in terms of scientific rigor. As far as science fiction is concerned, this gap is insurmountable.
And most importantly, the theme of the film. It's an interesting question as to what the whole film revolves around. Because the director too downplayed the most common themes, namely love and family, this film was too "empty". If it is the belief of living that keeps Mark alive, then this theme is too pale. It's not that the film lacks a theme, but it doesn't really make people feel empowered. He worked hard to survive and was finally saved, but there is nothing to sigh about except for the feelings of him and the other 5 colleagues. In contrast, a simple and sincere father-daughter relationship in "Interstellar" turns despair into hope, and a touch of reality in a high-dimensional space is the finishing touch. In this film, Ryan is no longer Ryan, he is just the hero everyone hopes to save (after a year), a character who doesn't even have a soul. Lieutenant miller in this film is a representative work of the beacon of American democracy... There is no intense emotional collision, no magnificent sacrifice, no delicate characterization, nothing.
It may be that I have watched a lot of multiple mainline narratives like Nolan, and I have no feeling or even disgust for this kind of film. And what makes me sigh the most is that after 17 years, Ryan is no more.
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