#78 - Saving Private Ryan
If you think of this movie having three acts, I think the second - post invasion, pre finding Ryan - is typical Spielberg schmaltz/trying too hard.
But, of course, the invasion and final stand scenes are amazing.
"Earn this"
Trivia:
Steven Spielberg cast Matt Damon as Private Ryan because he wanted an unknown actor with an All-American look. He did not know Damon would win an Oscar for Good Will Hunting (1997) and become an overnight star before the film was released.
The two "German" soldiers who are shot trying to surrender were speaking Czech. They were saying, "Please don't shoot me, I am not German, I am Czech, I didn't kill anyone, I am Czech!" They were members of what the Germans called Ost [East] Battalions, men, mostly Czech and Polish, taken prisoner in eastern European countries invaded by Germany and forced into the German army.
Steven Spielberg is on record as saying that even if the film had received an NC-17 rating, he would have released it uncut anyway.