"saving private ryan” and "the longest day”

In this media assignment, I am going to compare two films, one by Steven Spielberg, and the other by Darrel F Zanuck. The two films are ” saving private ryan” and ” The Longest Day.” ” saving private ryan” was released in 1998 and ” The Longest Day” was released in 1962. The extracts I am going to compare are the D-day landings of the sixth of June 1944 on Omaha Beach, Normandy.

To state the obvious first, the differences in the colour between the two films ” saving private ryan” and ” The Longest Day” is that ” The Longest Day” is in black and white and that ” saving private ryan” is in colour. Therefore, the images in the latter film are far more realistic. It also has the effect of symbolising horror, blood and gore. This is deliberate directing by Spielberg to make the film realistic as possible.

The start of with ” saving private ryan” begins with a family visiting a cemetery some where in America, in my opinion Steven Spielberg has done that to show that the family has lost someone close, and because it’s a war memorial cemetery, possibly a member of that family was in the war and they had lost a close friend. In addition, an old gentleman has flashbacks of the war and then we go into the film from this mans flashbacks/thoughts. Whereas ” The Longest Day” starts of with an introduction of the actors, in the film and who there character is meant to be and what their position is and it slowly builds up to the battle.

Spielberg has chosen a wide range of shot types and framing for ” saving private ryan.” He has used underwater imagery, aerial shots, and side views. He does not use first person view a lot because I think it does not show the feelings of the main character, Tom Hanks, and any other soldier. The different types of shots and framing have made the film very realistic and make you feel the emotions of people and that you are there with them and along side them, which I think Steven Spielberg, has done on purpose.

” The Longest Day” shot types were not in particular that good because the camera was more or less fixed in one position and I would put it as ” in your face” and it was there all the while. There were no aerial views or under water shots, although the shots showed you the mood people were in, and we must remember this was made thirty-six years before ” saving private ryan”

The differences between the way the main actors are portrayed, Robert Mitchum, and Tom Hanks for the latter version, is that Robert Mitchum stands out more from his men. I think that the director Darrell F Zanuck has done this to show Mitchum’s rank and that he is the senior officer in the squad and therefore he has put him across as `a man of steel` and impermeable to the enemy and that he is the hero. Tom Hanks on the other hand has been represented differently, Steven Spielberg has mixed Tom Hanks with his men and has not ” outcasted” him from the other soldiers and he has chosen to show his fears and weaknesses unlike Robert Mitchum where he does not show any.

The dialogue between the characters is again very different. Tom Hanks voice changes between the way he is feeling, when he is more confident his voice would be of a stronger nature and when he shows fear his voice would be of a lower tone and mumbled. Robert Mitchum’s voice changes very rarely and is always strong and confident which again I think Darrel F Zanuck has done on purpose to try to put his character across as a stronger person.

The sound effects are incredible in ” saving private ryan” because they make you believe that you are in the war, and if an explosion goes, of which your not expecting it will make you literally jump. The affects in ” The Longest Day” are not as good as ” saving private ryan” but are still good for the time this film was made and directed. The sound effects to me are of a softer nature and not as realistic. The sound effects again show fear because you can hear whimpering in both of the films and in ” saving private ryan” a variety of soldier’s commanders, officers, and privates being physically sick.

The music for the two films was different again in style ” saving private ryan” started with a slow peaceful music building up the setting for the scene and remembering all those who had died and ” The Longest Day” started with more of a `macho` theme with a more dramatic style to it, to demonstrate the nature of the film.

The visual effects for ” saving private ryan” was excellent but for ” The Longest day” was very disappointing for me and of a poor standard. You could tell the scenes were fake, because you could see the backdrop, which was playing behind, and which I thought did not make certain parts realistic and as exciting as they could have been. ” saving private ryan” was exceptional. It really made you feel a part of the action, you could see the vibrations of the sub-machine guns and the running with the camera as the men run, it really made you feel a part of the team. Having ” saving private ryan” made in colour also gave it an advantage because it also showed blood which you wouldn’t of been able to do in ” The Longest day” and that made it more horrific. Yet we must remember the dates these films were made, and that the latter film gave it a significant advantage.

The locations of the films were completely different in all ways imaginable. ” The Longest Day” was produced in a studio, and ” saving private ryan” was filmed on location at Omaha beech for the beech landings, which added realism to the film. ” The longest Day” tended to rely more on backdrops for particular scenes like, the amphibious craft landings and additional complicated scenes to produce for example, the blowing up of bodies on mine fields.

The clothes the soldiers were wearing in both films told a lot about the character. I think that the smarter the uniform the more pride the soldier had in them, and that you could tell a soldier had just been in a fire fight depending upon how ragged and scruffy his uniform was. In addition, the uniform determined the superiority of the character.

To conclude, both films were thoroughly enjoyable to watch. I must say I enjoyed watching ” saving private ryan” more though, because I think it contained more action and you did not know what was going to happen. But in ” The Longest Day” the soldiers seemed to know what was about to happen, and you could tell the storyline whereas ” saving private ryan” kept you interested and on `your toes`.