Saving Private Ryan

I last saw SPR in 1998, and was not all that impressed. All the reasons for me not liking it resurfaced in a MAJOR way when I sat down to soak in the video/audio pleasure to be had from this great BR transfer.
The opening scene is the perfect establishment for almost the entire runtime of the movie; overly melodramatic, unnecessary and laughably desperate to convey contriteness. I can't begin to describe the painful pressure that began to form in the front of my head because of the desperate cries from this movie to be taken seriously.
But then there's one of the greatest battle scenes of all time; I don't think I've seen anyone mention the Omaha Beach sequence as NOT pitch-perfect. Which is why I get even more mystified by the endless cliches that spew forth afterwards. Every soldier is a mere archetype; a caricature of real-life, merely a device to portray an aspect of the effects of humanity on war. It's been done so many times before; often times done better. I was especially annoyed by Upham. He was far too heavily emphasized as the symbol for "the outsider", and the one who doesn't understand how war can change people. And of course, near the end he conforms to the hardened and less-forgiving soldier after the things he had witnessed and experienced. Most frustrating was the constant framing of his location and/or the angles used, forever hammering the statement "He is not one of them". Enough already.
Moreover, John Williams' score (whom I feel is one of the greatest movie musicians of all time) makes me weep, with the single trumpet sapping all my energy as it tries to make you feel like even the most mundane scenes require tears to be squeezed from your eyes.
What's also frustrating is how many scenes feel stilted and noncommittal, merely spewing exposition and keeping the story from moving forward as quickly as it should. I found the scene with the telegrams of all the Ryans dying and the order being put forth to find the last Ryan before he dies not only unnecessary (should have just gone to Captain Miller getting his orders and assembling his team), but it played like a bad TV movie. Dont' get me started on the scene after THAT, when the mother is in her perfectly 40's era house, with the most blatantly Hollywood-ized slice of AMERICANA stamping every inch of the screen, and the predictable falling-down-to-the-floor with sorrow at the news... this is a very sad thing, and I would expect such a reaction in the real world, but because everything is just too "fake" and "set-up" for my liking, I have no feelings inside but a subtle undercurrent of rage. I want to NOT feel nothing over such a moment.

Attempts at humor fall very flat. The scene with Nathan Fillion was not funny one bit, and even worse was the deaf Private yelling his lines. Mixed in with the occasional battle sequence are the same conversation bits:
Why are we going after this guy Ryan, anyway? What's the point?
Captain Miller's hands shake
What's FUBAR? I don't know that German word (hardy-har har).
What's the deal with Capt. Miller's life before the war? It's such a mystery!
Tell my mom/family/wife I love (her) them.
Then there are a few anecdotes about some of the soldiers' lives at home, to further reinforce their humanity and how far they've strayed from the comforts of family - and it's also an attempt to make them easier to relate to. Didn't work for me. Sorry.

I did, however, find the scene when they were looking at the dog tags in front of the Airborne division to be pretty good.

I once again disagree with the overwhelming decree that SPR presents WWII in a way that's never been done before. Far from it. Every scene is like what I've watched dozens of times before, from dozens of other movies. "Sands of Iwo Jima" is heavily influenced (esp. when comparing John Wayne to Tom Hanks), and similarities in "The Longest Day" come to mind ("What the hell does 'bitte' mean?") - even "Full Metal Jacket". It's a knock-off of the highlights of other movies before it. Bookended with the sappiest sack of melodramatic shit I've had the displeasure of watching in a long time.

I ranted on this one, because there will probably be people who insist that I'm wrong (of course I'm wrong lol), and/or want an explanation. It's almost as bad when I say I hate this as when I mention I don't like 2001 (that's more because I "don't understand it" than me having a wrong opinion).

The blu-ray was high in quality. The surroundsound mix is freaking awesome, esp. the D-Day sequence. Wow. I also didn't notice any audio-sync issues after chapter 15 that forced a recall of older copies (which I have).