The Patriot 2000, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 1944, Flags Of Our Fathers 2006, Saving Private Ryan 1998, and American Sniper 2014
The theme of patriotism runs rampant throughout this marathon. What connects all of these films together is the story arc of good men having to leave behind things that they hold most dearly to them, and go off to defend their country against the other side. Different eras of war in American history are covered such as the American Revolution, The Doolittle Raid which was America's first attack against Japan after Pearl Harbor, the battle at Iwo Jima from the American standpoint and the drama the young men who raised the flag endured afterwards, the battle of D-Day and the fight for a group of American allies to save the life of one MIA soldier named Ryan, and finally the story arc of the American patriot coming full circle with Clint Eastwood's mega blockbuster titled American Sniper. The characters of Benjamin Martin and Chris Kyle are essentially the same type of soldier who carried a great deal of patriotism with them as well as a lot of emotional baggage for past actions they committed in war. Both men are faced with having to leave their families behind and dealing with the harsh realities of war when they return from the battlefield. The first movie of the night that introduces the theme of war and what good men leave behind when they go is Roland Emmerich's film The Patriot starring Mel Gibson, Joely Richardson, Heath Ledger, and Jason Isaacs. The story centers around a retired French-Indian war hero whose living a peaceful family life on a plantation during the middle of the American Revolution. Trying desperately to avoid going to the battlefield to fight the English, Benjamin Martin finds himself forced into it after a brutal English colonel kills his son. His anger turns into patriotism as he fights for not only his family but for his country, unleashing the dark nature of his character that was only seen on the battlefield. The Patriot establishes the ideal American hero that the rest of the men in the movies that follow live up to. The second movie of the lineup is Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo starring Spencer Tracy. Nominated for two academy awards and released in 1944 during the actual second World War, this epic war drama focuses on America's first retaliation against the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In this tale of war, a young Lieutenant named Ted Lawson ends up leaving his wife and unborn child behind to join a group of pilots led by war hero Lt. Jimmy Doolittle in a top secret raid that took the war to the shores of Japan. Much like The Patriot and American Sniper, we see the husband having to leave behind what he values most in order to defend his country in the ultimate act of patriotism. The films groundbreaking special effects and cinematography earned well deserved academy awards at the time, and the film became the first major Hollywood film to focus on World War ll while it was still going on. The next film in the lineup adds to the theme of heroism in terms of a group of heroes with timeline stretching later in the war on the battle of Iwo Jima. Clint Eastwood's Flags Of Our Fathers tells the story of six men from the American point of view on the famous flag raising during the battle off Iwo Jima, which later became a turning point in World War ll, and the controversy that surrounded the incident soon afterwards. The fourth film in the marathon is perhaps the greatest war movie ever filmed in cinematic history with Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. Winner of five academy awards and generally considered one of the greatest Oscar snubs in movie history with Shakesphere in Love winning over Ryan, this tale centered around the battle of Normandy and the aftermath of it with a group of soldiers in the U.S army going behind enemy lines to save the life of a paratrooper whose brothers got killed in action. Tom Hanks leads the group of soldiers in a powerhouse performance with a strong supporting cast among the likes of Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Edward Burns, Vin Diesel, Matt Damon, and Giovanni Ribisi. The opening battle sequence centering around D-Day is hands down the greatest war sequence in cinematic history, and one of the greatest opening scenes ever made. The final movie in the lineup is ultimately the one that brings it all home to war in present day and stirring the most controversy in the realm of pop culture. Clint Eastwood's American Sniper centers around a Navy SEAL sniper named Chris Kyle, whose accuracy at firing bullets that saved countless lives on the battlefield transformed him into the greatest sniper in U.S history. When he's not fighting a war in Iraq, he struggles with his wife and kids after four tours of duty to lead a normal life, but soon realizes that what he can't put behind is ultimately his war. Nominated for a total of six academy awards and winner of one for best sound editing, the film polarized American audiences with a domestic total of 349 million and 543 million worldwide. What American Sniper ultimately does is it brings the marathon full circle with the character of Benjamin Martin representing the ideal American hero in the past and Chris Kyle representing the ideal hero in present day war, regardless of the controversy surrounding his memoir and personal life.
So what are these movies all trying to say ultimately about war? When all five movies are combined, the message ultimately says that there are some causes that are worth fighting for and possibly dying over if it's for the cause of right. Victory in any war doesn't come without great sacrifice, even if it means leaving behind the people you love, cherish, and ultimately fight for.
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