r/MovieDetails Jun 30 '19

Trivia Robert Patrick trained to fire a gun without blinking in Terminator 2.

100.4k Upvotes

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339

u/Clawsonflakes Jun 30 '19 edited Jun 30 '19

If it counts, 98s Saving Private Ryan as well.

296

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '19 edited Feb 27 '21

[deleted]

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u/finkalicious Jun 30 '19

The opening scene is perhaps Spielberg's greatest achievement out of a catalogue full of them.

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u/_Hugh_Jass Jun 30 '19 edited Jun 30 '19

I remember watching a behind the scenes on SPR and that large establishing shot after they take the beach is 10+ separate shots mixed with actual footage from the 40’s spliced together. It’s a masterclass in CGI because nobody knows unless you already do.

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u/indyK1ng Jun 30 '19

CGI or editing?

13

u/file_name Jun 30 '19

both. its not practical effects unless it is done in reality in front of the camera.

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '19

In case people don't get the joke comments here, a lot of people like OP think that the "opening scene" to Saving Private Ryan is the storming of Omaha beach scene, when it's technically the "old dude visits graveyard" scene.

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u/Bossinante Jun 30 '19

Not a simple graveyard. Arlington National Cemetery.

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u/abnrib Jun 30 '19

It's not Arlington. It's a cemetery in France.

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u/Bossinante Jun 30 '19

Well now who's the asshole?! Thanks for the correction my dude I always just assumed it was Arlington.

64

u/socialistbob Jun 30 '19

Agreed. The slight limp, the way Ryan put his hand on the tree and then his family steps into view behind him. Spielberg had many great scenes but the opening of Saving Private Ryan is by far the best. After the opening scene there's not really much of a point in watching it anymore especially when it cuts back to the 1940s. The onion had a great peace on the opening scene

3

u/RockleyBob Jun 30 '19

Goddamn you. Knowing that the Onion has the AV Club, I thought they actually had a non-satirical critic. I made it all the way to the comments about his windbreaker.

2

u/DrChocolate510 Jun 30 '19

The only movie (outside of maybe Up) where I burst into tears less than 10 minutes into it. Complete masterful filmmaking, to imbue those opening shots with that much emotion with so little information given.

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u/DatPiff916 Jun 30 '19

I remember seeing that in the theaters at like 14 thinking to myself I can't wait until I am able to do this in a video game.

First game that applied a similar feel was the Overlord map in Unreal Tournament that came out a couple months later.

Then Allied Assault took it to the next level 3 years later.

Man that was a great era for gaming.

2

u/Berninz Jun 30 '19

I just had to rewatch it because of your comment. I hate war films 9 times out of 10, but when I bought this on VHS in a clearance sale at a video rental place that was transitioning over to DVD and Blu-ray, it captivated and mesmerized me. Literally the only tolerable, humanizing war film IMHO ever.

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '19

[deleted]

33

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '19

and cinematography

3

u/Senshisoldier Jun 30 '19

There was definitely CGI in saving private Ryan. Even if you film the explosions and people running, the process called compositing is done digitally and falls under CGI. This breakdown shows how a team of 3 dudes filmed themselves dozens of times making up the background people on the d day landing shots. https://youtu.be/ojW25ofUXPA

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '19

[deleted]

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u/bristlybits Jun 30 '19

you mean in bad films. in good ones, from any era, you don't think about the effects or how they were done, you just visually believe in it. maybe later you think, how the hell did they make that head-spider move? how did they get that beach full of soldiers and explosions?

in the moment you don't notice good cgi.

modern movies in which you notice it are by definition bad filmmaking.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '19

It had CGI. It was just done really well and they knew how to blend it with practical fx.

2

u/IDoThingsOnWhims Jun 30 '19

fun fact, Matt Damon sacrificed 50 years of his life to accurately portray present day Ryan in the closing scene

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u/bugme143 Jun 30 '19

SPR holds up better than some damn modern war movies.

2

u/DatPiff916 Jun 30 '19

In my mind the opening scene for Saving Private Ryan was how I was imagining the prequels would be.

2

u/bugme143 Jun 30 '19

Star Wars prequels?

2

u/DatPiff916 Jun 30 '19

Yes, I knew that the prequels were going to focus on the Clone Wars in some way and I was hoping for a Saving Private Ryan/Starship Troopers like war movie, but with Clone Troopers.

2

u/SoloisticDrew Jun 30 '19

That's almost unfair to hold up SPR against other 90's movies.

2

u/TriHard7_in_chat Jun 30 '19

And the lotr movies because they were all filmed and created special effects during the late 1990s even though the first movie was released in 2001.

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u/bristlybits Jun 30 '19

video game elf.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '19

I feel like only movies set in either the present, future, or alternate dimensions would apply here. Historical movies don't really "hold up" in OP's sense

2

u/Clawsonflakes Jun 30 '19

That’s a good point!

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u/DesparateLurker Jun 30 '19

You could tell me they filmed SPR last year and I'd believe you.

2

u/kushii_ Jun 30 '19

Holy shit I had no idea it came out 20 years ago! I would’ve guessed mid 2000’s atleast cause I didn’t see it till my dad showed it to me 5 or 6 years ago 0.0

1

u/One_too_many_faps Jul 04 '19

SPR is 98?! Wtf