Different things at work here

To know the character, and to see him "develop" are different things. One doesn't mean the other, the time scope might be short, and circumstances completely dominating, etc.

Furthermore, some war movies take more of a bird eye approach, where very few, if any, characters are defined to any serious degree. Yet that doesn't prevent us from seeing the ugly truth of what is happening.

Making you fall in love with a character, only to see him later die a horrible death - is this not a manipulation? Acceptable and accepted, perhaps, but manipulation nonetheless. Injecting some personal story into each war movie - is it really necessary? Conceivably one could envision a film where the main character was just an observer, and nothing bad happened to him, it was all other nameless people who got chopped up. The overall impression would be different, more of the epic type panorama, but it would still be a war film.

So nothing is wrong per se with identifiable characters, and their... ahem... development, I just don't see it as mandatory.

To me the guys in HH were quite real, development or not. Real enough to make the viewer feel the pain of their departure... and that is sufficient, in my book.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Two hell movies - Victor Khomenko 07:21:47 12/21/10 (15)

If you liked North Face, then you will love - Doug Flynn 12:03:36 12/21/10 (4)

Not a good film at all. nt - Victor Khomenko 04:51:57 01/03/11 (0)

Touching the Void is one hell of a good story - amazing - PhilJ 09:36:03 12/24/10 (0)

TTV was not so much a documentary as a re-creation, and yes, excellent!! - Road Warrior 06:20:14 12/23/10 (1)

Yup, I give it a three thumbs up! nt - tinear 09:33:08 12/23/10 (0)

My problem with Hamburger Hill - Doug Flynn 11:57:08 12/21/10 (7)

Yup. H H was as forgettable as it was watch-able. nt - tinear 14:15:30 12/21/10 (6)

Good description, I rather enjoyed it - Road Warrior 06:29:59 12/23/10 (5)

I actually liked how the characters dissolved in the story - Victor Khomenko 07:46:47 12/23/10 (4)

Good points, but HH was still tedious and cliched - Doug Flynn 11:58:34 12/23/10 (1)

"I will watch it again soon" Lemme gues... on that blue thingy? :) - Victor Khomenko 15:16:15 12/23/10 (0)

Well-stated in some respects, Vic, but if we know nothing of the characters, we - tinear 09:35:58 12/23/10 (1)

Different things at work here - Victor Khomenko 11:13:00 12/23/10 (0)

"I am not gonna mention the Cliffhanger. A gripping film that is torture " - volunteer 07:35:00 12/21/10 (1)

Poor composition on my part... :) - Victor Khomenko 07:42:09 12/21/10 (0)

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Different things at work here - Victor Khomenko 11:13:00 12/23/10 (0)

Different things at work here

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