Saving Private Ryan is a brutal war epic about World War II starring Tom Hanks. Edge of Tomorrow is a sci-fi action flick starring Tom Cruise about a wimpy soldier caught in a time loop while fighting aliens. They don’t tend to come up together in conversation, but should they? A new video from JoBlo shows some striking similarities.
In tracking both of its protagonists’ entries into battle side-by-side, the video shows a similar arc in terms of carnage, struggle, and our heroes’ evolution from scared to motivated. Both do so with shocking effectiveness, but very different ends. Doug Liman sought to translate the horrors of war into a context that’s scary without being alienating, whereas Spielberg shocked viewers before moving into a more character-based narrative. Anyway, mark this down as another example of Liman smartly cribbing shots from his favorite movies.