Whether it's the opening Omaha Beach scene or the famous bell tower monologue, Saving Private Ryan has no lack of spine-tingling moments. But not, it seems, in a brutal new edit of the legendary war movie posted today on social media.
A Twitter user has cut out every single scene featuring men - creating a new version that's just two minutes and 20 seconds long. That's 167 minutes shorter than the original.
Logan James - @LoganJames - produced the edit in response to a bizarre fan cut of Star Wars: The Last Jedi which either vastly reduced or completely edits out the presence of its female characters.
"In response to the MRA douche who edited all the women out of #TheLastJedi, I decided to edit all of the men out of Saving Private Ryan," he wrote. "Here it is in its entirety."
In response to the MRA douche who edited all the women out of #TheLastJedi, I decided to edit all of the men out of Saving Private Ryan. Here it is in its entirety. pic.twitter.com/egZTDhDKi3
- Juche Box Hero (@LoganJames) January 17, 2018
The point of the Star Wars skit, apparently, was to 'defeminise' the blockbuster franchise, which some fans say has become too politically correct. It was posted to file-sharing site The Pirate Bay by men's rights activists earlier this week.
And, as you'd probably expect, it was widely derided.
The film's stars literally laughed at it online.
ahhaahahahhahahahahahhahahhahahahahhahhhhhaaaahahahha pic.twitter.com/Uz2JfF8Snf
- priscilla page (@BBW_BFF) January 16, 2018
Agreed. But let me add
- @HamillHimself (@HamillHimself) January 16, 2018
- mh https://t.co/H3jacep5sU
Yep. When you have none other than Luke Skywalker ripping you a new one about your opinions on Star Wars, you definitely know something's gone wrong.
Now, however, the Saving Private Ryan piece is receiving rather warmer praise.
The creator hasn't exactly explained why he chose the Spielberg movie - which has recently been named both best Tom Hanks movie and best war film ever - although it certainly hammers home how male-heavy the cast was.
And while that's largely because it's based on events from a male-heavy historical environment, as a movie it's probably safe to say the theatrical edit doesn't pass the Bechdel test.
Either way, it's already gone down a storm on social media. "So peaceful," said one Twitter user, while another declared, "I'm on my third watch," going on to call it "an instant classic."
Another fan simply urged James to 'do Shawshank'.
Who can argue with that? While LADBible still prefers the original Saving Private Ryan, we're all for more of these.
Words: Colin Drury
Featured Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
Topics: Star Wars, TV and Film, Twitter, US Entertainment