For War-Horse, the film was worthwhile watching if only for John Williams’s outstanding musical score alone, which incorporated a wide range of musical creativity. Spielberg’s “silent narrator” technique provided a passive lens through which to the view the realities of World War I and war in general and how it destroys lives and cultures. In The Lost Battalion, director Russell Mulcahy focuses on the individual soldiers’ stories and experiences, providing the audience with a shocking and unsettling look at warfare. While War-Horse takes more of a “bigger picture” approach to the battles of World War I, The Lost Battalion “[is] filled with brutal and personal action that makes you feel like you’re there as the men struggle to survive” (Nix). The film also touches on complex moral questions surrounding warfare, as exemplified in the closing exchange between Major Whittlesey and General Alexander. While Alexander brushes aside the huge losses in Whittlesey’s unit as “acceptable,” Whittlesey confronts his commanding officer with questions about what is “acceptable” treatment of human beings during wartime
For War-Horse, the film was worthwhile watching if only for John Williams’s outstanding musical score alone, which incorporated a wide range of musical creativity. Spielberg’s “silent narrator” technique provided a passive lens through which to the view the realities of World War I and war in general and how it destroys lives and cultures. In The Lost Battalion, director Russell Mulcahy focuses on the individual soldiers’ stories and experiences, providing the audience with a shocking and unsettling look at warfare. While War-Horse takes more of a “bigger picture” approach to the battles of World War I, The Lost Battalion “[is] filled with brutal and personal action that makes you feel like you’re there as the men struggle to survive” (Nix). The film also touches on complex moral questions surrounding warfare, as exemplified in the closing exchange between Major Whittlesey and General Alexander. While Alexander brushes aside the huge losses in Whittlesey’s unit as “acceptable,” Whittlesey confronts his commanding officer with questions about what is “acceptable” treatment of human beings during wartime