Movies What are your thoughts on Corporal Upham?

[SirRealKiller]

Saving Private Ryan is maybe my favorite movie of all time.

But Upham constantly drives me nuts in the movie. Greatest coward in any war movie in my opinion.

How do you allow a guy to basically kill two of your buddies and do nothing? And constantly hiding and doing nothing when in a position to help.


Cowards feel superior to this loser.

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

lol he's an extremely annoying character. Just not built to be in actual combat. Great acting by Jeremy Davis he really pulled it off.

 

[HHJ]

Obviously someone not cut out for the situation he was in.

I dont think he is a bad man but he could not overcome his terror, when the shit hit the fan.

 

[Cole train]

Well looking at footage that comes from ukr very realistic character.

 

[HHJ]

Well looking at footage that comes from ukr very realistic character.

It's true people dont want to think that a person can get undone in such a way, even when watching their friends die, but it has and it could and it will happen again in the future. That's why its such a memorable scene. Real life aint a movie.

 

[stalehotdog]

I believe a lot of people are annoyed at him or even hate him because they see themselves in him. A lot of people want to believe that they would be brave in the situation and circumstances he was in but in actuality deep down know that they’re just as cowardly and human as he is.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Greatest coward in any war movie in my opinion.

 

[syct23]

I always wondered what was Upham like the day after he killed his nazi friend..?

Upham seemed relieved and finally content with his situation after shooting the guy.. kinda like “I get it now…”.

Upham must have been a different man when they sent him back to the rear to be reunited with his typewriter..

 

[HHJ]

I believe a lot of people are annoyed at him or even hate him because they see themselves in him. A lot of people want to believe that they would be brave in the situation and circumstances he was in but in actually deep down know that they’re just as cowardly and human as he is.

I wouldnt say they know they are as cowardly as him, you wont know until you go through that.

It's the uncertainty that its possible you might do the same, that the terror can consume you and you cant do anything to stop it. People dont want to be reminded of things like this, and watch movies for the opposite reason. They want to see heroic deeds and vicariously live through them.

 

[Cole train]

It's true people dont want to think that a person can get undone in such a way, even when watching their friends die, but it has and it could and it will happen again in the future. That's why its such a memorable scene. Real life aint a movie.

To quote one of our volunteers, bravery is not a static thing, you can be brave one day and coward other day

 

[HHJ]

To quote one of our volunteers, bravery is not a static thing, you can be brave one day and coward other day

Very true.

 

[HHJ]

Hudson was not a coward either.

He just reached his mental limit.

And despite wavering on the edge, he pulled himself together.

Being afraid is not being a coward. He never ran from anything. He just complained about it.

 

[RoastBeast]

It's funny how a character can be so annoying to the point where you almost wish he wasn't in the movie in the first place but in the end the movie wouldn't be nearly as memorable without him.

 

[stalehotdog]

I wouldnt say they know they are as cowardly as him, you wont know until you go through that.

It's the uncertainty that its possible you might do the same, that the terror can consume you and you cant do anything to stop it. People dont want to be reminded of things like this, and watch movies for the opposite reason. They want to see heroic deeds and vicariously live through them.

That’s a good distinction. I agree with that. Or maybe, they’ve been cowardly in the past in a much less harrowing situation and it this character reminds them of their past cowardice?

 

[stalehotdog]

To quote one of our volunteers, bravery is not a static thing, you can be brave one day and coward other day

Or in Upham’s case. He displayed this in a span of minutes.

 

[HHJ]

That’s a good distinction. I agree with that. Or maybe, they’ve been cowardly in the past in a much less harrowing situation and it this character reminds them of their past cowardice?

It could be alot of things. It's just that we all have our limits.

Without being in combat, we arent aware of how far we can go.

 

[SirRealKiller]

lol he's an extremely annoying character. Just not built to be in actual combat. Great acting by Jeremy Davis he really pulled it off.

Agreed, acting was excellent by Davis.

 

[HHJ]

Or in Upham’s case. He displayed this in a span of minutes.

He eventually shot that guy in cold blood at the end of the movie.

So he changed. His shame changed him.

 

[SirRealKiller]

It's true people dont want to think that a person can get undone in such a way, even when watching their friends die, but it has and it could and it will happen again in the future. That's why its such a memorable scene. Real life aint a movie.

Definitely. It is realistic for sure. Some people are just not cut out for killing.

Personally, I have never been in war before, but I'd be more like the guys shooting the Germans with their hands up early in the movie than Upham. I have a very black and white mind when it comes to this thought process. I would likely be on the side of being a little too trigger happy and me and my buddies staying alive than being a humanitarian and having it blow up in my face. Also when they let the SS guy go only later to kill a couple of them, if was me that wouldn't have happened. But these are things you don't know for sure how you would handle it until you been there , I guess.

 

[SirRealKiller]

Or in Upham’s case. He displayed this in a span of minutes.

It was more than a span of minutes for Upham. He was scurrying around hiding the whole movie. Always sided with the SS guy. This is a form of cowardice. He never raised a rifle in the movie until the very end. That's cowardice. Everyone is trained on how to use a rifle. Maybe he would be a bad shot but didn't even try to help anyone. But he was meant to be the moral bearing of the group. Yes, by pure right and wrong you don't shoot the SS guy after Wade dies but they should have as it is war and you can't let an enemy go that's not being detained. He's just an example of a guy that came from a University somewhere that didn't have a grasp on the reality of war.