Not even close

Watch the Thin Red Line. Be very patient and let go of your expectations. A masterpiece on par with SPR.

I agree with your assessment of both Saving Private Ryan & The Hurt Locker. I have the same scores as you, 10 and 7, respectively.

The Hurt Locker brings up the messy subject of realism & how it should be considered when watching a movie. Ultimately, MOST movies are slightly fabricated, or exaggerated, or include substantial more dramatized moments that clearly step outside the bounds of "realism". But at the same time, you have to remember that realism is not always the best course for filmmaking and/or making an enjoyable film. You must remember - this movie is not a documentary. In many cases, sticking 100% to the facts and insane amounts of realism would create an overall boring movie. It's the same reason you can speed through traffic and run red lights and not use your blinker in Grand Theft Auto without getting pulled over. What kind of enjoyment would that level of realism bring to the table? None. It would only make things worse.

On the other side, however, if the film is still trying to portray fictional events within the realm of something that is, in fact, real (like The Hurt Locker), then SOME level of detail to realism must be following. As many war vets have complained about an infantry going off completely on his own and not getting reprimanded at all - a likely misstep by writers who don't have the experience, or perhaps, ability, to write something interesting and concise that abides by real military rules. Did this bother me? Honestly, not really. And I'll admit that it's probably a side effect of my ignorance - I am not a war vet and couldn't even begin to tell you what parts of The Hurt Locker could or could not have ever happened in real life. But I really don't care. Because at the end of the day, the movie was enjoyable. It wasn't fantastic, it wasn't mind blowing, but it was good. And at the end of the day, the overall message was the effect that the war can have on a person - the adrenaline of combat and how it can take over your life - and that point was nailed home.

7/10

I thought Saving Private Ryan was pretty good, but I liked Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket better.

I watched the Hurt Locker last night, it was pretty good, but you did yourself no favours watching it after Saving Private Ryan though, SPR is a very tough act to follow.

saving is similar to locker cause they're both not fully "accurate" in terms of "military operations"

one is a lord of the rings adventure type grounded in extreme realism with quality direction
the other one is almost like a cowboy hot shot bomb defuse film

i would never compare SPR to the THL...

hurt locker has more of that INDIE vibe to it... a lot of the shots used and style of direction has more of an artistic vibe or swagger

saving private ryan does use shaky cam and various spielberg quality shots... but it follows the same fundamental theatrical wide slow pan shots for most the film

is SPR the better film ?
could be
that film you can watch over and over again you know and never get bored

but you know what they are so two completely different films even THO they are war movies so i would never pick one over the other