ORIGINAL: brian brian
ORIGINAL: Ormbane
2) I was surprised at the amount of religious discussion, particularly at the end. Not quite sure what to make of it.
I think the point of that was all of a sudden Pitt's character knew his Bible quotes, chapter and verse, and this was suddenly new to the crew and a key part of his relationship with the religious crew member. And the general public of all nations was more involved in religion in the 1940s. I thought it gave the movie a boost in the authenticity department. It is also telling who smokes and drinks in the movie, and when.
Someone else mentioned the Celtic mythology. I caught the two appearances of the white horse, yes…I'll check the opening scene again someday to see if that horse had a red ear...
I heard an interesting story which illustrates the not uncommmon knowledge of the Bible in those days: The CO of the British forces surrounded at Dunkirk communicated his intentions to his superiors by sending just 3 words: "but if not". Someone not familiar with the book of Daniel (KJV) would probably not understand the reference and the intention.
While I have to agree with your observations about the sudden Bible quotes from Pitt's character I think the authors had more in mind than just that. Still, can't quite verbalize it myself.
I'm not familiar with the use of white horses in Celtic mythology but white horses as a symbol were fairly common in early times and were used to signify conquerors. They do show up in various Bible prophecies as well.