Why did Spielberg make it? He wants us to imagine we can feel the terror of being there, but does that make us any wiser about this or any other conflict? Probably not.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:91
Fresh:82
Rotten:9
Average Rating:8.1/10
Consensus: Anchored by another winning performance from Hanks, Spielberg's unflinchingly realistic war film virtually redefines the genre.
Runtime: 2 hrs 49 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Director Steven Spielberg's World War II tour de force chronicles the journey of a GI squad on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines. Led by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), the unit is under... Director Steven Spielberg's World War II tour de force chronicles the journey of a GI squad on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines. Led by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), the unit is under orders to track down a soldier, Private Ryan (Matt Damon), so he might return home to his mother in America, where she is grieving the unimaginable loss of her three other sons to the war. The first unforgettable 20 minutes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN realistically and horrifically depicts the Normandy invasion as Miller. his second-in-command, Sergeant Horvath (Tom Sizemore), and the others in the unit land at Omaha Beach. Before the film began shooting, Hanks and the actors in his squad went through a one-week boot camp in the woods. All the actors, except Hanks, wanted to quit, but Hanks rallied their spirits by reminding them of the incredible tribulations endured by the real veterans of World War II. Production designer Tom Sanders found a beach in Ireland that perfectly matched the landscape of Normandy's. Spielberg gave great credit to the Irish army who helped re-create the Omaha Beach scenes. [More]
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Edward Burns
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Giovanni Ribisi, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, Dennis Farina, Harve Presnell, Bryan Cranston
Director: Steven Spielberg
Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: Robert Rodat
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon, Gary Levinsohn
Composer: John Williams
Reviews for Saving Private Ryan
This is an important film that deconstructs war machines into separate, frightened men as it so likely was.
Private Ryan resembles the director's other so-called mature efforts by putting a positive spin on unspeakable horrors.
Violent, harrowing, and horrific; you bet. This is not a movie to take your children to see, or even a date. And it's definitely not worth seeing alone. How the ratings board gave this movie an "R" rating is a mystery. Well, maybe not.
I personally have never fought in a war before but I would go out on a limb and say that the first twenty minutes of the film may be the most realistic war scene I have seen.
No further commentary is needed when the raw brutality of combat is presented as indelibly as it is here.
It's forty minutes of steely violence and two hours of cliche-ridden flab.
The opening 30 minutes are so devastating that much of what follows ends up feeling anticlimactic. Good, but overrated.
The movie epitomizes the paradox of all great filmmaking: It's a thrillingly violent war drama about an unbearably painful subject.
Neither wholly condemning war, nor spouting patriotism, Spielberg shows us the price we pay.
Saving Private Ryan is a first-class war movie with some absolutely brilliant, gut-wrenching moments, especially the beginning minutes.
If you enjoy war movies then you'll find this a 5/5 flick; I don't, so go figure.
It's Spielberg at his best, although the movie doesn't match the primal thrills of Jaws or the overwhelming excellence of Schindler's List.
Even the music score by John Williams, one of the most important ingredients of Spielberg's magic formula, is hardly memorable. The acting, on the other hand, is very good.
The first half hour alone forever redefines the war movie genre. Ryan has just one minor flaw: the plot is completely contrived. And if you can characterize a weak story as just a minor flaw... well, that's some damn fine filmmaking.
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