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Movies / On DVD / Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan

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Saving Private Ryan (1998)

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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

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Saving Private Ryan

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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This is an important film that deconstructs war machines into separate, frightened men as it so likely was.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Almar Haflidason
Almar Haflidason
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 5 Comments
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Except for the maudlin bookends from the present day that frame the story, Spielberg doesn't over-sentimentalize.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online

El desembarco en Normandía es un evento famoso de la Historia, pero nunca había sido fotografiado en esta forma.

Full Review Source: Cinenganos | comment Comment
09/03/01
Alex Ramirez
Alex Ramirez
Cinenganos

A message which can never be spoken too often, or for too long.

Full Review Source: Film Written Magazine | comment Comment
04/02/01
Andrew Howe
Andrew Howe
Film Written Magazine

The diverse effects that war has on human nature has never been captured with such aching reality.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
01/01/00
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile

Spectacular, wrenching masterpiece that unflinchingly documents the random horror, the grisly spectacle and the ugliness of war.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Andy Jones
Andy Jones
TNT's Rough Cut

An intense, technically brilliant, wonderfully acted film.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
01/01/00
Arthur Lazere
Arthur Lazere
culturevulture.net

You feel you are under siege with the combatants.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner

...Features the strongest character interactions of any Spielberg work post-Jaws

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

Saving Private Ryan is a brilliant, savage piece of filmmaking, a soaring paean to the courage of man -- as individual and as family.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Launches and climaxes with two of the greatest extended battle sequences ever put on film.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Graham
Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle

Verge on greatness.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

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.

comment Comment
08/11/03
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

Spielberg's assembled cast is as fine an ensemble as one could hope for.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Grunden
Chris Grunden
Film Journal International

Spielberg has obviously poured his heart into this movie.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

The opening 30 minutes are so devastating that much of what follows ends up feeling anticlimactic. Good, but overrated.

comment Comment
03/04/06
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com

A good movie, but, like Amistad, it has its problems.

Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Keyes
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that 'war educates the senses,' and that statement has never been truer than when applied to Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Certain to be one of the year's most popular and talked-about movies.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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