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... [More]
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Edward Burns
Director: Steven Spielberg
Reviews for Saving Private Ryan
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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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 |
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 5/5 |
This is an important film that deconstructs war machines into separate, frightened men as it so likely was. Full Review |
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Private Ryan resembles the director's other so-called mature efforts by putting a positive spin on unspeakable horrors. Full Review |
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C- |
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. Full Review |
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5/5 |
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.
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A- |
No review available.
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No further commentary is needed when the raw brutality of combat is presented as indelibly as it is here. Full Review |
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3/5 |
It's forty minutes of steely violence and two hours of cliche-ridden flab. Full Review |
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I found it tediously manipulative despite its Herculean energy. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
Saving Private Ryan is an incredible movie, a near-masterpiece. Full Review |
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7/10 |
The opening 30 minutes are so devastating that much of what follows ends up feeling anticlimactic. Good, but overrated.
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4.5/5 |
The movie epitomizes the paradox of all great filmmaking: It's a thrillingly violent war drama about an unbearably painful subject. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Neither wholly condemning war, nor spouting patriotism, Spielberg shows us the price we pay. Full Review |
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A- |
Saving Private Ryan is a first-class war movie with some absolutely brilliant, gut-wrenching moments, especially the beginning minutes. Full Review |
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2/4 |
If you enjoy war movies then you'll find this a 5/5 flick; I don't, so go figure. Full Review |
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A |
Most of the film is an accomplished, visionary work. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
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. Full Review |
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7/10 |
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. Full Review |
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0/4 |
Click to read the article Full Review |
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A |
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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