The best war film ever
Reviews for this movie are pretty much ineffectual. Everyone's seen this movie and if you haven't you probably don't like war movies. The hype for this movie is right on. It's Visually stunning. It has The best opening scene in any movie. You won't be disappointed in this movie.
After this movie, Steve Spielberg decided to do the Band of Brothers which is also very good.
If you like War Movies and you haven't seen this, you must see it.
A MUST SEE movie
I hope that this is the closest that I ever come to combat in my life. Thank God for the men that put their lives on the line to keep us, and the world, free. Hats off to Spielberg for the realism of the combat. That should be enough for all of us to make a promise to ourselves to personally thank as many vets as we can for serving to keep us free. War is no walk in the park, and this movie comes closest to capturing just how close to hell it really is. This movie teaches a lot about sacrifice, courage, heroism, and emotion. Sometimes there are causes greater than our own selves which are worth sacrificing for. A great movie for this era. Too many men of that generation have passed away - this captures a little bit of what was special about ... Read More
A strange film in many ways.
This is an interesting film but marred in all sorts of funny ways: yukky setimentality intrudes and damages what could have been a very great film.
The opening sequence is based on a similar one in a German film called Stalingrad, and has great impact. When the film came out, this is what impressed people, along with its apparent realism.
Wouldn't it have been a great film if Private Ryan himself had not been much worth saving? He is presented as an heroic figure when we first see him, holding a bazooka. But supposing he had been crying and hiding behind a tree? That would have, perhaps, have said more about the nature of war, fate and taking orders.
When hundreds of dead American troops are shown lying ... Read More
A flawed gem
First off, everything you may have heard about the opening Normandy sequence is true: this is quite simply the most amazing battle re-creation footage you're ever likely to see. Definitely not for the squeamish, it paints its horrifying portrait without ever allowing the viewer to glory in any kind of "excitement" (which most battle simulations end up doing on some level, even the well-meaning ones). Spielberg uses every ounce of his talent and ingenuity to show combat the way it should be shown: as pure Hell, a nightmare that it is impossible to waken from. As for the rest of the movie which follows this opening sequence. . . well, I'm not sure. The first time I saw it, I was caught up from the beginning and the rest of the film seemed to hold ... Read More
Tell Me I'm A Good Man
All war movies capture a piece of the brutality that is war but only a very few bring forth the full carnage that war is. In SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, director Steven Spielberg drags the viewer out of his seat and throws him into the sound and fury of modern war. Critics have noted that with the opening scene of GIs getting machine gunned by Wehrmacht troopers on Omaha Beach on D-Day, Spielberg begins a three hour howl of pain that affects the soul as much as it does the body. It is impossible to feel nothing even for the Germans who die by the hundreds.
Tom Hanks is Captain Miller who has the thankless task of bringing home Private Ryan whose three other brothers have died in battle. The question of the morality to do this while others ... Read More
