|
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds.
A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance.
The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. Saving Private Ryan touches us deeper than Schindler because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. --Doug Thomas
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The Opening Scene Alone Makes It Worth It
When I saw the movie originally the opening scene was one of the most memorable even put on screen and captured the horror, fear and determination in those 20 plus minutes unlike any other, with portions that would make you cringe.
And yes the movie is not perfect, especially since it had to live up to the opening scene, but overall it was still very good with more scenes that worked than didn't. Yes some were poor, and the ending left something to be desired and did not live up to ... Read More
Rating:  - A good movie
No problem there--the last decade or so of war movies have definitely raised the bar on purported realism, and this is a seminal example. Many problems, however, with the bonus materials, particularly 'Into The Breach,' a quick making-of documentary included on this disc. What bothers me the most is hearing non-combatants, people that NEVER served personally, trying to tell other non-combatants what they should think about the war. Typical example: 'Freedom is never free.' Maybe so, chief. But ... Read More
Rating: - not disappointed
Movie is as realistic as can be. I should know,for I was in the european theatre of war, serving in the 9th Infantry division.
Rating: - Outstanding Movie!!
This is an outstanding movie that this generation/Hollywood can't grasp. It has honor, integrity, courage, self sacrifice. These WWII soldiers are the best, especially when compared to the current selfish generation/Hollywood crowd who don't know what the words honor, integrity or courage mean.
Rating: - The most realistic harrowing battle scenes ever filmed...
Steven Spielberg makes a unique motion picture in regards to the D-Day invasion of World War II just in the gritty reality of the detail... For more than twenty minutes he revives for us the landing at Omaha beach... No one was prepared for how horrific it really was... No one understood what was going on: The terror, the chaos, the maelstrom of bullets, the near-deafening explosions...You really got a sense of what these guys had to go through...
Within that perplexity, the focus settles ... Read More
|
