Rating: 
Summary: Brilliance
Review: I first saw Saving Private Ryan on 24th November 1998, at 7.15pm. My life has never been the same. When I left the theatre to return home, I felt so sad, that I cried all the way. Over the summer I saw the movie again on numerous occasions to try and figure out why it affected me so much. Why? Because of its brilliance! This movie managed to totaly turn my emotions inside out. Every Character that was portrayed, particularly Miller, Mellish, Reiben, Coparzo and Wade, touched a piece of my soul. The tragedy in this film, was so intense that i still, now two years later, cannot watch it without tears streaming down my face. I am a major movie buff, and am a fan of many genres, however Saving Private Ryan has made it to number one at my top ten list.
Rating:
Summary: The Best WW2 FILM EVER! TRULY INSPIRING!
Review: This is, by far, the best film Steven Spielberg has directed. The first thirty minutes of the film shocked and terrified me. I really never knew how grusome WW2 really was (after all, I had grown up watching films like "The Longest Day," and "To Hell And Back"). The last two hours, including the final fight scene, were truly some of Spielberg's best moments ever captured on film. Violent it is, and the language is awful. But, beyond that, is a moving story with characters who were fighting to save ONE man. This will remain one of my ten favorite films of all time. Should be used as a learning tool for High School American History (So should "The Patriot."). Bravo, Spielberg!
Rating:
Summary: DESERVES MORE STARS
Review: i wanna address all of those who gave this movie 1 star. most of you complained about the inaccuracy. the problem with you people is that youre the type that watch historical movies with a pencil and paper. take it easy. this movie wasnt made to show you every single detail of the war. if all historical movies showed things exactly the way they were, the movies would bore you to death. Dont forget that its not a documentary,its a hollywood movie. In my opinion, this movie was made beautifully. The action scenes were amazing. The dialogue was very realistic and made you give a damn about the soldiers. there are some seriously tragic and gut wrenching moments in this movie. The gore was absolutely needed. the actors were very genuine and played their roles perfectly. this is one of those movies where you just sit down and have your eyes wide open the whole time. Simply Amazing.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Acting, Good Opening, Bad story line
Review: The beginning of the movie was very good in the fact that it got close to what I believe war would really look like and what I've heard war vets say it is very close to showing real war. The acting by all the actors was also very good. However, the story line basically stank. Real military officials would never have sent a team of soldiers out after one just because his brothers had been killed. It is against military tactics and strategy. If you want to see a human/war story that is good and has good tactics, strategy and realism then try The Thin Red Line. Although it didn't hit it off as well as SPR I believe that the story is better and more believable.
Rating: 
Summary: various items
Review: Firstly, i'm not in the military. Secondly, I read military books now and then; mostly non-fiction. And now, the movie...Some people wonder why the opening battle is only 20 minutes, considering the actual thing took hours. Hey, this is a movie; if the opening battle was given full time there wouldn't be enough time for the other situations. For those who wonder if the German ( with the knife ) who kills Mellish in the tower is the one who was allowed to live at the radar site, the answer is NO. His face is different; some people say the uniform is different, too. If that doesn't satisfy the argument, consider this: if it was the same man, why isn't there any reaction when he and Upham pass each other on the stairway? Why wouldn't have Upham shot him then, instead of later on? Speilberg made the movie to honor Americans who served during the war. People think he was making the case that America was the country that did the most to help win it; I don't see that message. If you want to see how Russian soldiers are honored...well, there are movies that do that.....don't know if Amazon.com has any. Is the movie anti-war? Well.....Speilberg makes movies about WWII, so he really doesn't cover war as a general concept, which is what I suppose an anti-war movie would be about. So maybe I don't have an answer for that one. One reviewer thought the message of the movie is that America is unprepared for the next war. That's an odd angle to look at the movie; I don't see it; if someone asked Spielberg about the Pentagon's current global strategy or force structure, he might just shake his head. Capt. Miller's decision making at the radar site has been questioned many times. All i'll add is that his mistake may be less as technical faults of the movie and more like an example of human decision-making under stress. The battle at the bridge has been criticized as being unrealistic; I have some agreement. The German force had heavy weapons and superior numbers in riflemen, yet couldn't overcome the defenders without being badly mauled. The cemetary scene with Ryan asking his wife "did I earn it?" WAS kinda shlocky. So, how do I give it 4 stars despite the faults? The invasion battle doesn't hold back on how badly a human body can be mauled; compare this to early 50's war movies, where soldiers drop when they are hit and have a trickle of blood from their mouth. The battle also shows that death doesn't always come by direct enemy fire ( things that get mentioned in death notices), it can come from an indirect way ( drowning, an exploding flamethrower strapped to a friendly soldier ); he didn't go the next step by showing death from non-combat accidents, but it wasn't really needed here. When the squad first links up with troops of the 101st, there's an exchange of rifle fire; a squad member ( Caparzo? ) searches through a group of apples, finally finding one that's apparently tasty enough to eat; he does this nonchalantly as if the shooting isn't occuring; in real life, things like this do go on. After Miller speaks with the hearing-wounded soldier about Ryan's location, he gets the squad together to check a map. The background music arrives at just the right time....he checks the map for Romelle, going from the mood of "we'll never find him, i'm frustrated" to "we're in business, i'm an officer so i'm going to act like it"....meanwhile, the 101st continues to move on past. Symbolically, this could be "the war marching on", continuing whether Ryan was found or not, whether he lived or not, whether the squad lived or died.
Rating:
Summary: Best war movie ever made
Review: It's hard to put into words how I feel about this film. It's so moving and so filled with action that you find both exciting and horrifying at the same time that it's hard to describe. You come away from Saving Private Ryan speechless. Grateful for a generation of men who were willing to lay down their lives to do what's right by serving their country in the war against Hitler. The story is fictional, but the sentiments and personae of the soldiers are, from all accounts I've read, fairly accurate. The scene in which the troops assault Omaha Beach, one of the bloodiest meat grinders of D-Day, is perhaps the most gripping thing I've ever seen in a major motion picture. Spielberg uses a mock war-journalist perspective for many of the combat scenes which gives the movie a sort of modern newsreel feeling. I'm not quite sure it's necessary given all the realistic and very destructive special effects, but it has the desired effect. I own the DTS DVD version of the film and I can say that they did a very fine job on it. Running the film in stereo gives you much the same sensations that you get out of seeing it at the movies. I can't recommend this movie highly enough. It's on my personal top five list of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Answer to question previously asked followed by new question
Review: I will follow up with a real review in the future. For now, I wanted to answer a question posed by an earlier "review." Someone asked whether the German soldier captured and freed (by Miller and his men during the assault on the machine gun nest) is the same soldier who kills Private Mellish with the knife in the final battle - the answer to that question is NO. I also wondered the same question and recently came across a book on war movies that addresses that very topic. If I remember correctly, Spielberg clarified that point and also acknowledges the possible confusion. After all, both soldiers are similar in appearance with the same haircut. In retrospect, though, the soldier who killed Mellish has a more hardened, chiseled look whereas the soldier from the machine gun nest has more of a "weasel" look. The demeanor of the two also differ. Now I would like to pose a question to those who own the DVD version of this movie. I've tried out 8 different copies of the DVD and each one freezes for a full second near the end of scene or chapter 12. It occurs right after the machine gun assault scene where Corporal Upham questions Miller about killing the German prisoner. After Miller tells him that he can help bury the bodies, the screen freezes for a full second during the close-up of Upham's face. Does anyone own a copy where this doesn't occur? Any feedback would be appreciated.
Rating:
Summary: Brutal, Gripping and Important
Review: This film fills a void previously only The Longest Day could hope to fill. This void is a accurate depiction of the D-Day invasion in a commercial motion picture. The Longest Day is excellent. Saving Private Ryan is excellent. Both movies should be viewed to understand D-Day. The Longest Day used, as advisors, actual participants during D-Day to accurately portray the landing and subsequent activity. Saving Private Ryan adds to actual participants, the more than able assistance of historian Stephen Ambrose to add accuracy to the film. This is an important film both historically and socially. It is a reminder what has been sacrificed for our liberty and freedom.
Rating:
Summary: SEE THIS EPIC - NOW.....
Review: FROM its opening on the beaches of Normandy, this film is, quite simply amazing, Tom Hanks gives an excellent performance as Capt.Miller, and along with the rest of the cast the acting is what makes this film, being sent with a troop to save the last of three brothers, who is trapped behind enemy lines. This seems like just a subplot though, as you get thrown - head first it seems, into the war, which at times seem real, there is one particular scene that stands out in my mind, and that is when they have approached a village, and one of the characters is shot - purely brilliant acting, you have to see it to believe it - one warning, once you start watching it you will get totally sucked in, so make sure you watch it in 5.1 surround, with the lights out and with some tissues and popcorn, excellent, excellent.....one of the best films of ALL TIME.
Rating:
Summary: Half of a nearly-perfect movie
Review: Saving Private Ryan contains what is unquestionably the finest 30 minutes of a war film ever made. From the landing up through taking most of the beach, Spielberg does a staggering job of presenting the American end of operation Overloard. This is not for the faint of heart, but nontheless this is somthing I reccomend to everyone (and watching it on home video is going to be a lot less daunting than on the big screen). Sadly, though, the movie falls apart in the second half. The stunning authenticity of the landing degenerates into war movie cliches and Norman Rockwell-style imagry. We've got the offhand dismissal of the British and Commonwealth contribution, even though they did most of the bleeding in the first weeks to take the heat of the Americans. We've got the by-now absolutely standard American ethically-diverse squad, each with his own identifiable personality trait. The final battle at the bridge has all the failings he so meticulously eliminated in the beach landing scene: the shockingly incompetant Germans (particularly the tank drivers), the heroic GIs (except, of course, for the one guy who has already been stereotyped as paniky), a perfectly-timed appearance by the cavalry, and a heroic and prolonged death scene for our hero. Ugh. You know, though, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if the contrast *within the same film* wasn't so sharp. It seems that Spielberg is just intellectually incapable of avoiding melodrama. This would have been a much more compelling story if Spielberg had simply tried to tell a real story (as he did for the first 30 minutes) rather than making one up, but there you go I guess. Still, does the first 30 minutes make up for the last 90? Absolutely. The first 30 minutes is in my opinion absolute cinematic genius, a staggering accomplishment. But the split personality of this film is somewhat bizzare, and I wouldn't feel bad for skipping out as soon as Tom Hanks meets that paniky interpreter-guy. As good as Saving Private Ryan is (and it's pretty good), I can only hope this paves the way for a truly great World War II movie.
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