Rating: 
Summary: Oh boy, some people will fall over anything
Review: I saw this one at the pictures when it was release a little over a year ago. I didn't enjoy it then and I assumed I was not alone, I mean the movie wasn't exactly groundbreakingly original or exceptional material. But no. Upon stumbling over 'Saving Private Ryan' in amazon I was shocked to discover that it received nearly a five star average, leaving me not only stunned but gasping for breath. Well, no, but I was surprised so I give it a one star to begin compensating for all those 400 or so good reviews.My main quibbles were that there are far better war movies out there: 'All Quite on the Western Front' and 'Westfront:1918' for WWI, 'The Thin Red Line' (Malicks), 'Stalingrad' and 'The Big Red One' for WWII, and 'Platoon' for Vietnam. These are all fantastic movies that capture the abject stupidity and waste of war. 'Private Ryan' was, to me, dull, overlong, badly edited and paced and just as guilty as the Americans in Vietnam and the Nazi's in WWII for proudly flaunting nationalism and patriotism. Spielberg conveyed to me in the movies first and last shots (that darn waving flag) that a country was perhaps worth dying for. It is exactly this mentality that BEGAN those wars to begin with: pride in ones country to the extent that one believes that ones views are superior to anothers. I was shocked that messages like this are still flaunted. Maybe this message explains why the film gained so much acclaim and popularity in the States. If so it is a carefully planned exercise in manipulation. The film still protrayed American soldiers (no British or Australians or anything) fighing on through the heart of France to confront a faceless, nameless numerically superior enemy and defeat them through the shere brilliance of American ingenuity and courage. I feel faint with pride for my nation. Give me an apple pie, dammit. No, this movie made me nearly fall asleep during the middle two hours. The opening battle was inferor to the brilliantly protrayed camp attack scene in 'The Thin Red Line' which was just oozing with emotion and torture. 'Private Ryan's' was made to look clinical and staged. I was not impressed. No, millions of men, women and children (not to mention the environment) should not have had to die as a result of national pride (Nazis, Republicans, call it whatever you want) but this movie is not the sole heir of remaining and deceased war veterans (thank goodness). Instead think about why wars begin and not how they end. There are a number of causes, but national pride is what makes wars international affairs, rather than just a boxing match between two politicians. This movie is chest-beating rubbish, manipulative in the extreme and staged to a comparable extreme. The only thing I thought was clever was the shaking hand.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling
Review: The movie Saving Private Ryan tells the story of an American army unit in the climactic part of WWII that is sent on a mission to find a soldier who has lost al of his brothers, and is to be sent home. The problem though, is that the soldier has been miss-dropped behind the German front-line in the middle of the German counterattack. Tom Hanks (Captain John H. Miller), who takes lead role, leads his squad of soldiers who go from the hellish landing on D-Day into the heart of the war to find Matt Damon (Private Ryan). Along the way, the squad experiences the many emotions that come with war. Fear, "excitement," self-doubt, sadness, and a period of mutiny when the soldiers begin to question the mission's objective, and the treatment of a prisoner that killed one of the squad members. Eventually, the squad finds Private Ryan, but they learn very quickly that finding Ryan, and getting him home are two, very different things. Making an accurate movie that reflects the true nature of war, the oldest of human customs, is no easy task. The opening scene, landing at Omaha Beach, shows what horrific conditions men, some under 18, had to face to preserve freedom. Historically, Omaha Beach had the highest casualty rate of the entire Normandy invasion. Steven Spielberg portrayed this very realistically. Some complained about the level of gore in the movie, but would it make any sense for the Germans and Allies to fight with cap guns? (I may not support the argument against the level of gore in the movie, but I do advise that young children NOT see this movie). In any case, Saving Private Ryan has become a classic war movie, among the ranks of Platoon, Apocalypse Now, and Full Metal Jacket. A tribute to those (Axis and Allied) who died on the field of battle in the Second World War, Saving Private Ryan is a movie that should be recognized as one of the greatest, most compelling films of our time.
Rating:
Summary: An eye opener
Review: The title says it all (at least for me anyways). The best thing about this movie is that it was educational. I actually came away having greater appreciation for WW2 vets and what they had to go through. I also came to know the importance of the battle at Normandy and what exactly was going on during the most famous war in our history. Turns out Private Ryan's squad had missed their drop off point by 20 miles. 20 miles? That sounds like a lot doesn't it? That gave me an idea of how poor technology was as well as how chaotic things must have been. How many other squads missed their marks by double digit miles? The extra material on the DVD is great. The footage of Spielberg's first war movies was definitely an eye opener. He was able to create a pretty good movie with little more than his own ingenuity and his Dad's old camera. Spielberg's Dad served in the war and had brought back many pictures as well as fond memories. I did not know that Spielberg was so knowledgeable about WW2. One can really feel the passion Spielberg puts forth from his own knowledge and memories of the war.
Rating: 
Summary: Where the F*%K was the brits
Review: The opening 30 mins of this film is the most horrific war footage film todate and almost worth while buying just for that. However after that the story goes nowhere. Come on sending in guys over land to rescue 1 man (and a yank at that). Just for historys sake lads the USA only came in at the back end of the war. Yes they help a lot in defeating the germans and the brits could not have done it alone but not even to get a mention in the film I personal felt was a bit of a insult.
Rating: 
Summary: The most realistic depiction of war ever
Review: As a reviewer, I like to consider myself cynical, but tough and fair. That is exactly why there are some moments in this movie where I rolled my eyes. In fact, there were a lot of moments where I rolled my eyes. Although I give credit where credit is due, and the action scenes in this film go above and beyond to draw the viewer into the heat of battle. The intent of this film wasn't so much to entertain as it was to educate. Everyone had a pretty good idea of how bad the war was, but they never got to see what the combat was like and this film gives them that opportunity. In that element, it succeeds. The acting in this is also very good. You really can't go wrong with Tom Hanks. If Tom Hanks were in My Bosses' Daughter, he'd make it good. So it's really no surprise. I try to find something wrong with every movie just to balance off all of the good and I had a field day with this one. Whoever told Robert Rodat that he's a good writer should be flipping burgers right now. The fact that this film got a Screenplay Oscar nomination just goes to show how bad the competition was that year. The dialogue in this film is so weak, cheesy, patriotic, and unrealistic that it makes me wish that it was just a 30-minute short film with the opening battle scene. I got the point of this film after I saw the man with his intestines hanging out and him screaming to the sky for his mother. It is a brutal opening scene that is very unsettling, incredibly realistic, and masterfully done by Stevey Spielberg. Saving Private Ryan wanted to show how bad war really is, so there really was no need to drag it out for another two hours after that. I give the four stars to the first thirty minutes and am pretending the rest of the film doesn't exist. Rated R. In case you've been living under a rock for the past five years, you know how violent this movie is even if you've never seen it. I have no idea why you'd be looking to buy the VHS anyway. I'm really just updating an old review. You know that there's more blood and guts than in most normal movies. It's an effective film that's brutally real. There's also swearing in it, but I doubt that'll be a big worry for you.
Rating:
Summary: It's great but it's not the best.
Review: Spielberg is a director that has always used big openings to kick off his films and get the audiences attention. Witness the nightclub fight in Temple of Doom or the initial shark attack from Jaws to get a good idea of what I'm talking about. But this is easily his best shock tactic opener since a boulder starting chasing Indy in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The first twenty minutes of this film will have you ripping your teeth out as you bite harder on your knuckles in the sheer frenzy at Omaha Beach. It's a terrifying vision of battle that thrusts the viewer right into the heart of combat and shows you what bullets do to a person. They do not punch nice, neat, Hollywood holes. They maul, shred and crush their targets and the results aren't pretty. After the opening the film settles down while Spielberg tries to get you to care for the characters for 90 minutes before throwing them into battle again. He succeeds but we never learn as much about them as we really should. Hanks' Miller is a fully developed character that will appeal to all but the others seem like shadows. He never get to know them as much as we should and our opinions of them are usually bulked out by what we know of similar characters from other films. By the final hour however such details become unnecessary as Millers troops are eventually whittled down and then topped up again by a second platoon who we never get to meet at all. I spent a lot of the final sequence trying to work out how many of them there were as they numbers seemed to keep fluctuating all the time. A lot of critics have pointed at the rather polarised view of the war that SPR takes and they do have a point. The Americans are shown as scared young men that are bravely putting themselves in the way of a bullet for the cause of freedom. The Germans get treated much less kindly and while they never stoop to the "Evil Master Race" cliche often employed they're usually shown as cowardly, snivelling, backstabbing turds. The Thin Red Line achieved better characterisations of soldiers at war by showing the bad side of 'Good' and the noble side of 'Evil.' For such a self claimed 'Honest' portrayal it's very choosy about which truths it tells you. But if the characters are stereotypes they're well written, well acted stereotypes and when Spielberg does get around to showing the frailties of his troops he does so with tremendous pathos. It's just a shame that he shoots himself in the foot with his ending. After showing war as a pointless mindgrinder at the start he then implies that a few good men can make the difference. It confuses the theme but of course a low key ending would mess up the conventions of war films. SPR is better as a reminder of who we owe our freedom to rather than a gripping cinematic vision. Don't delude yourself that your're crying (and you will cry) for the characters on screen. You're crying for God-knows how many thousands that died running up Omaha 60 years ago. It's great but it's not the best. Das Boot, a GERMAN war film, holds that crown and will continue to do so for a very long.
Rating:
Summary: Saving Major WasteOfTime
Review: Nice special effects, nice video and sound quality, and whole bunch of people I didn't care about by the end of the flick. After all the hype, a major disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Good Action, Nice Concept, Major Story Line Flaw
Review: The beach front scene is riveting and very realistic. It speaks well of the horror these brave men faced so many years ago. This concept of saving Private Ryan, a paratrooper who has lost his three brothers almost in an instant is a great motive for telling this type of story. Remember however, Private Ryan is a paratrooper who lands sveral miles behind enemy lines; no day in the park. However, he never was at nor experienced the landing on Normandy Beach. Therefore I ask, how can Private Ryan as a veteran visiting the Normandy grave sites have a flash back so compelling and realistic of that battle? He was never there. This is a major story line flaw I am sorry to say.
Rating:
Summary: The word "Brillant" is not strong enough . . .
Review: There are great movies and then there are *GREAT* movies, movies that touch you in a deeply personal way. "Saving Private Ryan" is a GREAT movie, a movie that left me in tears afterwards. Why is this such a brilliant movie? Where to begin? The direction by Steven Spielberg is magnificent. The opening 40 minutes of the movie, the bloody U.S. landing on Omaha Beach, is a stunning experience. Bullets whiz by, soldiers die and it feels like you are right there! The acting is right on as well- Tom Hanks as Capt. Miller, the squad leader, is nothing short of brilliant. He effortlessly captures the spirit of the men who went abroad to fight- the guy who had a regular job back in the States and just wanted to do his duty and get back to it. I find it hard to believe Hanks didn't win an Oscar for this. The music by John Williams is perfect- subtle and emotionally heartfelt. But the story is what really works- this isn't a war movie about blowing up a bridge, or stealing information. This is a war movie about how awful war is. The men aren't on a mission to kill. They are on the mission to save a life. One of the finest movies I have ever seen in my life. Those who loved this movie as deeply as I would be interested in reading Tom Brokaw's "Greatest Generation" or Stephen Ambrose "Citizen Soldiers". I recommend both.
Rating:
Summary: wot a load of c?:@:L
Review: this film is slow and has a very thin story line and goes nowere very fast i should have kept the money
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