Rating: 
Summary: typical US hogwash dramatized ad nauseam
Review: I watched the opening scenes with disbelief. Firstly - there is no air support fot the incredible "Omaha Beach" slaughter, secondly, after victorious assault, the few GI survivors, not surprisingly, elect to kill everybody found in the Kraut bunkers. As they do, there is the scene ... the Krauts are abandoning their bunker and, suddenly there is a Czech speech, which I recognized instantly and startlingly..., the supposedly Czech-speaking Wehrmacht soldier screams out, in Czech language : "I did not kill anybody, don't shoot me."
There are some other tendentious attempts at a parable, such as the one following a "US GI" running alongside a column of Wehrmacht POWs yelling in schoolyard intonation "Ich bin eine Jude, ich bin eine Jude...." You get the picture. This is not the "thinking person" stuff. But then whose stuff is it ?
In the similar vein, there is some Sir Spielberg's baggage in the movie called "Schindler's List". Herr Schindler was a native of a town of Svitavy na Morave and a Gestapo agent to boot. Apparently, Sir Spielberg has some beef with Czechoslovakia, I am fascinated to find out. You know, he is an "untouchable" by other than autograph seekers. The uncritical support of his skullduggery by the american Jews is a sad testimony to their "belated" guilt feelings.
Rating: 
Summary: A work of art.
Review: What follows is the review originally written for the local newspaper in 1998. On DVD the film still holds a great and lasting power.War is a wasteful, hungry, evil, immoral and all consuming machine driven by young men who simply want to finish their job and get home. It is not something to be glamorized (The GI JOE dolls), trivialized (the plastic M16's and Tommy Guns at Wal-Mart) celebrated (any number of combat potboilers) or forgotten (a few ignorant highschoolers refusing to stand during the national anthem). Although I never served in the armed forces or experienced combat, I hold the utmost respect and honor for the men and women who fought and paid the price for my freedom. I write that because it would sound most arrogant and self centered for me to say that because I have watched this film and read several World War II history books that I have experienced and therefore understand combat. I don't and pray I never will (or anyone else). In a film filled with haunting and searing images, one particular stands out. In the present day, an aged veteran, staring at the white gravestones, crumples in tears at Normandy Memorial Cemetery. Spielberg allows us to rediscover that these pillars of marble were once breathing young men filled with hopes, aspirations, talents, flaws and fears. All lost in an instant. Behind the veteran stand his children and grandchildren. The sacrifice he and his fellow soldiers made allowed his family to gain. His life is their (and our) legacy. Spielberg's purpose then as a film maker becomes clear. He will attempt to show the lives of the men now laying beneath the ground. It is an image I will not soon forget. Like all good art, and this film is a very fine example, Saving Private Ryan evolves into something other than mere entertainment. It grabs the viewer by the heart and refuses to let go. It forces one to feel, contemplate, experience and remember. As it unfolds on the screen, the story becomes not only a cultural event but also a lesson in the grand extremes of human character. Spielberg shows us the best and the worst man has to offer. The story focuses on a small outfit led by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) that is sent into the ravaged countryside to find the only surviving Ryan boy (three others have been killed). If they find the young man alive, he will get to return to his Iowa farm. War corespondent Morley Safer has said that he defines courage as "not what we do for ourselves but rather what we do for others." That description well serves the actions of Captain Miller and his men as well as those of PVT. James Ryan. They place their job and their ultimate task (winning the war) as their goal. Many times in the film they are faced with choices that could easily allow them escape, and almost always they defer to the "bigger picture". These men depend on each other for survival. If they focus only on self, they will all lose. Yes, they do a number of unsavory things (the incident with the German POW just one example), but they are all too real as I've heard many such instances from my grandfathers. Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski compose the film like a Robert Capa photograph: violent, immediate and personal. With it's washed out colors and hand held shots, the film has the feel of a combat news reel. Spielberg shows maturity as a filmmaker by muting John Williams' score. The characteristic fanfares and swelling marches are noticeably absent. The explosions, screams and ever-present rain serve as fitting soundtrack enough. Unlike the cartoonish Lethal Weapon series, the slick James Bond films, the muscle-headed Rambo-fests, the Bruckheimer noise-assaults, Saving Private Ryan's violence is hap-hazard, clumsy, and ugly. There is nothing clean about combat. Bodies are ripped open, faces shot off and appendages torn. Frequently one looks his enemy in the eye as he kills him. Quite often, violence in films is used as a vehicle to stimulate the adrenaline glands enough to make an audience cheer and applaud. This film's battle scenes inspired me to hide and avert my eyes. The auditorium watched in a tense and tearful silence. Because of the battle scenes, Spielberg himself has forbidden his children from watching it. I agree. In a great paradox, everyone should see this film, but it isn't for everyone. Recent articles have hinted that the film almost received an NC-17 rating. I can't imagine a decent war film without such a rating. The American every man cast is centered around the near perfect performance of Tom Hanks. Like the men in my family who fought, he (and his fellow actors) are not movie star perfect with Adonis-like bodies performing superhuman tasks. Hanks is slightly paunchy, handsomely homely, haggard, shaking with a fearful palsy and often near tears. And yet despite all these all too human traits, he bravely leads his men.
This is simply not a film to be missed. It certainly is the best film of the year as well as one of the finest films ever made. It is a film to be remembered and celebrated. In a way I suppose it is sad that it takes a piece of popular entertainment to force us into remembering history. As if the stories of the relatives, the pledge of allegiance and the national cemeteries weren't enough. This film proves it isn't the format that counts, it's the remembrance and respect. Shame on us if we forget the terrible sacrifice made on those few days of June 1944, shame on us if we forget why that sacrifice was made, and shame on us if we allow it all to happen again.
Rating:
Summary: Not worthy of the praise heaped upon it....
Review: Honestly, the only reason to see this film is the cinematography; it is one gigantic plot hole as it's told through the "memories" of "Private Ryan" who wasn't present through most of the action of the film. The characters are thinly developed stock war characters that we never really get to know (with the exception of Tom Hanks' character since he is an uberstar). I can't express my disappointment with this film after the critical praise heaped upon it. I'd recommend "Thin Red Line" over this any day! Just my opinion...
Rating:
Summary: Spielberg Goes to War
Review: Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg's acclaimed 1998 film about small-unit action during the early days of the Normandy battle, is perhaps one of Hollywood's best attempts to depict the horror and yet-mesmerizing spectacle of battle. It reawakened an interest in World War II and spurred directors to make their war movies more graphically realistic. Even more important, it made many of us sit up and realize just how much we owe to the rapidly dwindling number of World War II veterans...the men and women Tom Brokaw rightly calls "the greatest generation." Based loosely on a real life incident of the war, Saving Private Ryan is the story of an 8-man squad of U.S. Army Rangers detailed to find Private James Ryan, a paratrooper whose three brothers - all soldiers serving in combat units - have lost their lives. When Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell) is told that Mrs. Ryan is going to get all three death-notification telegrams in one day, he orders that someone has to find the sole surviving Ryan boy in Normandy and "get him the hell out of there." The officer assigned to lead this almost impossible task is Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks), who on D-Day saw action on Omaha Beach. A veteran of many battles in the Mediterranean, Miller is chosen for his skill at undertaking tough assignments. Relieved temporarily of his company command, Miller leads six Rangers and a company clerk/translator to find - and save Private Ryan. While far from perfect, Saving Private Ryan was a daring gamble on Spielberg's part. He had already delved into the horrors of the Holocaust in his 1993 Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but he had never devoted an entire film to combat before. In most of his other World War II-era films, he had shown glimpses of the war. In Saving Private Ryan he carries audiences into the middle of battle, never flinching or looking away from the worst spectacles of war.
Some reviewers, particularly from other nations which were combatants in mankind's greatest and bloodiest war, criticize Saving Private Ryan for not showing "the full picture" of the battle for Normandy. Had Spielberg done a remake of Zanuck's The Longest Day - to which this movie has been compared - the criticism would be valid. The Longest Day - like the book of the same title - is a panoramic view of D-Day that encompasses all the nationalities involved, whether attackers or defenders. Saving Private Ryan, however, is not a documentary about the entire Normandy invasion. It is a look at the bond between soldiers in a small unit, and it shows the camaraderie and genuine affection soldiers feel for one another. Furthermore, Steven Spielberg is an American director, so it is natural that he would tell his D-Day story from an American point of view. Criticizing Saving Private Ryan for being focused on American soldiers is as absurd as criticizing Wolfgang Peterson for filming Das Boot from just the German point of view. I'm sure the Soviet/Russian movies about what they call the Great Patriotic War don't show their Western Allies' point of view either. This will be true of all the warring countries. Each has stories to tell, and I am sure each has its own equivalent of Saving Private Ryan. The DVD from Dreamworks Home Entertainment also includes a making-of featurette, two trailers, a cast-and-crew list, and a special message from the director. Like all DVDs of Spielberg movies, there is no director's commentary.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe a little too real
Review: My grandfather fought during the invasion of Normandy on Omaha Beach and he was fortunate enough to come home to tell me his stories about it. I had the privilege and honor to sit with this former Ranger when the film first opened and I remember having a new found respect for him on an entirely different level after that day. His reactions to certain scenes led me to believe that he was back there reliving that hell. That in itself was a powerful testimony to the accuracy and reality of this film. I am truly proud of what he was part of and I owe him a debt of gratitude that is incalculable. Tom Hanks couldn't have said it better than when he said that these brave men literally saved the world from evil. My grandfather will always be a hero to me and this will be one way for me to honor him now that he is gone but not forgotten. Thank you Mr. Spielberg for giving me a new way to know my Grandfather.
Rangers lead the way!
Rating:
Summary: Fake
Review: Mr. Spielberg clearly does not know what he is talking about. He acts as if he does, and the result is disastrous. The Normandy beach landings in the movie were historically inaccurate. The American shooting of prisoners are lauded as heroic and justified, and the German atrocities are given an evil tone. The script is hilariously bad, the actors can't act, and the result is a movie that is visually appealing to the uninformed- the people Spielberg likes to manipulate. It's is full of American flag-waving patriotic garbage, and it's not a coincidence that Spielberg (a Jew) is very anti-German. I'm not saying what the Nazis did was wrong, but Spielberg should not let personal feelings get in the way of making a historical movie. The most obvious mistake is that during the last battle scene, the Germans rarely, if ever, shoot back. According to Captain Miller, these were men of the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich", which were some of the most skilled soldiers of WWII. They would definitely shoot back. The Americans also killed at least 200 of the Germans, not the 50 reported by the sniper.
Other than that, the movie is one of the goriest I have ever seen. Most of it is gratuitous and unneccessary, but, as Americans, we tend to like that kind of stuff.
Rating:
Summary: An Important Lesson for Younger Generations
Review: The younger generations do not realize how much our fathers, grandfathers, and families went through to make sure we have the freedoms we take for granted today. This movie shows the horrors military service men faced, as well as hinting on the strain of families living among war torn Europe, or waiting for news from a loved one at home in the United States. My only fear is that younger viewers will watch this and only see a fictional tale. I fear people will not believe that the service men had to go through what is shown. From the stories of my Uncles, all veteran's of WWII, I can assure you the emotions, the life and death decisions, the living conditions, and the spirit to perservere to guarentee the freedom of the world was not exagerated in this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Spielberg's Masterpiece
Review: The masterwork of this film is amazing. The realism of war is astonishing with incredible special effects. Tom Hanks did a very moving performance with the help of Ryan (Matt Damon). Playing a Sargent, Hanks went with the mission to "Save" Ryan. The emotional performance was mainly because of the parts when the older Ryan looked back on the persistance of the troop. I'm not saying the end, but all in all, Spielberg gave one darn good film.
*****
-- M. Trittin
Rating:
Summary: Review
Review: Never trust any movie that begins and ends with the American flag waving. This movie is one of them. Don't trust it.
Rating:
Summary: AN EXCEPTIONAL DVD RELEASE OF "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN!"
Review: Was anyone able to here most of what the principle actors were saying during the 25 Minutes of pure hell during the D-Day sequence? If your answer is no, then that's a good sign! The DVD release of the film offers a realistic quality to the film's battle sequences, which includes barely hearing anyone's voices (This is why trumpets and drums were used during earlier wars: you could hear 'em). This DVD gives the viewer what he wants: realism and emotion! The special features are all incredible, even though there is a limited amount of extras! Buy this DVD and remember the sacrifice that our families made during the bloodiest conflict the world would ever see! Movie Grade: A+; DVD Grade: 2-A+
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