Rating: 
Summary: June 6th All Over Again
Review: Steven Speilberg's Saving Private Ryan has got to be the BEST WWII movie to date, to my opinion and many others' too! It remains my favorite movie since 1997. People who I have asked said that it was very hard to believe that Shakespeare in Love beat this magnificent war movie for the Oscar. Old war movies don't really depict the battles correctly and often just have soldiers jump when they are shot. Soldiers in Saving Private Ryan fall, scream, and yell. That's how realistic it is. The opening battle alone, to my opinion, could have beat Shakespeare in Love. The realism this movie has and the impact it had on me was inimaginable. What eight ordinary soldiers would do just to save one is unremarkable. That's the American fighting spirit, it's spellbinding. Everyone is perfect in it, just fantastic! Thats why I give it a remarkable 5 stars. They were well earned for the best war movie ever.
Rating:
Summary: Owing my life...
Review: I'm not a firm advocate of war and neither is this film--as it should be. However, America's involvement in this war is one of the reasons that I am alive. My mother is American and my father is Belgian and they would never have met if Germany still occupied Belgium today. There are still some regions in Belgium today (especially the Ardennes) where people are so grateful for being freed from Germany's occupation that they can't help themselves in expressing it. In fact, once, I recall that my family and I were overheard speaking English and it was quickly found out by the owner that we were American. Our meal was free as a result despite our protestation. My point? It is often amazing that some people treat World War II as an event in history as opposed to great sacrifices made to prevent evil. Willing or not, for those who fought, I send my deepest respect to the utter, living hell they must have gone through. There is only one place that film could not have possibly have entered...and that is the minds of those individuals...and it's the only fault that a film could not possibly overcome as it has exceeded in all other areas. And by no means am I belittling any war that has occurred in the past, but despite the selfishness of it, this one means more to me because I am alive to write about it. When I was very young, I participated in a memorial service on the beaches of Normandy. I was chosen because it seemed fitting to those holding the memorial that someone of Belgian and American blood deliver the wreath to the front. I barely remember it, but my parents remember it quite vividly. Do yourself a favor and visit Normandy one day...the graves are sobering, and the concrete bunkers are chilling. Some of us build buildings for offices; those bunkers were built to bring death down below. Let's remember the distinction that we should build life now and cherish it. Let's remember the horrors that may occur if we do not do so. My only regret is that my words are only a pitiful shadow of what I wish to express. Please watch the movie and understand that we can't look at someone and call them brave or cowardly. We should look at them and say, "These are human beings." And no human being deserves that treatment...ever.
Rating:
Summary: Makes you thankful for what you have
Review: Every time I watch this movie, I become more thankful for the world I have been born in and the people who sufferd and died so that it could be made possible. This movie is unlike any war movie I have ever seen although I repetivley here people compare the graphic to the film: Hamburger Hill which I have never seen and don't realey know. It is an excelent movie for anyone of reason but might I warn, it shows war for what it is and belive me, war is much ugliear and horrific then comonley potraid in movies and tends to have lasting affects on many people. A good movie for one who wants to know war for what it is and sertain to make you consider thankfulness or aditional thankfulness for the life you have and the sacrafice that was made for your life. Might I also note to repetive viewers and fans one pointer that I here allot about as A debate of flaw in the movie..... Air support as supposedley A flaw. Probibley the biggest misfortune of the attack is the fact that air support miss bombed in the invasion and if you listen closley on D-Dayx2 when Tom Hanks approches his SO, the verey first thing his SO does is inform him of that fact ( Air spport was suppose to clear the path for us but got lost and scatterd their sticks in to the wind ) is what he said I belive. It is A good movie and worth watching. As A storey, I kinda compare it in general to A WW II version of Brave Heart without all the personal life, leader drama but focused on the little guys who gave the hardest sacrafice for what today we take for granted.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best war movies ever!
Review: The D-day scene was one of the best action sequences ever commtited to film.The scene grabbed you and pulled you in and you were sad to see the soldiers crumpled on the ground as their guts poured they called for their mothers.This movie is probably the best protrayl of WW2!And I think this deserves more recognition than Titanic!Anyway this is a great war movie,my favorite(exept for Apocalypse Now...)
Rating: 
Summary: The best ten minutes ever captured on film . . .
Review: I must say that both times I have seen "Saving Private Ryan," I was overwhelmed by the images flung at the viewers during the opening minutes of the film. Janusz Kaminski has set the standard in action sequence photography here (imitated in, recently, in "Hannibal" and "Pearl Harbor," to name a few), and the gut-wrenching, blood curdling screams that waft out of the speakers are harrowing to say the least. However, with that final shot of the beach, and then a fade out, the movie devolves into a sputtering, cliché ridden trip through the histrionics of war movies that have basically undercut everything the GIs in "Ryan" fought to preserve, a better world for their children. Full of the same war movie clichés that have hindered films about World War II's portrayal on film since before the war was over (watch "They Were Expendable" to see what I mean), "Saving Private Ryan" presents the viewer with an amalgam of cardboard characters and chest-thumping patriotism that is frankly sickening. It's really too bad that Spielberg had to get it so right on Normandy's beaches because, for the rest of the movie, he got it so wrong. I think the most appalling thing about the existence of this film is the assertion, by so many people, that it is "the best war movie ever made." Obviously these people have never seen "All Quiet on the Western Front" or "12 O'clock High" or "Midnight Clear." If you love "Ryan," watch those films, then watch "Ryan" again. If you still think it's the best, then more power to you.
Rating:
Summary: Decent, but not great
Review: Truthfully, Steven Spielberg has gone downhill since "Jaws." He put alot into the Normandy scene, which was great, but the rest of this movie really drags. The problem is simple: the movie is just too damn long. I'll give credit to Spielberg for reinventing how battle scenes are filmed, but the story is really lacking. Tom Hanks is probably the most overrated actor of our time.
Rating:
Summary: the war is not over, it continuse in the movie !
Review: The big benefit of what this movie gave to me is that it got me to think about the sacrifice, courage, pain, loss,that american men and women in uniform stepped up to keep this world free in its darkest hour. By making this film Hollywood makes you understand what the solders in the war felt,seen and goen through. Whill you are watching the movie you can fell you are in the war itself, fighting along with them.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you, veterans.
Review: The big benefit of what this movie gave to me is that it got me to think. Think about the sacrifice, courage, endurance, pain, loss, (and finally, the ultimate triumph) that our men and women in uniform stepped up to to keep this world free in its darkest hour. This film, whether you feel it's accurate, Hollywood or a combination, may cause you to consider the dedication and caliber of those who fought and prevailed against the worst tyranny in history. Freedom is not free. We are all enjoying freedom and the world as it is today because veterans were there for us then (and are at the ready now). Thank you, veterans.
Rating:
Summary: A sniper's eye view
Review: I'm a former USMC sergeant and squad leader. I served briefly in a grunt unit, worked as a marksmanship instructor for USMC recruits, shot expert 3 times, and might have made a good sniper had I been unlucky enough to serve in combat. Does this make my remarks germane? Yes, it does. Does it make them necessarily correct? No, it does not. I've scanned 100 reviews or so, and wanted to focus tightly on a few criticisms: 1. The beach. I thought there was an error in that Miller gets to the beach sopping wet, but his clothes are no longer drenched by the time the bangalores have cleared a path through the mines. As several point out, there was a several hours delay from hitting to taking Omaha. So, that was actually right... Also, the Germans there did strike me as pretty ragtag. Remember the Czechs, and the Hitler youth knife? Sure, that fellow still could have been sporting it after several years, but he might also have been pretty young, and I think that was the point. 2. Air cover. My impression is that air cover stops at a beach. It's too close to risk calling in fire. 3. The machine gun nest. Why did Miller bother, and why was it frontal, and how could a squad of Rangers, (OK, they're elite troops), actually survive? This is a good question... First, I recall Reiben, our Brooklyner with the 30'06 (that's 30 caliber, folks) Browning automatic rifle (BAR) is told to set up a "base of fire". If you've never been fired at by a 30 caliber machine gun at close range, you may not realize just how distracting that can be, even for a machine gun crew behind sand bags. Second, surprise. If you're reading a letter from home, or cleaning your rifle, or using a cathole, then suddenly hear rounds flying, it takes a moment or two to collect your thoughts, chamber rounds, grab your helmet, and so on. Those guys were apparently asleep at their post as they did not spot the Rangers on approach. Third, mines. Machine gun nests are nasty places. Mines are not unlikely. Too much sneaking around is unhealthy. Fourth, the sniper. I'm not sure they actually saw anyone to snipe initially? Squads do periodic patrols, and waiting around to ambush the bad guys has its good and bad points. In short, they were stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Let's do the math. 7 guys, one a noncombatant basically and another a medic, leaves 5. For some reason, likely a good one, the sergeant seemed to sit this one out - leaving one good fighter behind to carry on looking for Ryan if they were all blown away made sense. That leaves four. One of these guys is setting up a base of fire. That leaves three free - Miller, Mellish, and their sniper. That's not enough to rush a nest, so the medic gets called in to make at least an extra moving target, and does yeoman's duty. Miller's reasons for assaulting it made sense, and could in no ways be considered a violation of orders. OK, a judgement call, but I'm siding with Miller on that. They got lucky to be unspotted, and the next squad very likely would not be so fortunate... Germans were all over the place, and the essence of being a squad leader in that sort of scenario is to hit and run before you're pinned down. There's also a thing called "cowardice in the face of the enemy", punishable by death in wartime, and if they ever did return, that sort of thing does not go over well with your superior officer. 4. Ramelle Everyone loves picking this apart, so here's my finale. You're the commander of a recon element sent to take a vital bridge. You've got no air cover and therefore no time. Your predecessors have also just beaten the stuffing out of a small arms unit that was there, which to your knowledge has not been reinforced - just a handful of guys who basically are cut off... I'll guarantee not everyone in your shoes will play it safe and send in the infantry to get chewed up piecemeal... Remember, this is your unit. You're likely understrength, and cannot expect reinforcements as everyone else is screaming for them. Street fighting is as bad as it gets, as the German Sixth Army discovered in Stalingrad, when they were losing 20,000 men, (yes, that's an entire division), a week in this same kind of fighting. So, what's a likely approach? Four tanks, a 20mm cannon, a few halftracks, and an understrength company of infantry that's likely been forced-marching... I'll guarantee (also) you're pretty confident you're going to crush whatever they put out... So, what do you do? You know they can't take out your two tigers with direct fire, so you keep enough infantry close to protect them, then simply take your chances. One street or the other, and that's what it boils down to, and the sooner you get the bridge, the better. I've never been to the War College, of course, that's for officers, but if you're the commander on the spot, what other options have you? You give your orders, and suddenly your set-piece battle has vanished. "And that's all I have to say about that." P.S. If anyone knows what the SS soldier is saying to Mellish as he knifes him, I'd like to know. Regards.
Rating:
Summary: Overlord? More like Overrated.
Review: One reason to give this movie 5 stars: 1. The famous half-hour beach landing sequence. In what appears to be a composite of the experiences of the 116th and the 2nd Rangers at or near Dog Green, the sheer horror of the landing at Omaha is brilliantly presented (or so I assume, since I wasn't there). Three reasons to deduct stars: 1. After the aforementioned half-hour, this turns into a typical, sappy Hollywood melodrama. The mission to save Private Ryan never happened -- and rightly so. Such a mission would have been ludicrous. 2. The cast should have been composed of unknowns. Instead we get Mr. Popularity, Tom Angst, whose presence is a constant reminder to the audience that this is just a typical, sappy Hollywood melodrama (did I say that already?). The use of older actors in general took away from the reality; I saw few 18-19 year old faces among those playing the GI's, and plenty of 35+ actors and extras. 3. Too many Spielbergian touches, such as excessive use of heavy-handed irony (maybe it was cute and clever to have the soldier get his helmet clipped by a bullet -- then, as he takes it off and smiles at his near miss, take a bullet in the forehead. But it just goes too far to have the German soldier who kills Hanks' character be THE SAME ONE HE RELEASED RATHER THAN KILL EARLIER IN THE MOVIE! Other examples abound. They combine to make this a... well, a typical, sappy, Hollywood melodrama! Come to think of it, I should have deducted another star for one of the most inane lines of dialogue in movie history: the one where a soldier tells Hanks' character "Maybe saving Private Ryan will be the one good thing that comes out of this mess" or words to that effect. THE ONE GOOD THING???? Isn't ridding the world of the Third Reich a GOOD THING??? Sheesh. Advice: Read Stephen Ambrose's outstanding book on D-Day; then watch the first half hour of this movie; then rewind it and return it to Blockbuster.
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