Rating: 
Summary: Near perfect cinematography but not much else.
Review: Perhaps the best shot war film. Perfect use of colors, ie its emphasis in dark and red hues. The slow shutter speed used in this film also brings incredible realism to this movie. Also pretty accurate special effects. Other than than that the movie has a marginal, at best, script and plot. The acting is so-so and the chracters are completely forgetable. But in all fairness I really don't think the point of this movie was to involve the viewer in plot per se, but rather to let the viewer experience, quite accurately, one of the most historic and gruesome day in world history.
Rating: 
Summary: Intense look at war from the epic standpoint.
Review: Great movie, that survives because of its look at one platoon's mission amidst the chaos of war; but that excels because of the war battle scenes that form its bookends, The first deals with an epic landing on a beach on D-Day, the second with an improvisational conflict involving men who are loyal to one another. The battles are this movies strengths, the kinship between the men its formidable backdrop. It is not the "feel good movie" that Oscar winner "Shakespeare In Love" is, but it is still a better movie because it is a different if not more profound look at WWII, a subject that has been in many movies, but never with this type of lasting power. In a way, it makes all other WWII movies obsolete. Needs to be seen on a big screen. Coincidently, ShakespeareIn Love is a insider's look at Hollywood---thats why it won the stinking Oscar!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely amazing and frightening at the same time.
Review: This is the one movie every fan of film must have in their collection. I saw it once in the theaters and haven't seen it since until I brought it home and played it on my DVD player today and it's every bit as haunting, moving, and shocking as the first time. This film scared me more than every horror movie I've seen combined. A masterpiece that will live on in my mind for the rest of my life. I will never forget the images that this film has shown me and I don't think I will ever see a finer film as this. I am grateful to all the men that fought for their lives and paid the ultimate price for all of us who live in the free world, my heart goes out to them in heaven and to their families here on earth. For those of you who haven't seen this great film, be prepared. What you will see you will take with you to your grave, you will never forget this film.
Rating:
Summary: SIMPLY THE BEST FILM OF ALL TIME
Review: Saving Private Ryan took my breath away. It is emotionally stirring and disturbingly realistic. Spielburg, Hanks, Damon, Burns, and all the others did a wonderful job. It ranks up there with epics like Braveheart and Laurence of Arabia.
Rating: 
Summary: Overblown
Review: I've recently watched this DVD alongside Thin Red Line.While both are technically great films (although SPR relies on a lot more special effects trickery), SPR really cannot compare to TRL. With TRL, the dialog and the performances are totally convincing, and combine with ethereal cinematography to create an overwhelming effect. There is so much ambiguity in the film, the dialog is so broken and nonlinear in some parts, logical in others -- as disorienting and unordered as real life. SPR cannot shake that Spielbergian feeling of artifice. You are constantly reminded that you are watching a technical marvel (the soldier who picks up his severed arm; the long shot of Normandy beach with all of the warships parked there), and the dialog is so artificial and at cross purposes to the effect of the film (e.g. the running joke about FUBAR) that one is prevented from being immersed in the film. The nonlinearity of TRL is so much truer to the subject matter. Also, the relentless washed out, high shutter speed cinematography of SPR gets old after a while. Both are interesting films, but the one with the lasting emotional impact is TRL.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic and Very Very Disturbing
Review: I don't know why the Academy passed this up for Best Picture this year. This is a very moving tribute to those who died for our country during WWII (especially to those who sacrficed their lives on June 7, 1944 when Normandy was invaded.) This is not entertainment, this is history that happened to our grandfathers. Thank you Mr. Spielberg for telling the story the way it happened.
Rating:
Summary: some great scenes but too many awful scenes
Review: The 2 battle scenes at the beginning and end of this movie are just incredible filmmaking feats by Spielberg and company and one should have this movie just to see them. And Tom Hanks is great, as he usually is. But there are serious problems in other places. Some examples: the opening in the cemetary is a cheat, Private Ryan's obviously ad-libbed "ugly tree" scene is a disgrace and having Miller even consider not accomplishing his mission at the end was a terrible plot judgment by Spielberg. I haven't seen too many movies that have left me divided between admiration and dislike as SPR, so the best advice I can give is that it's definitely worth owning and probably no one short of Spielberg's genius could have assembled it, but program a "good parts" version into your DVD player. Give him a huge amount of credit for making such a difficult and brutal movie when he could be taking it so much easier.
Rating:
Summary: awesome!!!
Review: The best war movie ever, if not the best movie ever made.The first 25 minutes alone arebetter than most movies and the final 25 minutes are right behind. A must for any video library.
Rating: 
Summary: riveting, intense, brutal reality seen through our own eyes
Review: the movie was so intense that it made me physically sick knowing that so many good men died so courageously during a time when america was its peak in the world community and had the resourses and power to win a war without self-rightousness and greed for power, but alieve oppresion and tyranny by communists and fascism.
Rating:
Summary: It was cheated out of its Best Picture oscar
Review: Sure, "Shakespeare In Love" was great, but there's no way it should have been chosen over this film. To date, you can't find a better movie to depict the horrors of war. The battle scenes are photographed in a way that puts all viewers right there in the action. Especially during the beach landing at the beginning of the film, the shots are so graphic and realistic-looking that they may not be suitable for combat veterans to watch. Just like "Schindler's List", et al, this is one of those films not intended for entertainment purposes; the film educates us about the sacrifices the WWII veterans (and veterans of all other wars) have made. After the end, I felt deep sadness to realize that great wars and great losses of life will inevitably be repeated again in the future of our civilization.
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