Rating: 
Summary: Best Review: Doug's
Review: I've read hundreds of movie reviews over the years, but I just read the best of the best: Doug Thomas' short, direct essay on Saving Private Ryan. Here's why: First, he helped me finally understand why Spielberg started the movie with the graveyard-at-Normandy scene. Knowing about the director's first home movie reveals to me something of the director as a human being. Second, the word kinetic says so much about why the characters acted as they did, some would say stereotypically -- because there are rare times when events hurl YOU in directions you never wanted, or even dreamed you'd go, in your fiercest nightmare. There, trying to be yourself is a dangerous and very painful exercise. Witness the future of the interpreter after his performance in the field. Third, this film so eloquently demonstrated what a thousand Memorial Day speeches could never say: that as a nation of individuals, we, individually, owe so very much to both those who fought and those who died, to help slay the most hideous monster that threatened our collective existence in a hundred generations. And Doug said it so simply -- how we SHOULD feel about the past and this event. When one reads the complete history of that war, one wishes that a film like Saving Private Ryan could be made about a people who overwhelmingly suffered the most casualties, killed the most Germans, and pushed the monster back 2,200 miles into its hell hole and killed it -- the Russians. When that film is made I think we will truly understand how we should feel about that unfortunate, misunderstood nation. If the Russians seem they feel unappreciated by Americans, it is because they are. When I left the theater after viewing this film, it took me several days to work through all the emotions of fear, pain, loss, disgust, and especially helplessness in the face of overwhelming disaster and imminent death, that no other film before or since has stirred inside me. Because of this, I feel Saving Private Ryan, as a cinematic work of art, is in a class by itself. I've wanted to say this for a very long time. I finally found the right place to say it.
Rating:
Summary: A Great but graphic film!
Review: This movie was one of the most graphic war movies I have ever seen. Spielberg did an excelent job once again. As the movie progreses you kind of get a feel for the main characters, and at the end, many of them die, which really makes this movie a sad one. After I first saw it I really felt sorry for our veterians for what they had to go through. Definatly worth seing at least once. For some people that may be enough, it definetly makes you think.
Rating:
Summary: Address the lack of realism
Review: I write this to address what other reviewers call the lack of realism. I thought this film was very realistic. And the Germans that manned Omaha beach were very deadly, that's where 50% of the cassualties for the whole day were taken. You actually wouldn't see the large untis of young boys and old men until the Battle of the Bulge. And in the final battle, the German troops would have been that well equipped because they were SS troops. Which meant that got all the best of everything. And to address that the tanks wouldn't have advanced into the rubble would make sense. But in tactical terms the CO would have been pressed for time, so he wouldn't have had time to waste precious ammo shelling rubble. Plus the Germans were really arrogant and thought Americans were poor soldiers anyway. And that brings me to my next point, Hank's squad. Hank's men were Rangers, Ranger's are used in the army to do the impossible. The Ranger's are a tough outfit, the modern rangers go to Airborne School before going to Ranger School. They are way better trained than any elite german unit, and an all volunteer unit too. So if a squad took a MG-42 nest and only lost one man, it's believable. The Airborne (which were also all volunteer) units also had very good training too, unfortunately the 101st was a green unit on D-day. I know all this because I live near the army special operations HQ at Fort Bragg.
Rating: 
Summary: Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan
Review: I would say that Saving Private Ryan captures the truth about those things obvious, and is false on more complex issues. Much has been made of the Omaha Beach landing sequence. It seems to me a legitimate effort, taken as a thing in itself, to recreate as accurately as possible such an operation. It is both a remarkable technical achievement and a horrifying reminder of the consequences of going to war. Nonetheless, its value seems limited. A spectator will learn more about something he or she already knew or suspected, that war is hell, but is there anything qualitatively new here? Nope. Many of Spielberg's historical starting points are simply wrong. To suggest that American soldiers "freed the world" is inaccurate. Stalin and Communist tryanny was alive and well after the war and continued to enslave and kill people. As an artistic effort, Saving Private Ryan is also poor. The interplay between the characters struck me as cliched and contrived. For the most part, the group of soldiers who are looking for Private Ryan is a predictable batch of ethnic and regional clichés: an Italian, a Jew, a Brooklynite, a hillbilly sharpshooter, a cowardly bookworm, etc. Furthermore, I found one of the plot's central threads unconvincing. Hanks's unit has just passed through the meat-grinder of the D-Day landing; their numbers have been decimated. Yet when assigned the task of finding and removing Ryan from the fighting, a relatively light responsibility by comparison, Hanks's men complain bitterly. At one point, in fact, a near-mutiny occurs. It is not difficult to read the worst into this film. The American military has been attempting to get over the Vietnam debacle for two decades. The end of the Cold War, ironically, has made the world a less stable place. It does not require extraordinary insight to grasp how vital military might has become for the US ruling elite. There will be more reckless interventions, whether in the Middle East, the Balkans or elsewhere. Spielberg has contributed his part to this reality. One should not forget the fact that the film begins and ends with the same image: the contemporary American flag filling the screen. Spielberg has great talent but his vague, limp liberalism is of very little use. His films for the most part are life preservers for illusions. But the illusions he offers are powerful because they are sincere--Spielberg is sincerely thankful to America for having made him so famous and successful--but they are shallow. They are not passions. And, as Saving Private Ryan attests to, they cannot sustain serious artistic work.
Rating: 
Summary: historically inaccurate
Review: First, I thought this movie had some of the most impressive scenes ever in a war movie. However, after reading several WW2 history books, I found this movie to be extraordinarily inaccurate. D-Day was a symbolic turning point, but the outcome against Germany had already been determined. I agree 100% with the reader from Vancouver on March 15. "Ost" troopers, children, and crippled vets were manning the coast defenses and the German Army was already decimated from its Eastern Front Campaign. I guess this realism would have confused the audience. The most horrific battle of WW2 was Stalingrad, but that has still not been addressed properly by mainstream Hollywood. The first 10 minutes of Enemy at the Gates does not really count.
Rating:
Summary: Saving Private Ryan
Review: This is probably the best film of Tom Hanks. The story is very touching if you have known anyone who died in WW II. I happened to have visited Omaha Beach on a tour of France and I could visualize the bloody battle that occurred there. The sound track was realistic also. This movie is a tribute to all the soldiers alive and dead who fought in that bloody battle in Normandy. It honors American soldiers who fought in all the wars in history.
Rating:
Summary: Saving Private Ryan so true, so real, such a masterpiece...
Review: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN stars Hollywood actors: Tom Hanks (Cast Away), Matt Damon (Dogma), Tom Sizemore (Red Planet, Pearl Harbor), Edward Burns (15 Minutes) and Giovoni Ribisi (Gone in 60 Seconds). This film is also directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, Jaws). What makes this film so amazing is how memorable and realistic it really was. It should have no doubt, hands down, no questions asked; won BEST PICTURE in 1998!! At least Spielberg shined with the BEST DIRECTOR award! The opening scene on Omaha Beach really pulls you into the battles or World War II. There are even times when you almost want to look away! This film's high flying bullets, explosions, desposed bodies and realism of what WWII was like really sets a standard for other war films to look up to. THE THIN RED LINE was a poor excuse for a war film. They took big actors like: Nick Nolte, George Clooney (who was only in the film for maybe a minute), Sean Penn, and Woody Harrelson and rolled into something trying to copy SAVING PRIVATE RYAN- but it couldn't... No way! SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is more realistic and more emotional. All the performances and filming are fantastic- it's just phenomenal filmaking that all homes should have. Whether you buy it on DVD or VHS, it still gives you that feeling, where you really start looking back at all the men who risked their lives and died on the battlefields, for us, for freedom. Imagine all your family being siblings dying in the war, your mother getting all the telegrams saying "your child is dead, we're sorry" in one day! You were the only one left and eight daring, tired men go across all the battles and all the dangerous situations to rescue- you. Only you. What a debt you'd owe them. This is a true epic that sticks its story, doesn't have holds, and keeps that drama-war action/adventure flowing. You can never look back at World War II the same way again. Thank you Steven Spielberg for showing us how much we take for granted, and who we owe so much to. So the next time you feel like you don't want to go to work, or school because you are too tired- put yourself on the battlefields of WWII and see how it feels for a day.
Rating:
Summary: Lack realism
Review: Th battlescenes are breathtaking. But that's it. the movie lacksrealism. Germany had mostly second rate and foreign conscripts guarding the walls of Normandy. By 1944, the Wehrmacht had been bled white. The US and British troops had an incredible numerical superiority. the movie shows the german troops as these wel equiped soldier where in fact most units were a ragtag of blended units with a few veterans left in hem Also the last battle turns the movie into Rambo. If indeed they had been faced with tanks. The germans would have never let the tanks advance into ruins and be easy prey to close up ambushes. the tiger's 88mm main gun would have obliterated the defenders fron long range. Finally, that charge on the machine gun nest where Giovanni Ribisi dies is a bit laughable. The whole platoon would have probably died during a head on charge in a real settings. The germans had in a place a fearsome MG-42 with an over 2000 rounds/minute rate of fire. they would have been cut to pieces in no time. In terms of "spectacle and entertainment", I give the movie an A. In terms of realism it's a D.
Rating: 
Summary: Another flawed Spielberg masterpiece
Review: Like everyone else who saw the film I was very impressed with the first 20 or so minute's of S.P.R. (apart from the silly opening). It certainly did offer a view of combat that no other movie of any period has given. It is probably the most re-watched and talked-about section of the movie and for good reason too. Bullets and shrapnel have never flown so realistically. Bodies have never been pulverised and destroyed so convincingly in any other movie about any other war as far as I can remember. If one thing is learned by future filmmakers it should be to emulate or attain the same realism of combat the S.P.R. put on the screen. There are very few heroes in war and this is reflected very well on the 20 min Omaha beach section of the movie. The majority of the soldiers are cowering or dead. The few who are trying to rally their men do so mostly in vain and the slow movement across the beach to dog green sector is the result. After this explosive section, the film settles down to the meat of the movie. After the death of Ryan's brothers and order goes out from U.S. headquarters to rescue and return safely the last remaining brother, James. This is put across in one of the most cliched ridden scenes that I've seen in ages but is really typical of Spielberg's attempts to pull the audience heart strings, but they never really work and usually let his films down. Also this basic premise of the movie is nonsense in itself. There is no way in the world that an army would send a squad of men into enemy held territory to rescue one man, especially given the circumstances of the first few days after D-Day and doubly so because he is a private. So once you are over that you can allow the film to take it's course. The squad of men start out into their mission and squabble and argue over the order to do so and quite rightly too, which goes some way to ease the unrealistic nature of the film's premise. The banter is very good and entertaining as the men wander, somewhat without fear of German activity, through the French county side. As they continue their journey they come across different situations that threaten them and their mission to save Ryan. Inevitably they find him in a squad of the 101st guarding a bridge in a small French village. This main section of the film though is also its main weakness too. The section in the shattered French town, in which a German sniper dispatches the squad's first casualty is done superbly, up until Spielberg has the US sniper shoot him through the eye piece of his Gewher 43 rifle. Its this type of nonsense that lets the movie down. A simple shot through the head or chest would have sufficed and the squad could have moved on. Like wise the botched attack on the MG42 outpost. No officer worth his salt or with the experience that Hanks' captain is supposed to have would have ordered a frontal attack of such an obstacle, without properly thinking out or analysing the situation first. How long would it have taken to scout around behind the outpost to make sure that there wasn't a German reg. somewhere beyond it? Or picking of the German's with the sniper? Both situations would have lessened the chances of casualty. In the ensuing assault, however, the medic is killed. This scene is probably the most shocking of them all, as we witness a graphic and harrowing death, presented in a gritty realism that echoes in your head for days afterwards, like so much of the film it has to be said. There are more parts that grate however. The German soldiers never seem human, just the typical nazi's that Spielberg has been putting on screen since "Raiders of the lost Ark". Also his pushing of holocaust related messages are irritating in the extreme. Mellish's death being a thinly vailed metaphor for the nazi persecution of Jews. Small inconsistencies in realism and how the German enemy acts also let the film down and knocks off that last star. For instance, every German soldier has a shaved head, more reminiscent of Russian draftees than the Wehrmacht, one senses that this is another Spielbergian attempt to equate the German's of the 40's with the neo-nazi skinheads of today. It's too heavy handed to let go. The end section of the movie which sees the newly found Ryan, his comrades and Hanks' squad team up to hold a bridge against the on coming Germans in a situation that would have been far more historically correct if the tactics were switched, with a small band of German soldiers holding the bridge against the overwhelming U.S. forces. But as it stands it is a realistic enough sequence, if you allow for the stupid German tactic of driving their armor down a street right into an obvious ambush. Remember the 101st soldiers guarding th bridge had just had their ass's kicked previous to Ryan being found. A few moments of shelling from the Tiger's 88's would have not gone a miss and the tower from which the U.S. sniper is stationed would have been the first building shelled. Not to mention the fact that the Tiger tanks or the SS troops in question were no where the area at the time. The end of the movie offers the last let down. We go back to the old guy in the cemetery who we saw at the start for a soppy sequence about "being a good man" etc. The film really could have done without this framing device as it subtracts from the movie rather than add to it. The movie really should start with the landing craft approaching the beach and end with captain Miller saying "earn this". All in all though S.P.R. does have an awful lot to recommend it. Which is why I am giving it Four stars. The acting for the most part is perfect, with Hanks being surprising good. I personally think he's one of the most over rated actors in Hollywood. The lights are stolen by Tom Sizemore however, who is watchable in every scene and superb as the ever faithful Sargent. It would have earned five if the above things were corrected and its not really that much to ask from a movie that purports to be historically correct.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent WWII film but no Thin Red Line
Review: Saving Private Ryan is a very good film - its just not a great one. As it has one fatal flaw - the middle of the film. The opening 40 minutes is perhaps the greatest war sequence put on film showing the full horror of the D-Day landings. Similarly the end sequence where they defend the bridge is horrifically realistic. There can be no doubt about their power. Many people will no doubt give the films 5* on this basis. If the film had consisted purely of these two parts I would have no doubt given it 5* as well. However, the film has a very weak middle containing very little of note except some deeply stereotyped characters wandering about looking for Ryan. Consider Tom Sizemores loyal Sergeant, Adam Goldberg's token Jew, Barry Pepper's bible thumping sniper, Giovanni Ribisi's gushing one dimensional medic not to mention the rest. I'm also annoyed that Spielberg also returns to his vision of pantomimesque Nazis - one dimensional, inscrutably evil with no vestiges of humanity and completely lacking in even basic human qualities. What made Schindlers List such a deeply moving film for me was that for once Speilberg portrayed the Nazi's for what they were - men - men with weaknesses just like you or I who did unspeakable things - it is this which truly relays the real horrors of what they did - that they were men, just like us, not pantomimesque villains. And that made it powerful. Witness Ralph Fiennes ' Camp Commandant taking the young boy in and letting him tend his house only to later callously shoot him for sport. I prefer The Thin Red Line which was released around the same time as SPR - anyone buying this DVD should definitely buy it as they will find much in common but a far greater emotional experience. It is a superior film albeit lacking in the shock value of the D-Day landing sequence in SPR. The good news is that the overall package of extras on this DVD is excellent and should keep enthusiasts of commentaries etc happy. Overall a good film, just not a great one.
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