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Summary: We must remember...never forget...
Review: I've watched this film on three occasions. In a theater, on VHS and the DTS version. Each time I've choked up at the closing scene."Saving Private Ryan" embodies the esssence of patriotism. It's message is so clear that any junior/senior high school youngster will understand: we owe so much to those who've gone before, whether they fought ashore at Omaha Beach, or on the fields at Gettysburg, or... While the film is a sweeping historical (patriotic) epic, it includes many subplots dealing with the meaning of war, sacrifice, honor, courage, fear, death, family, etc. The film's producers and writers effectively develop the personalities of the small band of GI's sent to find Ryan, so that by the film's climax we're on the edge of our chairs, concerned about who among the group will survive and just what their fate means to us viewing Steven Speilberg's film some fifty-five years later. While both "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Thin Red Line" are truly great (war) films, "Ryan" seems more coherent, with characters fully developed, their personalities sharply delinated. The two films compliment each other and belong in every collection of World War II movies. "Earn this." Captain Miller "Have I been a good person?" Private Ryan To what extent can we ever really understand the contributions and sacrifices of the "greatest generation?"
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Summary: Superp!!!!
Review: This movie is THE best. It beats any other war movie, let alone any other movie. This movie is great, even if you aren't particularly into war, Spielberg captures the emotions and true hardship of war in a proffesional manner. This is no silly Hollywood piece of crap. It's superb...
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Summary: Powerful and Moving
Review: No movie has ever captured the "fog of war" like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Is there anyone who has seen it that will ever forget the scenes of hitting the beach on D-Day? I've heard D-Day veterans quoted as saying, "it was all there except for the smell of battle." To me, that is the ultimate praise. To dwell on perceived shortcomings in this great film is like focusing on Cindy Crawford's mole. It doesn't have to be perfect to be a great work of art. If you haven't seen SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, you simply must.
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Summary: REALISTIC
Review: All that I'm going to say about this movie is that IT-IS-THE-BEST-DAMNED-WAR-MOVIE-EVER.
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Summary: Great DVD
Review: I just bought a DVD player about three days ago. The first movie I bought was this SPR DVD. I watched it with my whole family. Everyone thought it was exelent and the extra features were very interesting especially the old video clips of the war and of all the prisoners of the Germans. I would highly recommend this DVD to anyone, especially kids who think war is fun, this will show them the true war reality.
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Summary: (:|
Review: His brothers are dead Ryan gets a free ride home Hanks, not so lucky
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Summary: The more I watch it, the more I dislike it
Review: Granted, the battle scenes are the most harrowing and realistic ever filmed. Spielberg bypasses the head and goes straight for the emotions. He does an excellent job. But when you start thinking about the movie, there are severe flaws, flaws so bad the movie starts to look just plain stupid. The Higgins boats did not land troops as portrayed. For one thing, the boats had two machine guns. There would have been navel bombardment, air cover, all kinds of cover. Not just the boats dropping their ramps and essentially saying, "Hey guys, here we are. Shoot us and kill us." This movie, unfortunately, is propaganda. Spielberg portrays all the Germans as evil, evil, evil. He scapegoats them. They're not human at all. I kept expecting the Kraut tank commander in the last battle scene to have a shaved head, a dueling scar, and a monocle. Maybe even a cigarette holder held between thumb and forefinger. And Tom Hanks' character is a moron. He disobeys orders when he attacks the machine gun nest. It would not have surprised me if his own men had shot _him._ Just think about how many of his men the idiot got killed. Spielberg could have done better. A lot better.
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Summary: Yes it's manipulative, sentimental and patriotic. So what
Review: If you start off with the clear understanding that this movie was meant to be a patriotic tribute to the men, in this specific case, the US soldiers that landed at Omaha Beach, and that Spielberg is going to use his prodiguous talents to make us feel for them - then you won't be disappointed. If you think that you are going to see a documentary and wish to remain emotionally unattached and unaffected by what you're watching - then skip this. The only thing documentary-like about 'Saving Private Ryan' is the realism of the landing scenes. Emotional? If you've ever wondered what battle is like, here's your answer. The violent, graphic scenes showing gore, blood, confusion, immobilizing fear, waste, chaos, heroics and the tremendous sense of relief and uncontrollable shaking from release are there, not because it's a 'War' and an 'Action' movie, but because it's REAL. Get the picture - this is how war looks and feels. Brrr, chills. Although paying tribute to those men who went ashore in '44, it's also a strong anti-war movie, and it's not surprising that so many vets. have spoken out in praise of the movie, nobody is more anti-war than ex-warriors. The movie does justice to the randomness and suddeness of the violence. Bad luck, Karma, and certainly stupidity are factors. Private Caparzzo, well meaning, trying to help that little French girl, was nevertheless stupid. Most soldiers would sympathize, certainly as he bled to death in the rain, but there would not be much empathy. You do not step out in the open in a fire fight, or even if there is only a hint of the enemy. Enjoy may be too strong a word, but watch this movie just the same and if by chance you know somebody who was there, then simply, thank them.
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Summary: Powerful
Review: When this movie was released, I spoke to an old family friend who had just seen it. This friend was a veteran who was wounded at Omaha Beach and he said the re-enactment of the landing was uncanny. He said that it was graphic and powerful. I literally had to build myself up emotionally before I could see it and even though I knew what to expect, I still found it hard to watch the horrors of the landing. I finally saw the movie in the theater and refcently bought the DVD. Believe it or not, I skip a few chapters ahead past the landing, I just can't rewatch the awful carnage .. it's just too powerful. What I particularly like about the movie is that we get to know the characters in the expedition to save Private Ryan and we identify with them & mourn when tragedy befalls any of them. When the Jewish character struggles in an epic one on one struggle with a German soldier, it is emotionally powerful. I find I literally feel I am that character and I am involved in the struggle. I like the DVD .. it includes lots of really good stuff including an interview with my favorite historian, Stephan Ambrose. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Visually Stunning
Review: The opening scene of Stephen Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan which depicts the Allied Forces D-Day invasion of Normandy Beach is more graphic, harrowing, stunning, intense, spectacular, realistic and amazing war scene ever film. We feel as if we are plopped right in the middle of the action. We hear the ping of bullets on metal, the deafening noises, the blood, the gore, and the stink of death and destruction. Through the eyes and ears of Tom Hanks' Capt. John Miller, we get a sense of the struggle and will to survive under such unthinkable conditions. The movie's ending, while not as good as the opening scene is still stunning and brilliant. Those two scenes are among the finest Mr. Spielberg has ever filmed. The problem with the film is that between those two bookends, the middle part of the movie drags on. After D-Day, Capt. Miller's troop is sent on a mission to find a Private Ryan who three brothers have been killed in battle. He is the last male member of his family and if he is killed, his family name will die with him. Capt. Miller and his men are of course ticked off that they have to risk their lives for this faceless grunt. We follow the troop through the French countryside and the obvious confrontations come up. Mr. Hanks always adds class to anything he does and his subtle and heroic portrayal of Miller saves the middle section from sinking completely into cliche territory. Edward Burns appears in his first movie that he didn't direct and is serviceable as an angry solider, Tom Sizemore is good as Sgt. Horvath and Adam Goldberg deserves mention for his part. Despite the boring middle section, the DVD brings all the majesty and glory of the opening war scenes top an almost theater like quality and it is still a very good film.
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