Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Albert K

  
  I remember when "Saving Private Ryan" first hit theaters, some theaters banned children under 17 to go watch the movie, even with their parents. I still remember many of the stories of countless audience members walking out with shuddering and trembling hands as if they were… More
  I remember when "Saving Private Ryan" first hit theaters, some theaters banned children under 17 to go watch the movie, even with their parents. I still remember many of the stories of countless audience members walking out with shuddering and trembling hands as if they were enacted some part in the horrible battles of World War II. This is by far, the best portrayal of the realistic horrors of war ever. Spielberg takes the war to the audiences through extremely gritty handheld camerawork, cinematography, and raw violence. "Saving Private Ryan" revolutionized the way to incorporate realistic camerawork which sparked a devout following for such impressive camerawork scenes like "Children of Men" and the horrible "Terminator Salvation". The skirmishes the soldiers face in the war is not something to behold as entertainment, but duties that are to be done for the sake of their mission. This movie set the bar for war films. I must warn everyone -- this is not for the faint of heart. The only downside to this epic is the screenplay outside of these skirmishes; its not that its cheesy -- its just overly simple. Still "Saving Private Ryan" is an arresting spectacle that is to be experienced by any movie-goer due to its convincingly raw portrayal.

• Directors C

  
  Saving Private Ryan. The best war film i've ever seen. Second only to Jurassic Park as my favorite of Spielberg's films. Tom Hanks plays his role excellently, and one I wouldn't expect him to do after watching Big. An amazing screenplay and realistic action sequences… More
  Saving Private Ryan. The best war film i've ever seen. Second only to Jurassic Park as my favorite of Spielberg's films. Tom Hanks plays his role excellently, and one I wouldn't expect him to do after watching Big. An amazing screenplay and realistic action sequences and one of the best ensemble casting i've ever seen. Saving Private Ryan changes the image of the war film genre undoubtedly for future anti war films and is an amazing emotional experience.

• Jameson W

  
  A masterpiece! One of the best war movies ever made.

• c0up  

  
  'Saving Private Ryan'. A stunning portrait of war told from the front line through the beautiful direction of Steven Spielberg. I've always like Spielberg, but in terms of technical skill in direction, he never stood out. My eyes have been opened. The 25 minute opening… More
  'Saving Private Ryan'. A stunning portrait of war told from the front line through the beautiful direction of Steven Spielberg. I've always like Spielberg, but in terms of technical skill in direction, he never stood out. My eyes have been opened. The 25 minute opening sequence is a gritty, arresting, cinematic wonder, portraying the sheer scale of lives lost and the futility of life in the senselessness of war. I deeply regret not seeing this in a theatre!

• KJ P

  
  I have seen quite a few war films throughout my life, and I have been able to hold on to some of the as some of the best war films ever made. After viewing "Saving Private Ryan," I began to realize what has been missing in my favourites throughout the years, compelling… More
  I have seen quite a few war films throughout my life, and I have been able to hold on to some of the as some of the best war films ever made. After viewing "Saving Private Ryan," I began to realize what has been missing in my favourites throughout the years, compelling characters that truly left an impact on me, well after the movie ended. As private Ryan's (Matt Damon) three brothers are murdered in the D-Day war, Tom Hanks leads a team of soldiers to tell Mr. Ryan about the tragic occurrence. The government is requesting that he come home and see the rest of his family, but what they don't realize is that his new family is right there with him. This has one of the most riveting stories that I have ever seen on screen, and it is probably the best war film of all time. "Saving Private Ryan" is the only film that I have ever seen, that takes real life situations, places them in a war, makes you believe every character, and dazzles you with war scenes that are maybe a little too realistic. This is one of the best films I've ever seen!

• Manu G

  
  There was only one man left in the family, and the mission was to save him. Saw it again! Great Film by the great Spielberg. Amazing cinematography, story, editing,acting, simply everything all-around! You need to see this film, the very first part and the end are simply… More
  There was only one man left in the family, and the mission was to save him. Saw it again! Great Film by the great Spielberg. Amazing cinematography, story, editing,acting, simply everything all-around! You need to see this film, the very first part and the end are simply mind-blowing! Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother...

• Joe M

  
  How the hell did shakespeare in love beat this movie for the oscar? The academy is retarded.

• Sophie B

  
  Very well shot. Very well written. Very well cast. Very well made all together. It's incredibly sad and just gives you a look into what these poor men went though. Either side of the field, these men were told to kill or be killed. The amazing beach invasion really takes you to… More
  Very well shot. Very well written. Very well cast. Very well made all together. It's incredibly sad and just gives you a look into what these poor men went though. Either side of the field, these men were told to kill or be killed. The amazing beach invasion really takes you to that place, however my favourite and most shocking shot of the whole film is the aerial of all the white crosses in rows and rows - and that's only a small portion of the people killed. Imagining being in that situation is devastating and makes me thankful to not have to do that. This is all created by Spielberg's fantastic skills with a team that does the war heros justice. A must watch; even if you see it only once.

• Jan Marc M

  
  Raw and realistic, Saving Private Ryan is a violent depiction of World War II by Steven Spielberg enhanced by an outstanding performance by Tom Hanks. A haunting commemorative of the past, Saving Private Ryan incites an intimate inspection of history. Harrowing.

• Brad W

  
  Saving Private Ryan is tied with Apocalypse Now as my favorite war film ever, and is to this day the best World War 2 film ever. What makes this film so tremendously amazing is the history, the realism, and the plot. After all three of his brothers die in combat the military wants… More
  Saving Private Ryan is tied with Apocalypse Now as my favorite war film ever, and is to this day the best World War 2 film ever. What makes this film so tremendously amazing is the history, the realism, and the plot. After all three of his brothers die in combat the military wants Private James Ryan (matt damon sent home to his mother. They assign the mission to find him to Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) and his men. On the way we learn more and more about these men, and the truth that they feel that this mission might be the most honorable thing they ever do before they die. Saving Private Ryan starts of on the island of Okinawa, and is considered (and I agree) the greatest and most realistic war scene ever made. Tom Hanks leads an amzing cast but Tom steals the show, he is so geniusly realistic and proves he can be emotionly great and can possibly play any role there is to play, and I also think Matt Damon shows near the end what a great actor he is and there is a story about his brothers that always makes me cry. The plot is simple, they must bring back Private Ryan to his mother, but the story is not simple, its a unit traveling and risking there lives for this boy, there pride, and there futures. The war scenes in this film are so realistic and cool that you will have much respect for the men who lost there lives in WW2. Many people have told me that this movie is too vulgar and blloody for them, and all I tell them is that saving Private Ryan is not about blood and culgarity, its about the emotions and the dramatic and heart felt moments, and its about the horrors of war, and of soldiers who had to leave there lives to serve not just there countries, but the world.

• Eric A

  
  Best war film ever made. Period.

• Bently L

  
  Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan is one of the best war films ever made. Its emotional, powerful, intense, well shot, and amazingly realistic. Despite its long length and sickening violence, you will not regret your viewing experience. In the film, Tom Hanks play Captain John… More
  Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan is one of the best war films ever made. Its emotional, powerful, intense, well shot, and amazingly realistic. Despite its long length and sickening violence, you will not regret your viewing experience. In the film, Tom Hanks play Captain John H. Miller, a war captain who leads a group of soldiers on a mission to rescue Private James Ryan (Matt Damon), a survivor of the D-Day attacks. They must risk all to save them. This is an easy and quick film to review. I'll just go over those things that I mentioned above. This is without a doubt a phenomenal and amazing movie. First, the performances. They are stellar. Tom Hanks is one of those actors who can take on anything. He can make us laugh and bawl. And to believehe got started on a sitcom where he would crossdress? He is just aweosme in this film. Same thing goes for Matt Damon as Private Ryan. Plus, look at some of the supporting cast. Vin Diesel, Bryan Cranston, Giovanni Ribisi, this film didn't get them wher they are now but its nice to see them in it. No bad performances. I love a film like that. The direction and script work awesomely together. Stephen Spielberg's use of steady cam and epic lighing and sound mixing is one of the most unforgettable aspects of the film. This is the guy who did adventure films like Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, and E.T.! Thirty minutes into Saving Private Ryan and we forget whos helming it. Amazing. Plus, Robert Rodat's script is flawless. Many of my favorite quotes came of Tom Hanks. Thanks for that, Rodat! I'm glad that its fiction, that way no historical errors aren't present. The D-Day scene was perfectly done. The D-Day sequence is so epic, it deserves an entire paragraph in its honor. The scenes leading up to it are fantastic. For those who haven't seen this, I will warn you. This sequence is uneasy to watch. If you try to make edits to the film, the scene would suck. As a result, TNT plays the whole scene uncut and slaps a TV-MA rating on it. Spielberg and the actors create one of the most unforgettable and realisitc scenes in cinema. It is extremely violent and gory, but well done. From the lighting and sound, you will not forget it. I felt like I was there and the way the film illustrates it makes me think that thats how it really went down. It may have gone differently. Thanks, Spielberg. Lastly, the pacing. The film is one of the longest I've ever seen but the film was set up well. Although, the way the story is told has become a cliche. Don't let that bring you down. Stellar performances, flawless script, and an astonishing shooting style, Saving Private Ryan fails to not fascinate the viewer. "Picture a girl who took a nosedive from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down."

• Kase V

  
  If anyone should have any reason to ever doubt Steven Spielberg and his ability to create movie magic, all you have to do is watch 'Saving Private Ryan'. His ability to create the most realistic and raw experience possible in the WWII setting proves his talent. A documentary… More
  If anyone should have any reason to ever doubt Steven Spielberg and his ability to create movie magic, all you have to do is watch 'Saving Private Ryan'. His ability to create the most realistic and raw experience possible in the WWII setting proves his talent. A documentary couldn't get you closer to war than this. Thanks largely in part to a number of things, including absolutely terrific performances from Hanks, Sizemore, Burns, Damon, Goldberg, and Davies. Easily one of the best casts a movie can offer. Brilliant action pieces and completely convincing special effects make the movie turn into an experience, one like no other you've witnessed before on the big screen. Cinematography is also of the highest quality possible, creating scope and grit within the intensity of the film, as well as everything in between. The perfect film is not possible. But the perfect WWII film? Sure. The greatest war film? Time will tell.

• moon r

  
  What every one says is true, the 1st 30 min. of this might be some of the greatest war footage ever shot, period: the murderously surreal D-Day landing by the Allies in 1944. The rest of the film's concerned with a group of men who decide to hold a little bridge somewhere in… More
  What every one says is true, the 1st 30 min. of this might be some of the greatest war footage ever shot, period: the murderously surreal D-Day landing by the Allies in 1944. The rest of the film's concerned with a group of men who decide to hold a little bridge somewhere in France AND to keep alive one man, no matter the cost, to see him home. A war movie they couldn't've made during the war or even right after it, because this war story was meticulously, surreptitiously crafted in the style of the Twilight Zone (or, more precisely, Spielberg's own Amazing Stories), being a postcard from the front delivered long after the war is over ... from those who died.

• Dean M

  
  Breaktaking! Pretty good historical fiction! Plenty of graphic violences in the opening battle sequence I ever seen for 23 minutes in this World War II movie. The ensemble cast lead by Tom Hanks all give strong performances and the small little character moments does help you feel a… More
  Breaktaking! Pretty good historical fiction! Plenty of graphic violences in the opening battle sequence I ever seen for 23 minutes in this World War II movie. The ensemble cast lead by Tom Hanks all give strong performances and the small little character moments does help you feel a little closer to the characters and really miss them when they die. Equally impressive the Edward Burns who plays the hot head that's not afraid to let his opinion be known. The other actors including Barry Pepper and Vin Diesel are great too, especially when they have their great little dialogs about life and war. Director Steven Speilberg does an unbelievable job of putting realism into this movie with the camera-work and everything else. Simply amazing!

• erika b

  
  Saving private Ryan is about a mission of 8 men that go out to save a private Ryan after his brothers gets kill. It is a hard trip and after a losing two of its members and having a hard time finding Ryan the team members start to question the mission. Will the team fall a part or… More
  Saving private Ryan is about a mission of 8 men that go out to save a private Ryan after his brothers gets kill. It is a hard trip and after a losing two of its members and having a hard time finding Ryan the team members start to question the mission. Will the team fall a part or will they find Ryan. Pros Good acting and plot Good action and it felt like I was really there. It is edge of your seat film. Con Too long If u likes a film, with a lot of action, you should give this a try.

• Conner R

  
  I'm sure i'm not the only one who feels that it's a crime that this is only remembered for the Normandy sequence. Quite frankly, this has such a great story that it could've worked just asmuc and been as strong without it. The great ensemble cast and characters… More
  I'm sure i'm not the only one who feels that it's a crime that this is only remembered for the Normandy sequence. Quite frankly, this has such a great story that it could've worked just asmuc and been as strong without it. The great ensemble cast and characters make you truly invested in the story. Steven Spielberg was always going to be the Movie Brat member to make his war epic more of an action adventure story, but there still are a lot of great lasting themes and powerful moments. I'm pretty sure this was the movie that started Spielberg's current visual style with slightly blown out images and a little more grain than usual. Unlike most recent war films, Saving Private Ryan doesn't spend the majority of its running time trying to show overly obvious symbolism and allegories. This spends its time with its characters and exists within the war, it isn't just about the idea of war.

• Daniel M

  
  It's a total lie that directors who seek primarily to entertain cannot be considered great filmmakers. But it's a lie that Steven Spielberg has bought for quite some time, and his career has suffered for it. Spielberg at a heart an entertainer, a circus ringmaster who excels… More
  It's a total lie that directors who seek primarily to entertain cannot be considered great filmmakers. But it's a lie that Steven Spielberg has bought for quite some time, and his career has suffered for it. Spielberg at a heart an entertainer, a circus ringmaster who excels at making light-hearted popcorn films with a rich and subtle heart. When he attempts to be 'serious', he just gets bogged down and loses his way, resulting in a number of admirable failures like Saving Private Ryan. There can be no doubt that Saving Private Ryan was made with the very best intentions. In his earlier films about WWII, the conflict had served as the backdrop to light-hearted character drama complimented by action sequences, something especially true of Indiana Jones. In making this film, Spielberg was seeking to move the war film away from the action genre, to tackle the heat of battle head on and capture the fear and bravery of the men involved. This intention is clearly evident in the great opening section involving the D-Day invasion of the Normandy beaches. Spielberg shot these 20 minutes without storyboards and completely in sequence: in a feat not attempted since Full Metal Jacket, his camera crew took the beach with the soldiers a few yards at a time over the course of two months. Most of the scene is shot in intense close-up with shaky camera, putting you right next to the soldiers. You get not only the adrenaline but the incoherence of being in a battle, and when people around you are getting killed or wounded, it feels terrifyingly real. This realistic, documentary approach is reinforced by the grainy cinematography. Janusz Kaminski, who also shot Schindler's List, shoots the battle sequences in very pale colours, giving the impression that we are watching black-and-white footage which has been artificially colourised. This, together with the positioning of Spielberg's camera, blurs the boundary between reality and fiction, so that if you came in after the opening credits, you would swear you were watching The World at War. A related strength of Saving Private Ryan is its cast. In the past war films have avoided going down the Rambo root of being ultra-violent star vehicles by casting little-known actors in lead roles - for instance, Matthew Modine in Full Metal Jacket. Spielberg, on the other hand, has both the star power to sell the film and the conviction (in his casting at last) not to let the stars take over the story. Tom Hanks is there in a good performance, but the other members of his company are unrecognisable in the best possible way. And that's before we've got to the well-blended cameos by Paul Giamatti and Ted Danson. Up until the twenty-five minute mark then, everything is so far, so good. But like Schindler's List and The Colour Purple before it, there comes a point in Saving Private Ryan when Spielberg loses his nerve. He drops the ball momentarily, in a plot device or a particular image which undercuts the dark, weighty tone he had been going for, and after that the film never recovers its initial intensity. In Schindler's List, it's the girl in the red dress; in The Colour Purple, it's Celie finding her sisters' letters; and in this film, it's the moment when the Chief-of-Staff personally orders Captain Miller to bring Private James Ryan home. This might seem an odd objection, considering that this order and the subsequent mission are the centrepiece of the whole film. But the objection is justified because it completely changes the tone and intentions of Saving Private Ryan, in a way which ultimately detrimental to the power and message of the film. Having started so confidently, this scene makes everything that follows seem contrived, imposing a generic Hollywood rescue movie onto something so resiliently un-Hollywood. What results for the best part of two hours is a film pulling in two different directions. On the one hand, it wants to continue to be bleak and unsentimental in its depiction of war and death, trying to keep up the realism and put the audience through the mill. On the other hand, it wants to bring in the mainstream, giving us not just spectacle but sentimentality to take off the rough edges - the very rough edges that would have made the film more convincing. In the end, Spielberg never quite decides which one of these directions he would prefer: he tries to have it both ways, and gets nowhere. The comparisons with Schindler's List are not only structural. There is a direct through-line between the films in the scene in the French village, in which a family ask Vin Diesel to take their young daughter away so that she will not be killed by the Germans - think Sophie's Choice, with the roles reversed. This could be a powerful image or scene, counterpointing the soldiers' refusal to take the child with their orders to liberate France. But as with the girl in the red dress, it feels instead like a clunky shorthand for the cost of war, a melodramatic insert designed to spoon-feed its audience instead of letting them soak up the horror for themselves. That's not to say that Saving Private Ryan doesn't attempt to tackle a number of interesting issues, albeit ones which are familiar within the war film genre. The film tries to understand the mentality of the soldiers in Miller's company, from Upham, the nervous but intelligent fish-out-of-water, to Miller himself, seasoned and battle-hardened but plagued by the shakes. And in the final battle involving Miller and Private Ryan (a good performance by Matt Damon), there is an interesting discussion about confusing orders and the role of duty. The characters torn are between doing what was ordered (leaving with Ryan, thereby letting the bridge fall) and what is right (staying and fighting, at the risk of killing Ryan and failing their mission). But again, there's a conflict in such scenes between Spielberg's intentions and the possibilities afforded by his directorial technique. Whether because of the shooting style or the frenetic pace of the dialogue, we never bond with the characters as much as we might like. We can only name half of them at any one time, and the speed at which people are killed leads us to feel that, dramatically speaking, it may not be worth our while bonding with any of them. This makes the quieter conversations interesting interludes but not something which is narratively cohesive. A further problem with Saving Private Ryan is the goofiness of certain scenes which jar completely with the film's serious intentions. In the midst of trying to play things straight and grim, Spielberg leaves in certain moments which would be great in his lighter works but have no real right to be here. The sequence where Paul Giamatti pushes a plank of wood which knocks down an entire wall - the very one the Germans just happen to be hiding behind - is every bit as out of place as the man treading on the piano keys in Schindler's List. And then there's the epilogue, in which the elderly Private Ryan turns to his wife and says "Tell me I'm a good man" - a saccharine cop-out which makes that scene seem a lot less honest. Like The Colour Purple and Schindler's List before it, Saving Private Ryan is an admirable failure. It is made with the very best intentions, and in both its visuals and its battle choreography, it is technically brilliant. But it never manages to live up to its opening section, settling for convention over character, sentimentality over sheer terror, and - worst of all - length over depth. One hopes that War Horse will be the moment in Spielberg's career when he finally manages to get the balance right.

• Richard C

  
  I saw this right after I watched Full Metal Jacket. I like that movie better but this is still really good. This is a really good war movie with a great cast. There are many intense scene and great action scenes. The acting is good too. I loved the movie but its not my favorite war… More
  I saw this right after I watched Full Metal Jacket. I like that movie better but this is still really good. This is a really good war movie with a great cast. There are many intense scene and great action scenes. The acting is good too. I loved the movie but its not my favorite war movie of all time. Grade: A-

• Kristijonas F

  
  An explosive and relentless war movie with gripping performances from nearly everyone in the script. The shockingly-realistic portrayal of the war and the grizzly violence serve to re-create World War II on film as effectively as we'll probably ever see.

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