Review of Saving Private Ryan (1998) by Joe C — 04 Jan 2015
Few war films take the time to thank those who served, and Saving Private Ryan is the only one has done it with such an emotional uppercut that it makes schoolboys out of any grown man that watches it.
From the shockingly visceral Normandy Landings opening to the final devastating battle in a destroyed French village, Spielberg's epic redefined how cinema should interpret the battlefields of history.
After receiving word that all three of Private James Francis Ryan's brothers have been killed in action, the chief of staff has Captain Miller and other select members of the 2nd Rangers go retrieve him from behind enemy lines so as to bring him home.
Robert Rodat's script perfectly balances the inhumanity of war and the humanity of its characters, and never veers to the emotionally manipulative, while Spielberg's first-person direction puts you at eye-level with the action and Janusz Kaminski's unbelievable cinematography feels lifted right from 1944.
Uncompromising, unflinching, visceral and even witty at times, Saving Private Ryan is nothing if not essential viewing.
This review of Saving Private Ryan (1998) was written by Joe C on 04 Jan 2015.
Saving Private Ryan has generally received very positive reviews.
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