Review of Saving Private Ryan (1998) by Matthew D — 30 Mar 2018

A harrowing war story.

Saving Private Ryan is perhaps Steven Spielberg's most beloved war film ever. He painstakingly recreates D-Day on the beaches of Normandy. It's beautiful and horrifying simultaneously. I think the direction is by far the best aspect of Saving Private Ryan. It's stream lined as you get to follow a company searching for the last son in a larger family that was all killed in World War II. It's a nice story that reels in audiences everywhere. It's about family and the cost of war. WWII truly feels senseless during the sequences of mortar fire, tank battles, and endless crossfire in a furious hail of bullets. Saving Private Ryan's greatest accomplishment is making you understand the value of life. It's worth watching as a testament to those who died during WWII. It touches you in ways you'll find hard to describe.

Having said all of that praise, Saving Private Ryan is also trying to pull at your heart strings. At times I found the emotional scenes to be a tad contrived. It feels genuine through the sincerity with which Tom Hanks plays the squad leader, but Saving Private Ryan gets bogged down with the melodramatic acting of Matt Damon. I just never buy Damon as the character because he's playing Ryan so selfishly and basically. The rest of the supporting cast is much stronger both in character development and performances.

Overall, Saving Private Ryan is still one of the must see war films in cinema history. You'll be stunned at the scope of the D-Day invasion and humbled at Hank's acting and empathy. Give it a watch.