Review of Saving Private Ryan (1998) by Vguru R — 17 Oct 2014

Not only is this my favorite Steven Spielberg film, but also my favorite Tom Hanks film, and my favorite war movie of all time. The first twenty minutes alone deserved a Best Picture nod. At least Spielberg won his second Best Director Oscar, previously winning for Schindler's List in 1993.

Saving Private Ryan is about army Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) leading his squad (which surprisingly also consisted of Vin Diesel and Giovanni Ribisi) into Normandy, France to rescue Private James Ryan (Matt Damon), the last surviving brother of four soldiers.

So as I said, the first twenty minutes consisted of U.S. soldiers storming Omaha Beach... Like, holy shit, wow! Astounding film making that immediately thrusts you into the heart of a brutal war. That opening battle sequence is hands down one of the most intense scenes ever.

Although the film is EXTREMELY graphic, it's also a very realistic portrayal of war in general, and it's completely understandable why Spielberg did not hold anything back. He's showing what harrowing hardships those soldiers had to endure, and SPR on all accounts is a respectful tribute to them.

Throughout this enthralling story--amazing script written by Robert Rodat by the way--there's elements of hope, cruelty, and friendship that are depicted to their paramount potential in SPR. Although there's a long run time (2 hours 49 minutes) it's an epic scale that Spielberg plays with, and he directs this movie to perfection.

Upon finishing this movie, he proved to me once again just why he's the best director of all time (in my opinion at least). And performances are first class all round--Hanks, Damon, Tom Sizemore, Diesel, even Heisenberg himself, Bryan Cranston, made a short appearance and he was great.

Every single person brought their A-game, I cannot find any faults in performances. I can't find any faults in SPR in general, everything was top notch, especially the bloody battle sequences. And that ending.

.. Damn, I wish I could spoil it. Honestly, it's still puzzling to me why SPR lost to Shakespeare in Love for Best Picture that year. If you've never seen it, watch it immediately; in my opinion, no other war movie but Inglourious Basterds can go up against SPR, and the former itself was inspired by the latter anyway.

SPR is not only one of the best war movies ever made, it's one of the BEST FILMS ever made - 10/10.