Review of Saving Private Ryan (1998) by Aodhan R — 05 Sep 2014

One of the greatest and most extraordinary achievements in filmmaking is Saving Private Ryan. From Academy-Award winning director Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan went on to earn 6 Academy Awards including Spielberg's second win for Best Director. It is considered one of the most unforgettable movies in the history of cinema - mainly for it's unique realistic depiction of WWII combat and it's opening sequence of the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach which lasted 27 mins.

The movie contains an overlong running time of 2hrs 49 mins approx. but there's no doubt it was worth it. We see splendid performances from hugely talented actors that were very little known at the time, except Tom Hanks who previously won two Academy Awards and gained an unbelievable career. The guys that steal the show are: Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Jeremy Davies and the hugely popular Tom Hanks. They play soldiers from the Battalion Group of the U.S Army who are given the missionary objective to go behind in enemy lines in the hope to seek out and rescue a soldier of the Airborne Division called Private James Ryan who's the last of four brothers. Their doubts of risking their own lives to save another leaves them questioning their mission.

The audience can be touched by the outstanding performances in this movie, the retelling of the horrors and brutality of war, the script, the directing and the gravity of the movie. What I personally love about the movie is the cinematography technique adapted for it. The angles were just beyond real and we can really look back at WWII like it's the global conflict all over again and that was such an incredibly heartfelt experience.

Spielberg may have just brought to life the movie of his career!