Saving Private Ryan
1998 Directed by Steven Spielberg
Synopsis
In the Last Great Invasion of the Last Great War, the Greatest Danger for Eight Men was Saving... One.
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.
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The fallacy of propaganda
To create heroes out of men.
If the truth doesn't fit
"Earn this" for them.Will publish an interesting tidbit piece on this film's relationship to LINCOLN, both literally and spiritually Update: which you can now read here, but some stray thoughts:
1) The reason Omaha works so well is not just of the filmmaking craft, but how it actually presents almost all of the major characters (except for Davies/Damon). It really builds all of their relationships right there without ever hammering it.
2) A film in which Vin Diesel out acts Ed Burns, which I guess isn't saying much, but should be said.
3) A lot of Spielbergian touches never phase me, but the one… -
I've never liked war films. I can't really put my finger on why, I'll contently watch dozens of war documentaries but when it comes to films I just can't do it. I think for the most part they feel kind of exploitive.
I've been meaning to watch the classics though. I've had this sitting around for almost 4 years and today was the day I decided to watch it.
I guess I should never have doubted Spielberg to make a tasteful war film that doesn't overly exploit. The plot is inspired by a true story, but for the most part is fiction. Telling a fictional story in a non-fiction setting may feel exploitive to some, but for me it makes…
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I don't like Steven Spielberg films on the whole. I especially don't care for his war movies, War Horse was terrible. So I've put off watching Saving Private Ryan, however there are only so many times you can be told it's a "classic" before you yield.
Right from the first scene I was hooked. The whole film is a breathtaking cinematic achieve, from the incredibly brutal Ohama Beach scene to the quieter character focused moments.
Easily my favorite thing about the film was how the men question if Private Ryan is worth all the pain and bloodshed they have to go through in order to save him, I was right there with them questioning if one man is really worth risking eight others.
A genre defining films, hands down the greatest war film ever made. Not only that but the most realistic portrayal of the horrors of the worst war in history. A film that everyone needs to see.
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Steven Spielberg brought his wealth of experience to a new genre with this his first war film. A film so visceral in it's depiction of battle that it brought actual veterans of D-Day to tears at it's premiere.
Opening on the Normandy beaches,this follows a group of U.S. Rangers as they are given the task of finding a lone paratrooper in a war-zone. The paratrooper in question is the infamous Private Ryan, who after the deaths of his three brothers in combat has been granted a reprieve from his duties and is to be shipped home. The journey of the Rangers to find and rescue said Private Ryan is an arduous and dangerous affair that tests their will and sanity.… -
Another hard to watch film from Spielberg.
The opening scene in the cemetery is overwhelmingly moving and that's just the first 5 minutes.
We are immediately thrown into the D Day invasion and for a lack of a better word...it's intense. Has there ever been any battle sequence more realistic than this? How they found the courage to continue to move up the beach I'll never know. The level of bravery any soldier throughout history has...it humbles you quickly.
The characters in this film are so interesting and the performances behind these characters holds the entire film together.
Sizemore's best work. Very good scene with him and Hanks in the church.
Burns is excellent. Great story he tells while waiting…
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This movie was great. Steven Speilberg does it again. I am a Speilberg fan, he is my favorite director. Alot of his movies are in my top 10 Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, E.T. What can I say about this movie, it's the perfect war movie. From start to finish it feels like I am there even though was born about 50 years later. It really felt that I was there. When they are getting shot and legs are being blown off I was cringing. When their going after the Germans even when they surrendered part of me did want them to kick the crap out of them. It was interesting how invested I got in it.…
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literally three stars for the opening sequence and nothing else
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What an unbelievable movie. I don't know what to say. This movie had me crying like a baby before any words were even spoken.
The action sequences were some of the most intense I have seen in a movie and really gave a sense of what it must have been like for the soldiers in the war.
I would have to say this is now one of my favourite movies I have ever seen. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
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It's been years since I saw this, so I figured I might as well see if the bookends bothered me as much as they did when I saw it in theaters and again on VHS. Turns out I'd been wrong about how the opening bookend transitions to Normandy--I remembered that the last shot of old Ryan was a close-up of his eyes, but presumed that it faded into a similar shot of Miller, thus furthering the incorrect notion that Miller was the old man.
So now, the bookends still bother me (we are misled to assume, I'd argue, that the old man at the beginning is remembering the entire story, but how could old Ryan have any knowledge of the…
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The opening sequence is one of the most profoundly moving and powerful moments in modern American cinema.
There is no way that an audience should be that emotionally invested at this point; it is quite simply a hallmark of Spielberg's brilliance at conveying and constructing a narrative.
Saving Private Ryan is long, but this is a hugely rewarding and remarkable work founded upon pitch-perfect performances, immaculate cinematography and a simply undeniable tone which swells and resonates, even on repeat viewings.
This is an essential war epic.
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What can i say.... This is my youth sentiment.
I saw Saving Private Ryan just when i was a little boy like the age of 10/11, and the movie just blew my mind! ( in the positive way fortunate)
The special effects, the actors, the realism ( in my eyes of course) was mind blowing, for a movie that came out in 1998 when i think back on it.
The actors gave me the feeling that i was in a firefight with the axis sometimes, the way they acted was incredible ( fun fact, the actors actually followed a WWII American soldier training course to prepare for their acting)
Rated 4.5 out of 5, Purely for the fact that such a movie can impress me that much. -
Nothing can be written about "SPR" that hasn't been written before: simply put, one of the most brilliant war movies ever made. Some of the Spielberg's directorial decisions make me cringe (it seems that rarely can he be a "simple" film director - in films like this, he always overplays the americanism and judeism cards), but that's almost nitpicking. Great, great film, in terms of direction, in terms of screenplay (brilliant portrayal of soldier stress and comradery), in terms of acting (not a single weak performance). One of the legendaries.
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Apart from the way this film ignores Britain's input on D-Day, this film is pretty much perfect. I haven't seen it about 10 years. Knowing some scenes and recognising all the characters but not remembering a story or plot at all left this film as if i'm watching Saving Private Ryan 2. But I wasn't. I was watching what all films need to look and be like. An what War Horse should have looked like. It looked huge, and knit picking the details isn't worth it. The story is basic and most takes place in the field leaving the plot to be flowing and entertaining all the time. Not questioning any characters or any characters intentions at all is impressive…
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Realism is often the biggest challenge for directors to overcome when piecing together a story. Spielberg created a true masterpiece with this film. I remember being in the theatre with my father after it came out. In the first sequence, two older gentleman from 3 rows in front of us walked out crying. I was rather young when it came out, but my dad explained to me later why they had done that. This movie brought the horror and reality of combat like no film before it. Spielberg had already broken the trend of unrealistic melodrama with Schindler's List, but not in the area of combat. For that, it was potentially all the more powerful.
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One of those war movies that absolutely everyone much watch.