Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition)

A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance.

The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. Saving Private Ryan touches us deeper than Schindler because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. --Doug Thomas

Trying to stay alive through all this madness is Capt. John Miller (Hanks) and his men. Those who survive D Day are handed another mission: Go behind enemy lines and find Private Ryan (Damon), whose three brothers have all been killed in combat. The orders are to get him out and send him home. "Where's the sense of risking the eight of us to save one guy?" grouses one of Hanks's men.

His question is at the movie's core. Why fight at all? What does any one man owe another? And was it all worth it? Helped by a thoughtful script by Robert Rodat, Ryan raises all these issues.

The answers the movie provides are never pat, jingoistic responses about country and duty but rather more complicated ones about friends, family and simple decency. After seeing Ryan, many of us will look at our aging fathers or grandfathers with a newfound respect. And ponder what we, as individuals and as a nation, are doing today to justify the sacrifices those men made on our behalf more than half a century ago.


Very good War Film   December 22, 1999
 21 out of 23 found this review helpful

I was very impressed by ths film. I thought it would probably turn out to be rather cliched but it did seem to have a newer perspective on WW2. Some people say the characters are stereotypical - well, I served in the British Army Reserves for four years and my platoon had a fierce Scot, joking Londoner, smiling Irishman and philosphical Welshman in it, plus me as the token University Boy so I think you'll find that real-life Army units can be like that. No African Americans? Since the US Army was segregated until the sixties that is hardly surprising. Caricatured Germans? Germans running away? Well, some of them DID run away you know - they weren't all ruthlessly obedient supermen, and some were no doubt far more fed up with the war that the allies were. It would have been nice to see some British soldiers about but they were some way East taking out Caen at the time, so again, not a surprise. I wasn't sure about the film's comment on Montgomery ("overrated") and the British divisions though; Monty was a very good general indeed, at least as good as Patton or Eisenhower, and if he was so overcautious then why did the British lose so many men and tanks taking Caen? I think you'll find that about 80% plus of all the German armour in Normandy was at Caen, directed against the British - not the sort of battle that can be won in an afternoon I'm sure you'll agree.

Excellent film though - the most realistic combat scenes you will ever see on celluloid by far, and the plot is at least believable.

By the way, thanks very much to the US armed forces for doing a fantastic job as our allies in WW2, and other times. Long may Britain and the US continue to stand up for freedom.


Sobering reflection on War   November 23, 1999
 42 out of 50 found this review helpful

I am a Vietnam vet, a 35-year reservist on active duty in Saudi Arabia, and a college professor who teaches a course on the theory and practice of war. The film blew me away when I saw it on a Saturday afternoon with my wife. We didn't talk for awhile afterwards, just held hands very tightly. I will show the first part of the film to my class on war, after they have read Fussell's excerpts from his WARTIME in the Atlantic Monthly. Then they will reflect on military ethics under such circumstances--Can we expect people act "morally" in such conditions and hold them accountable if they don't?

My dad and uncle fought in the Pacific in WWII. Their stories and my own brief encounters with combat conditions confirm the basic realism of the scenes Spielberg shot.

Are there inaccuracies in this film? Yes. Is it PC (no blacks, German stereotyping, where were the Brits, etc., etc.) No. But the majority of people I have read here making such comments are twits. The horror of war eats up all its participants. The individual stories of most participants caught up in real wars are tragically mundane and pathetically "undeveloped." (Trying to make an "interesting" story out all the ordinary persons caught up in this sort of thing is a travesty).So Spielberg tells a simple story about ordinary lives smashed at random (or saved at random). What he ultimately accomplishes is to force us into alot of soul searching (at least those of us morally awake) about when and why we should continue to make war, about who we are and what we owe to our parents and grandparents, about whether we are willing to put ourselves or others through this, and if we have anything worth calling up such sacrifice to save.

I guarantee that neither Saddam Hussein nor the Iranian ayotollahs want their people watching this and asking these sorts of questions. . .

As to why this did not win BEST PICTURE? Because the Hollywood liberals did not want to raise questions about those who ran from sacrifice in recent history or to encourage pandering to patriotism? Who knows. Why not skip serious questions and award the title to a "really interesting story" about Shakespeare in adulterous love.


The dts edition with well worth the extra cost   December 3, 1999
 19 out of 21 found this review helpful

Up until I picked up SPR (DTS Edition), I had never heard a dts encoded DVD on my home system, and found it difficult to justify the higher cost. I finally made the plunge, figuring that for a movie as spectacular as this the extra sound quality would be worth it. Boy, was I ever right! The audio quality of this DVD blows me away, wiht bullets whizzing behind your head and mortar shells whooshing in an arc overhead. Video quality is also top notch with crisp lines and intense realistic colors.

As for the movie itself, the story is very well written. Special effects are used to enhance the story, not overpower it.

If you plan on buying this on DVD and you have a capable receiver, spring the extra bucks for the dts edition. You won't be disappointed.