Customer Reviews

Saving Private Ryan, The Men, The Mission, The Movie : A Steven Spielberg Movie

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book and movie are so real that you'd believe they are real live. How Spielberg made it? Tracers flashed on the breach, bullets shot into sea water,........., the scenes are just so true! If you experienced any real gun combat, you know what I mean. I won't use the word "beautiful" to describe the book and the move, war isn't beautiful, killing or being killed is not fun. But the book and move are wonderful! I did not feel comfortable when I stepped out from cinema but I like the book so much that it can remind me how good the movie was.

I think Spielberg's a genius. There, I've said it. He takes simple men, surely John Miller, Captain, 2nd Ranger Battalion is just that, a simple man, and paints a canvas of such detail of Armageddon, putting these simple men all over the painting. Hell. The end of the world. Good versus evil. Call it what you may. "I'm a history teacher," he says in the movie in one extraordinarily tense scene. "I teach history in a small high school in Pennsylvania. . . .when I'm done here I don't know if I can go back to it."

I'm reminded of another 'simple man' that came from Pennsylvania in novel lore. Lieutenant Harry Brubaker, the lawyer who flies F-9 Panther Jets in Michner's brief story about the carnage in Korea, 'Bridges at To Ko Ri.'

But the point is Spielberg tells us that they were all simple men and we don't believe him at first. We keep looking for Arnie Schwarznegger or Chuck Norris or The Rock. But they are and were normal guys, guys from Brooklyn New York and Brooklyn Michigan. Guys from towns you never heard of in Iowa, where Jimmy Ryan and his brothers came from. Just guys in the greatest carnage the world ever knew. And Spielberg shows us what they did. They changed the world.

The five Sullivan brothers all went down with their ship in the middle of the war and after that the powers that be would not commit one brother in a theater of combat where another brother was also serving in harm's way. So here, one of Jimmy Ryan's brothers is killed in the Pacific and one brother is killed in Anzio Beach. And Sean Ryan is killed in the landing at Omaha Beach. And Captain John Miller and a squad of men he picks are asked to find him to send him home.

A wonderful book to compliment a movie that should be preserved forever about an ubelievable body of men and women. "Was I a good man," asks James Ryan 50 years later? My Dad asked me the same question a few years ago. Five stars is not enough. Larry Scantlebury.

This beautiful coffee-table companion is a must for anyone who has seen, and appreciates, Spielberg's superb film. The book chronicles the making of the movie from boot camp, to the construction of Ramelle, to the actual shoot. The behind the scenes photos and interviews with various actors and crew members only serve to enrich what is a truly amazing film-going experience.

This book was just as I expected it to be a behind the scenes look at a very intense movie. The photos are spectacular and the narrative very informative. My only complain is there is not enough of either. It left me wanting more. Maybe that is what a good book is supposed to do but I still had unanswered question concerning how the movie was made. I love those production stories full of little details of how they did it, what went wrong and how they made it all work somehow. Was it worth the price, yes but I would have paid more to get more.

This Movie Is Great It Has The MG-42 Bullets Going Right Through The Water On The Beach.The Blood,Gore,Gun Realism Is Great.It Also Is A Heart Touching Movie.The Action Is Great,The Guns,The Cool Guys,And The Nazis....

Reading and watching this book, you have really the impression to stand beside the actors, from the boot camp to the end of the shooting. Very attractives black and white and color photos, interviews with the cast and a lot more.

For anyone who has seen the movie and loved it, this is a must have!! It has a lot of interesting information and stunning pictures taken on set. If you want to learn more about the men, the mission, and the movie; this is a must have!

Although I give this movie 5 stars, the book only gets 3 stars. The book gives an insight into some of the behind the scenes themes to the movie (the airfield where they made the village, the Irish army, and boot camp), and into some of themes of the movie. As for the movie: there are some military imperfections, but overall a great movie which I want to watch over and over again! Another fault with the movie is that its built upon a "Macdonalds" formula that tries to hit all the right buttons. Overall, this does not bother me, since its message is that war is without glory , its just about soldiers who want to know why they're fighting, and how they can get home as soon as possible.

Spielburg made a cheap mistake in this award hunting movie. After the battle which killed the black guy in the rain and find a wrong ryan,before the battle of ryda station,THERE WERE STILL 8 SOLDIERS WALKING THROUGH THE SCREEN! If this sort of mistake was made by someone else, its not so bad.But with spielburg, just become a shame.He look like too desporate to win the award, maybe before that he should think about improve his working atitude.