Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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165 of 187 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unforgettable. The best war film ever made., April 2, 2004
Some people advise others to close their eyes during the loooong opening scene of Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. That would be a mistake. Yes, it's carnage, it's horrible, it's relentless, it's bloody, it's random death, it's a portrayal of fear and courage and raw coincidence. But it's also one of the most powerful pieces of cinematography ever filmed.
There are many other scenes that have stayed with me during the years since I last saw this unforgettable film, perhaps Spielberg's best ever. Perhaps the most poignant one that comes immediately to mind is the woman whose sons are all away at war. She's on a remote farm, washing dishes, and thru her window she sees the dust of approaching cars. She goes outside to meet the visitors, tenses as she sees military brass and a chaplain step from the cars, then crumples wordlessly to the worn boards of her front porch as she tries to take in the news: all her boys have been killed, except for one: Private Ryan.
Another related scene, the one that came just before this one, is equally gut-wrenching (and in both scenes, there is no dialogue, just heart-stabbing visuals that are more powerful than any words could have been) as a woman charged with sending out letters of the We Regret to Inform You variety realizes that she's seen three letters with the same address within the past few days, and she takes this terrible proof to her supervisor - and thus is born the search for the surviving son, to bring him home to his momma.
Tom Hanks, with his own persona of morality and honesty, is perfectly cast as the good Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier charged with this onerous task, and of course there is terrible cost.
Saving Private Ryan is the film Spielberg HAD to make. Outstanding, in every possible way.
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43 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good War Film, December 22, 1999
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.
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36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Breathtaking Spielberg Classic, November 8, 2000
By A Customer
On Omaha Beach in France, a GI lurches about, desperately looking for something he has lost. He spots it and picks it up. It is his arm, blown off at the elbow by shrapnel. This is just one of the many images of horror glimpsed through the water, smoke and endless gunfire in the stunning D Day landing sequence that comes early on in director Steven Spielberg's masterful and moving movie about World War II, Saving Private Ryan. It is this extended (24 minutes) bloody battle sequence, in which handheld camera work contributes to a terrifying you-are-there feel, that sets the tone for the movie. Men are mowed down, the ocean turns red, and the noise and slaughter never stop.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.
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