Saving Private Ryan (1998)
8.221 /10
16838 Reviews
Rate This Movie:
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.
Videos & Photos
cast
... Captain Miller
... Sergeant Horvath
... Private Reiben
... Private Jackson
... Private Mellish
User reviews
Great WWII war action in France, but too much of the drama is weak
RELEASED IN 1998 and directed by Steven Spielberg, "Saving Private Ryan" (SPR) is about the Normandy invasion and its immediate aftermath from June 6-16, 1944. The focus is on a Captain (Tom Hanks) and his men who are commissioned to find a paratrooper (Matt Damon) whose brothers have been killed in action.
No one's supposed to say anything bad about SPR. To do so is considered sacrilege, but I have to be honest about what I like and don't like about Spielberg's popular WWII war flick. The initial beach landing (shot at Curracloe Beach, Ballinesker, Ireland) is outstanding, as is the closing half-hour battle at the crumbling village of Ramelle.
In between these two great bookends are a few quality sequences, but I didn't find a lot of the drama all that engaging or convincing. The cast is notable (also including Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Edward Burns, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel, et al.), but the characters never struck me as real for the most part. I've seen the film three times and each time I was too often conscious of the fact that I was watching actors portraying WWII characters in a movie. When you see a truly great picture, by contrast, you completely forget you're watching a movie, e.g. the original "Apocalypse Now" (1979).
Moreover, too many of the situations in SPR, including the dialogue, simply struck me as unreal or annoyingly treacly. Exhibit A is the moronic dog-tag sequence, which was supposed to be emotionally stirring but just made me roll my eyes. But, like I said, no one can criticize SPR and get away with it, even if the criticism is legitimate. It's like you'll be accused of being un-American or something, which is far from the case with me since I love America; I just can't stand the corrupt government & politicians, particularly the loony DemonKKKraps.
In light of my criticisms, I simply don't get why so many praise SPR as "the greatest war movie ever made." Again, the opening and ending battle sequences are great but the dubious dramatics leave quite a bit to be desired.
I've heard SPR hailed on the grounds that much of it was taken "verbatim from first-hand, eye-witness accounts of the real Normandy invasion." I'll take their word for it, but this isn't what I object to. I object to the contrived, sappy, questionable way Spielberg depicted the dramatics and the fact that I was unable to buy the characters as real. The aforementioned dog-tag sequence is just one example, others include the French father’s stupefying actions and the forced fight at the radar station and how it’s resolved (ooh, the Captain’s a high school teacher, whoopee).
Nevertheless, there IS a lot of good in SPR that makes it worth viewing. You can’t beat the battle sequences, the cast and the convincing WWII visuals throughout.
THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hours, 49 minutes and was shot in Ireland, England and France. WRITER: Robert Rodat.
GRADE: C+/B-
Director:
Release Date:
1998-07-24
Run Time:
169 min
MMPA Rating:
R
Reviews of
Saving Private Ryan
Great WWII war action in France, but too much of the drama is weak
RELEASED IN 1998 and directed by Steven Spielberg, "Saving Private Ryan" (SPR) is about the Normandy invasion and its immediate aftermath from June 6-16, 1944. The focus is on a Captain (Tom Hanks) and his men who are commissioned to find a paratrooper (Matt Damon) whose brothers have been killed in action.
No one's supposed to say anything bad about SPR. To do so is considered sacrilege, but I have to be honest about what I like and don't like about Spielberg's popular WWII war flick. The initial beach landing (shot at Curracloe Beach, Ballinesker, Ireland) is outstanding, as is the closing half-hour battle at the crumbling village of Ramelle.
In between these two great bookends are a few quality sequences, but I didn't find a lot of the drama all that engaging or convincing. The cast is notable (also including Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Edward Burns, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel, et al.), but the characters never struck me as real for the most part. I've seen the film three times and each time I was too often conscious of the fact that I was watching actors portraying WWII characters in a movie. When you see a truly great picture, by contrast, you completely forget you're watching a movie, e.g. the original "Apocalypse Now" (1979).
Moreover, too many of the situations in SPR, including the dialogue, simply struck me as unreal or annoyingly treacly. Exhibit A is the moronic dog-tag sequence, which was supposed to be emotionally stirring but just made me roll my eyes. But, like I said, no one can criticize SPR and get away with it, even if the criticism is legitimate. It's like you'll be accused of being un-American or something, which is far from the case with me since I love America; I just can't stand the corrupt government & politicians, particularly the loony DemonKKKraps.
In light of my criticisms, I simply don't get why so many praise SPR as "the greatest war movie ever made." Again, the opening and ending battle sequences are great but the dubious dramatics leave quite a bit to be desired.
I've heard SPR hailed on the grounds that much of it was taken "verbatim from first-hand, eye-witness accounts of the real Normandy invasion." I'll take their word for it, but this isn't what I object to. I object to the contrived, sappy, questionable way Spielberg depicted the dramatics and the fact that I was unable to buy the characters as real. The aforementioned dog-tag sequence is just one example, others include the French father’s stupefying actions and the forced fight at the radar station and how it’s resolved (ooh, the Captain’s a high school teacher, whoopee).
Nevertheless, there IS a lot of good in SPR that makes it worth viewing. You can’t beat the battle sequences, the cast and the convincing WWII visuals throughout.
THE MOVIE RUNS 2 hours, 49 minutes and was shot in Ireland, England and France. WRITER: Robert Rodat.
GRADE: C+/B-
This movie should be known for changing Historical War Dramas as we know them. It was the first to accurately depict the carnage of war, and changed the direction of this genre of movies for all time. The initial D-Day scene was fantastic. Afterwards, Tom Hanks is ordered to chose a team of his men and look for James MacGuffin Ryan from Iowa. In order to achieve this goal, Hanks takes us across the entire back drop of world war 2, all the while making us ask, is all this worth just one man?
Honestly it's a must watch and is on my "Difinitive Movie List"
I watched this movie during a project at school. Saving Private Ryan was a beautiful and, above all, realistic film. The film presented in a realistic way how the war went then. Most of the film was set in Europe in 1944. The story is that American soldiers are being sent to Europe to fight against the Germans. The American boy James Francis Ryan is sent to Europe with his brothers as a soldier. After the invasion of Normandy it appears that all his other brothers have already died and he is the only one left. That is why corporal Miller is instructed to look for him and return him home.
The main actors who play in the film are Tom Hanks who plays corporal Miller and Matt Damon who plays the soldier Ryan. You also have all the soldiers in the group of corporal Miller. I think the characters in the film are very well thought out because they contain characters that are very brave, but also characters who have a hard time in the war. With this they show that not every soldier was as heroic as everyone thought.
The film was made on a set that I thought looked very realistic. In the background you saw the buildings that were about to collapse and the shots. I also really liked the sound that came with the film. For example, when a tank arrived, you heard that it was slowly approaching.
Recensie saving private Ryan
Information about the movie
Title: Saving Private Ryan
Regisseur: Steven Spielberg
Most important actors: Tom Hanks as Captain Miller en Matt Damon as Private Ryan
Genre: War, Drama and history
Setting: Normandy, France
Plot: During WWII, Chief of Staff, General Marshall is informed that three of a woman's sons have been killed and that she's going to receive the notifications of their demise at the same time. And when he learns that a fourth son is still unaccounted for, the General decides to send a unit to find him and bring him back, despite being told that it's highly unlikely that he is still alive and the area that he was known to be at is very dangerous. So, the unit consisting of 8 men are sent to find him but as stated it's very dangerous and one by one, they are picked off. Will they find him and how many of them will still be alive?
I saw this movie at school. I think it's a good film because, the director is very good because it seemed like you were really in it because the camera moved with it. In the quiet parts, the image was also quiet and when it became chaotic, the image was also chaotic. The characters were very realistic and felt as if they were really in a war, and for the costumes it looked very real and the same for the decor it looked like you were in war in France. I liked the movie but thought it was a bit too long, so I give it a 9/10.
I don't think I can recall any Hollywood film that depicts the atrocities of the D-Day landings as effectively as this does at the start. Indeed, watching it you wonder just how any of the Allied soldiers managed to ever survive the water let alone fight their way up a beach crowded with tank traps, mines and barbed wire - all whilst under constant machine gun fire. Steven Spielberg leaves very little to our imagination and bodies drop left, right and centre with an authenticity that John Williams scores remarkably poignantly. It's during this seemingly impossible assault that we are introduced to "Miller" (a career-best from Tom Hanks) and his squad who are tasked with taking out one of the heavily defended pill boxes. Meantime, the US Chief of Staff - General George Marshall is informed that one particular lady is about to get three telegrams in one day telling her that her sons have died. There is a fourth - "James" - and the reward for "Miller" and what's left of his group is to find this man and get him home to safety. What's also illustrated quite succinctly here is that despite the most meticulous of planning, nobody really has much of a clue who had landed where, who was alive or dead, and whether or not the master plan was working or not! This makes the new task even more difficult as the men, along with the dragooned interpreter "Upham" (Jeremy Davis) set of in search of a man they don't know with feelings that can only be described as "mixed" about the legitimacy of their mission. What now ensues is a potent story of war and of how the pressures and horrors of constant fear and weariness can corrupt the the most decent of souls. We see these men - decent men - turn into things they would never have thought themselves capable of becoming and the acting really rams that home in a characterful and visceral fashion. Brutality and savagery are not limited to the Nazis and again these images are presented to us with an honesty rather from a rose-tinted good v evil viewpoint and the dialogue has a ripeness and vivacity that rings true, too. It's not devoid of some black humour as we progress through war-torn France before a denouement that combines edge-of-the-seat drama with splendid cinematography and all of the ghastliness of conflict. The men valued each other as much as anything else, their inter-reliance and their determination to get the job done - even if they didn't really know why - is a testament to the attitudes that prevailed throughout the real fighting in Europe during WWII and this dramatisation is stunning. Big screen if you can - but it's really a must watch.
Cast & Crew of
Saving Private Ryan
Cast
... Captain Miller
... Sergeant Horvath
... Private Reiben
... Private Jackson
... Private Mellish
... Private Caparzo
... T/4 Medic Wade
... Corporal Upham
... Private Ryan
... Captain Hamill
... Sergeant Hill
... Lieutenant Colonel Anderson
... Steamboat Willie
... Corporal Henderson
... Toynbe
... Weller
... Parker
... Trask
... Rice
... Garrity
... Wilson
... Lyle
... Fallon
... Major Hoess
... Ramelle Paratrooper
... Ramelle Paratrooper
... Field HQ Major
... Field HQ Aide
... Coxswain
... Delancey
... Lieutenant Briggs
... Radioman
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Soldier on the Beach
... Corporal
... Doyle
... Senior Medical Officer
... Czech Wehrmacht Soldier
... Goldman
... Private Boyd
... Private Hastings
... German #1
... German #2
... German #3 / Voice on Bullhorn
... Jean
... Jean's Wife
... Jean's Son
... Jean's Daughter
... Minnesota Ryan
... Lieutenant DeWindt
... Paratrooper Lieutenant
... Paratrooper Oliver
... Paratrooper Michaelson
... Paratrooper Joe
... Paratrooper #1
... Old French Man
... Old French Woman
... MP Lieutenant
... General Marshall
... War Department Colonel
... War Department Colonel
... War Department Captain
... War Department Lieutenant
... War Department Clerk
... Mrs. Margaret Ryan
... Ryan as Old Man
... Old Mrs. Ryan
... Ryan's Son
... Ryan's Grandson
... Ryan's Granddaughter (uncredited)
... Waffen SS Soldier (uncredited)
... Bangalore Assistant (uncredited)
... German Sniper (uncredited)
... Soldier on Beach (uncredited)
... D-Day Soldier (uncredited)
... Letter-reader (voice) (uncredited)
Crew
... Director
... Editor
... Production Design
... Producer
... Original Music Composer
... Director of Photography
... Producer
... Producer
... Set Decoration
... Producer
... Casting
... Writer
... Associate Producer
... Co-Producer
... Associate Producer
... Co-Producer
... Carpenter
... Craft Service
... Boom Operator
... Sound Re-Recording Mixer
... Video Assist Operator
... Best Boy Electric
... Orchestrator
... Supervising Art Director
... Art Direction
... Post Production Supervisor
... Stand In
... Location Manager
... Production Accountant
... Assistant Art Director
... Camera Operator
... Sound Designer
... Art Department Coordinator
... Visual Effects Supervisor
... Driver
... Script Supervisor
... Production Manager
... Sound Mixer
... Art Department Assistant
... Painter
... Electrician
... Seamstress
... Special Effects Coordinator
... Armorer
... First Assistant Editor
... Special Effects Supervisor
... Sound Design Assistant
... Hairstylist
... Art Direction
... First Assistant Camera
... Unit Publicist
... Still Photographer
... Production Illustrator
... Costume Supervisor
... Post Production Assistant
... Stunt Coordinator
... Visual Effects Producer
... Machinist
... Art Direction
... Sculptor
... Production Controller
... Art Direction
... Construction Coordinator
... Assistant Costume Designer
... Color Timer
... Production Coordinator
... Visual Effects Art Director
... Chef
... Dialect Coach
... Makeup Effects
... Set Production Assistant
... Stunts
... Transportation Captain
... Utility Stunts
... Visual Effects Editor
... Storyboard
... Transportation Coordinator
... Music Editor
... Supervising Sound Editor
... Assistant Editor
... CG Artist
... Makeup Artist
... Costume Coordinator
... Key Makeup Artist
... Second Assistant Director
... Negative Cutter
... Assistant Production Coordinator
... Third Assistant Director
... Chief Lighting Technician
... Key Costumer
... Musician
... Tailor
... Marine Coordinator
... Assistant Set Dresser
... Draughtsman
... Casting Assistant
... Key Grip
... Key Set Costumer
... First Assistant Director
... ADR Editor
... Set Costumer
... Foley Editor
... ADR Supervisor
... Aerial Coordinator
... Set Dresser
... Chief Lighting Technician
... Electrician
... Electrician
... Electrician
... Electrician
... Electrician
... Electrician
... Electrician
... Electrician
... Dialogue Editor
... ADR Editor
... Sound Effects Editor
... Sound Effects Editor
... ADR Mixer
... Sound Effects Editor
... Sound Effects Editor
... Property Master
... Dialogue Editor
... ADR Recordist
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Stunts
... Sound Mix Technician
... Carpenter
... Third Assistant Director
... Special Effects Technician
... Camera Car
... Wardrobe Master
... Standby Art Director
... Daily Wardrobe
... Supervising Carpenter
... Foley Artist
... Foley Recordist
... Special Effects Assistant
... Assistant Camera
... Post Production Coordinator
... Assistant Editor
... Assistant Hairstylist
... Second Second Assistant Director
... Stunt Double
... Clapper Loader
... Construction Buyer
... Location Assistant
... Visual Effects Camera
... Best Boy Grip
... Camera Trainee
... Costumer
... Prosthetics Sculptor
... Foley Mixer
... Standby Carpenter
... Assistant Dialogue Editor
... Visual Effects Production Assistant
... Assistant Set Dresser
... Second Assistant Camera
... Location Coordinator
... Costume Assistant
... Visual Effects Production Manager
... Assistant Location Manager
... Assistant Chef
... Assistant Production Coordinator
... Standby Rigger
... Production Assistant
... Local Casting
... Floor Runner
... Catering
... Conductor
... Crowd Assistant Director
... First Assistant Camera
... Location Casting
... Sound Re-Recording Mixer
... Sound Re-Recording Mixer
... Propmaker
... Visual Effects Camera
... Sculptor
... Stunt Double
... Grip
... Costume Design
... Art Department Assistant
... Props
Videos & Photos of
Saving Private Ryan
Videos (3)
![Saving Private Ryan (1998) Theatrical Trailer [5.1] [4K] [FTD-1282]](https://img.youtube.com/vi/y4SA9yUDgW8/mqdefault.jpg)
Photos 26
Similar Movies To
Saving Private Ryan
J.T. LeRoy (2019)
5.4/10
A young woman named Savannah Knoop spends six years pretending to be a transgender writer named JT Leroy, the made-up literary persona of her sister-in-law.
Release: 2019-04-26
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002)
6.535/10
The strange comedy film of two close brothers; one, Wilbur, who wants to kill himself, and the other, Harbour, who tries to prevent this. When their father dies leaving them his bookstore they meet a woman who makes their lives a bit better yet with a bit more trouble as well.
Release: 2002-11-08
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997)
7.692/10
Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk and still in pajamas they steal the first fancy car they find, a 60's Mercedes convertible. The car happens to belong to a bunch of gangsters, which immediately start to chase it, since it contains more than the pistol Martin finds in the glove box.
Release: 1997-02-20
The Big Blue (1988)
7.448/10
Two men answer the call of the ocean in this romantic fantasy-adventure. Jacques and Enzo are a pair of friends who have been close since childhood, and who share a passion for the dangerous sport of free diving. Professional diver Jacques opted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy; to the bewilderment of scientists, Jacques harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing pattern in the water, so that his vital signs more closely resemble that of dolphins than men. As Enzo persuades a reluctant Jacques to compete against him in a free diving contest -- determining who can dive deeper and longer without scuba gear -- Jacques meets Johana, a beautiful insurance investigator from America, and he finds that he must choose between his love for her and his love of the sea.
Release: 1988-05-10
Braveheart (1995)
7.942/10
Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.
Release: 1995-05-24
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
7.815/10
During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
Release: 1942-03-06
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
7.715/10
Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.
Release: 2004-12-22
Dead Poets Society (1989)
8.301/10
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
Release: 1989-06-02
Boys Don't Cry (1999)
7.403/10
A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.
Release: 1999-09-02
Young Adam (2003)
5.824/10
A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers' lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the river than he admits.
Release: 2003-09-26
The Godfather (1972)
8.687/10
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
Release: 1972-03-14
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
7.235/10
The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.
Release: 1989-12-13
The Straight Story (1999)
7.729/10
A retired farmer and widower in his seventies named Alvin Straight learns one day that his distant brother Lyle has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.
Release: 1999-10-15
La Strada (1954)
7.912/10
When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.
Release: 1954-09-23
The English Patient (1996)
7.158/10
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics.
Release: 1996-11-14
8½ (1963)
8.116/10
Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.
Release: 1963-02-14
The Pianist (2002)
8.377/10
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
Release: 2002-09-17
Schindler's List (1993)
8.566/10
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
Release: 1993-12-15
Maria Full of Grace (2004)
7.201/10
A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.
Release: 2004-01-18
La Dolce Vita (1960)
8.049/10
Episodic journey of journalist Marcello who struggles to find his place in the world, torn between the allure of Rome's elite social scene and the stifling domesticity offered by his girlfriend, all the while searching for a way to become a serious writer.
Release: 1960-02-05