Saving Private Ryan (1998) Movie Review
Saving Private Ryan (1998) Movie Review
I’ve been taught about World War II in school for so long, I can hardly remember a time when it wasn’t part of the curriculum in history class. For years, I’ve learned about the Holocaust, the rise of the Nazi party, and the conflicts between the Allies and the Axis powers. In eighth grade I went on a class trip to Washington, DC where we saw the WWII memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. As this review is being written, I am studying the events leading up to the war. So whether I was ever trying to or not, I’ve ended up learning a fair amount about WWII. I’ve read the books and seen the movies, too: The Pianist, Night by Elie Wiesel, Life Is Beautiful, Dunkirk, Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, The Great Escape, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, and more. I’ve started avoiding learning more about WWII intentionally, not because I find it uninteresting, just because I’ve already learned so much about it for so long. Every book or movie about it seems to try to take it to the next level when it comes to showing how horrific it all was. But no matter how much you know about WWII, or how bad you think it was, it’s hard to ignore how terrible Saving Private Ryan makes war seem. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a movie do a better job simply showing how nightmare-esque combat can be.
Saving Private Ryan is a pretty well-known and famous movie that lots of people have seen, but I’ll stick to the tradition of explaining the basics of the plot. I’ll try not to give too much away, but the vast majority of the film is a flashback from the perspective of a now-old James Ryan (Harrison Young), who visits Normandy American Cemetary and Memorial and remembers his experiences at war. His memories begin with the notoriously violent D-Day sequence (which actually triggered PTSD for veterans in theaters). Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) is the leader of a group of soldiers who storm the Omaha Beach at Normandy. Soon after, Miller and his men are tasked with finding a younger version of Private Ryan (this time played by Matt Damon), who is supposed to go home after his three other brothers are killed in the war. Miller and his company, including faithful Sergeant Horvath (Tom Sizemore), hotheaded Private Reiben (Edward Burns), sharp-witted Private Jackson (Barry Pepper), sarcastic Private Mellish (Adam Goldberg), defiant Private Caparzo (Vin Diesel), thoughtful T-4 Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), and not-about-that-life Corporal Upham (Jeremy Davies), set out across enemy territory to find Private Ryan in time to send him back home.
This movie is very descriptive and specific; it paints a well-rounded portrait of what fighting as a soldier in WWII must have been like. Some of the combat scenes just look so realistic, and the pain that the soldiers go through looks very real as well. Steven Spielberg did a great job directing this movie for sure. I found it interesting how, a few years after making Schindler’s List in 1993, Spielberg decided to focus on the other side of WWII and make a film about the warfare itself. Saving Private Ryan is actually based on a true story, which makes the whole thing even more riveting. This is the type of movie that is consistently entertaining, even though it has a runtime of 2 hours and 50 minutes. It’s very well-made and effective. All the big questions are asked, but the film really focuses on the value of life, which I think is perfect for such an epic war film. How valuable is one man’s life? Is it worth the lives of others just to save one? As an elderly Private Ryan looks back on his war memories, he wonders if the life he made for himself over the years was worth all those soldiers coming to save him. At the end of the movie, we are left questioning if how we are spending our time is worth all of the sacrifices that people have made for us in the past.
Look, this is a great movie, but I wasn’t really moved by it. I do have a few criticisms of it. First, although this film is never boring, the final sequence of combat seems to drag on for a long time, longer than it needs to. I feel like there are some parts that could be considered unnecessary or “filler.” Also, even though most of the actors do competent jobs with their parts, the main performances aren’t the best of the best, even if they’re really good. As much as I hate to say it, this isn’t one of the most mindblowing Tom Hanks roles out there. The other cast members do their thing, even if there are no true standout performances. Speaking of other cast members, it kinda surprised me how many cameos and small roles got packed into this thing. Vin Diesel before he got famous via Pitch Black and The Fast and the Furious is obviously one of the privates, Paul Giamatti plays a sergeant who helps the company out at some point, Ted Danson makes a quick cameo, Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame appears as the guy who they mistake for Private Ryan, and even Bryan Cranston shows up as a character with a limb missing. But all those cameos didn’t help me relate much to this movie. Maybe relatability isn’t really what they were going for with Saving Private Ryan, but personally that’s something that definitely goes into deciding my opinion about a film.
Safety chart:
Violence: 8/10 - Bloody and gory war violence. Lots of people are shot, stabbed, burned to death, etc. Intestines and stuff are shown at some points.
Language: 7/10 - Lots of cursing scattered throughout the three hours, but nothing truly excessive.
Drinking/smoking: 6/10 - Several characters smoke and drink, some regularly.
Saving Private Ryan is an extremely effective war film that is direct with its messages and doesn’t care if you’re tired of watching people get shot. You’ll definitely enjoy it if you’re interested in the history of WWII or war movies in general. It’s a true war epic, and if you’re a fan of Tom Hanks vibes, this should probably be up your alley. Like I said though, even though this is a really magnificent and excellent film, I do have some light criticisms, so I’m gonna give this movie an A as a grade. I feel like I’ve been a little too leniant with the A+’s recently so I’m making an example out of Saving Private Ryan. Either way, this is definitely reccommended viewing.
