Rating: 
Summary: From Someone Who Does Not Like War Movies
Review: It is true what many people say about this movie. Definitely a powerful masterpiece. There are numerous death scenes, but in my opinion, it was not as gory as expected. That is what happens when the minds of people (like myself) are so saturated with all the mindless violence and blood that the movie and computer industry are churning out these days.
Citizens of this nation who are not in the military really should watch this film at least once. It can really help us to understand what the very courageous young people in the service and their families are going through. Soldiers are not robots. They fear, cry, joke, get mad, and certainly bond together for life. Some of the most memorable messages delivered was of how tough it can get to remain honorable and follow orders from above, and that citizens should appreciate and never ever forget those people who risk their lives going to war.
This movie has made me want to seek out more war films. Perhaps "Band of Brothers" may be just has good. In addition, it also has helped to think deeply about the brave soldiers doing their duties today. What part, no matter how little, can we do to help? Hopefully, it will have the same effect on you.
Rating:
Summary: Watch out for blood outside the silverscreen!
Review: "Saving Private Ryan" is certainly the most real WWII movie ever written and directed. Although I've never seen real war it had a very deep impact on me. Almost from the first scenes of the movie one starts to realise what war really means. There's nothing beautiful about it and even the most heroic deeds are just another massacre. I don't take it as a novel but rather as a collection of short stories connected with the search for Ryan who's three brothers have died in different battles at the same time. We follow a squad of stonehard soldiers who are sent to find him and send back home where his mother waits. They are showed as a group of coldblooded men who can't be stopped in their search. They play games with the metal ID-plates taken from dead US soldiers in front of a group of greenhorns who haven't seen actual battle yet, they kill their enemies mercilessly and with great skill, etc. But at the same time they have their own sad stories to be told around the lantern late at night, they try to rescue civilians and sometimes they even don't shoot the imprisone nazis who have just killed their comrades. Hanks is brilliant as the leader and no bad words can be said about the rest of the cast either. Of course the backbone of the movie are the horrifying battle-scenes were nothing is shown in softer light than it actually is. And without the brilliant camerawork the movie wouldn't be what it is. Those viewers who aren't who hate patriotism should not let themselves be disturbed by the opening and ending, cause this is an obligatory part in an American warmovie. Finally, SPR really deserved the oscars given to it; it WAS the best movie of 1998.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing wake up call.
Review: "Saving Private Ryan" is one of those films that even if you haven't seen it, you've undoubtedly heard about it. You have probably heard about the first 10 minutes being some of the most brutally realistic of all the movie footage attempting to show war. Both this reputation and the rave reviews that the movie has received are completely justified in this reviewer's opinion. The movie in general emphasizes the brutality of war, how people "just like us" had to go through hell, and how a lot of it was completely random and nonsensical. For those of us lucky enough to not have to face warfare, this movie opens your eyes to the incredible fear and uncertainty that these men faced and how lucky we are that we did not happen to be born in the mid 1920's or earlier, or that we currently do not reside in countries that are undergoing such warfare. It also makes you understand how lucky you are that these men were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy the life we do today. The movie, as you probably know, starts out with the D-day invasion of Normandy, where thousands of American soldiers were pushed shipped to the shore of "Omaha beach" to face a seeming wall of bullets that cut through most of them killing them on the spot. Spielberg's footage of this scene approximates to whatever degree possible, what a an American soldier would have seen as he tried desperately to wade through the dead bodies in the water to seek some limited shelter on the dunes. There is no sense to the action that we see, only little clips of men being torn apart by metal in a very unglamorous way. One soldier speaking to another one second would face a dead, mangled corpse the next. There was no time for crying or thinking, one had to simply keep going despite whatever agony these men must have been feeling - the fear must have overridden this completely. We follow Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), as he makes his way to the dunes and somehow miraculously is able to breach the German machine guns mowing down Americans at a ridiculous rate. Afterwards we see how the devastation that these men had to go through finally comes out in the uncontrollable crying after the fear has finally subsided. Miller soon gets a special assignment that he questions and makes the viewer question, despite our initial acceptance. A mother has lost three of her four sons in the war within the last week. She will soon get three telegrams. .... Despite the protestations from some of those around him, he decides to send a small squadron of men to go find the fourth son, and ferret him to safety so that his mother would not lose her last son to the war. Her son being Private Ryan, and the Squadron chosen being Miller's. Though initially we feel for the mother, through Miller's protestations and later those of his men, and eventually even Ryan himself, we come to the realization that this mission is more political or a personal issue for the general rather than something that coincides with the rest of the war effort. .... The squadron is made up of a number of men who do not really stand out very much. They come from different backgrounds, one Italian, one Jewish. They have their own issues to deal with, such as the medic (Giovanni Ribisi)... But for the most part they are fairly normal men with normal backgrounds. The one character that stands out is that of Corporal Timothy E. Upham (Jeremy Davies), a translator plucked from the beach after all the reinforcements arrived. Upham seems like he could have been a modern-day college student thrown back in time. He has only touched a gun in a brief basic training and is so fearful about the possibility of actually seeing combat that he is almost useless. Because of this, we can identify with him more than with any of the other soldiers who have been through the hell of Omaha Beach. The DVD has an excellent 5.1 DD soundtrack that really puts you on the battlefield with lots of subwoofer and rear-channel usage. The picture is similarly good, though you can tell that there's an intentional graininess to provoke a sort of newsreel quality to the film. There are some special features, including cast and crew bios, trailers, production notes, a short speech by Steven Spielberg, and a making-of featurette. The featurette is very good, including clips from the film, interviews with cast and crew, as well as historians like Stephan Ambrose. Through these interviews, and especially through Ambrose, who's eloquent and moving oratory matches his literary talent, it really sinks in how amazing it was that men like those around us today, who had never held a gun before, suddenly were thrust into such inconceivable violence and chaos and did this willingly for the good of the country and the cause. This is really something that jars you from the cynicism inherent in our society today.
Rating:
Summary: A terrifically powerful film
Review: "Saving Private Ryan" is probably the best World War 2 movie ever made. The cast is excellent, and the cinematography unparalleled. The use of the hand-held, filtered camera during the battle scenes brings Capa's D-Day photographs to life. The story is simple--eight men are sent to find another soldier behind enemy lines--yet powerful by that very virtue. It is full of brilliant cinematic moments, such as the segueway after the horrific opening D-Day sequence: The screen goes blank for a second, and we hear the layered sounds of typewriters clicking like machine guns as Army typists write next of kin letters...Raindrops falling, then falling faster and dissolving into the sound of gunfire...
Throughout the film, we are shown many aspects of combat: the depersonalization which occurs in battle (Hanks' Captain Miller staring paralyzed at the carnage around him on the Normandy beach for a moment, then stoically replacing his blood-filled helmet); the tragedy of a single death (Giovanni Ribisi's Wade calling for his mother as he dies--the most realistic and moving depiction of death in cinema, to me...); heroism and cowardice. The music is great, the characters vividly drawn, the historical details perfect. Steven Spielberg made this film as a tribute to his father, who served as a radio operator in the Pacific theater. His first film, made when he was thirteen, was a war story (in which he was allowed to use real airplanes at a nearby airbase for some of the shots). He'd been thinking of making a big film like this for a long time, and it is rewarding to watch.
Rating:
Summary: Best WW2 movie released in theaters, ever
Review: "Saving Private Ryan" is the best theatrically-released WW2 movie ever made, period. So much has already been said about this film that to say much more is redundant. It is graphic, faithful to detail, and the acting is top-flight, lead by Tom Hanks (Captain Miller) and Tom Sizemore, who is the ultimate squad sergeant (see also "Black Hawk Down"). The two battles which bookend the movie are the most intense ever filmed. The movie should come with a warning, although not the parental kind. It is like the little blue pill that starts the "Matrix": there is no going back. I now have trouble watching many likable old fashion war movies like "Big Red One" or "Longest Day" just because "Private Ryan" is so far above them all. Even the noisy and expensive "Bridge Too Far" suffers. Historical combat movies for me now divide into pre-PR and post-PR - "Black Hawk Down" being a post-PR movie. I said, "best theatrically-released movie" because I actually prefer HBO's "Band of Brothers" just ever so-slightly (another Spielberg production), but this is an unfair apples-and-oranges comparison because "Band" is longer (ten hours) and is real history. Both are ten-plus, like Ferrari and Lamborghini. This movie is an amazing aural experience. Unless you have a very good home theater system, you will miss the incredible effects of feeling the approaching German tanks before you see them. Kids under about 13 should probably not see this movie, and certainly not unsupervised. It is just too graphic and intense. Recommendations: Anyone who liked "Saving Private Ryan" who has not seen "Band of Brothers", what are you waiting for? And it goes the other way, too.
Rating:
Summary: Authentic war epic
Review: "Saving Private Ryan" contains possibly the most authentic-looking war scenes in the history of film. The camera evokes a grainy, staccato, newsreel-type effect. This is not a sanitised, big extravaganza made to thrill and entertain, like conventional war flicks, but a film with the power to attack in the gut... Spielberg demonstrates that he has left his "childlike" phase behind him: the phase in which he made films such as "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "E.T." and "Jurassic Park" -- all which were excellent, but not of the maturity of "Schindler's Liste" and "Saving Private Ryan". This is a must-see film, the best war movie, perhaps, since "Apocalypse Now"...
Rating: 
Summary: DVD not the best quality but movie is 5 stars
Review: "Saving Private Ryan" is a 5 star movie but this DVD version is substandard. There are a few instances during the heavy fighting after the guys get past the beach and start fighting the Germans and the fire sequences STREAK and have STRIPES, LINES and BANDS on the screen while watching the movie. It is a poor quality and shoddy transfer of the film - I'm sure that there was a huge batch of these DVDs that got past quality control and I was just very unlucky because I bought this in October, 2003, sent it back for replacement, and the second one is as bad as the first - It was exactly the same with all the same imperfections. So, I just gave up and kept it. I saw the movie at the theater and on TV and never remember these flaws in the movie. It's very noticeable and irritating but once those scenes are over, the DVD is OK and the quality is great. I would like to know if I'm the only person that received a poor transfer of this DVD because it's really strange to receive 2 separate DVDs with the same defect. So, because of my experience with this movie, I recommend you wait and buy the new version coming out on May 25, 2004 called: "Saving Private Ryan (D-Day 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition)". I wish I had waited but never knew this newer version was coming out.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent portrayall of the physicall rigors of WW2
Review: "Saving Private Ryan" is a true-to-life look at the physical and mental pains of World War Two. Outfitted with extensive speciall effects, an allstar cast, and excellent acting an plot, This my be ranked along with Schindler's List as one of the most incredible films of the twentieth century.
Rating:
Summary: "We are going to get him the hell...out of there."
Review: "Saving Private Ryan" is Director Steven Spielberg's acclaimed movie about finding the last surviving brother (one of four) who was part of the Normandy invasion of World War II. Steeped in sentimentallty as Spielberg movies often are, you do feel a genuine sympathy for the characters. There is no getting around the fact that it is a sad movie - as the designated mission accomplishes its goal at great cost. Perhaps most-notable for its intensely graphic 20-minute opening scene of ther assault of the beach, the movie raises some points about sacrificing for a cause and the standing up for your principles. The movie boasts an impressive cast including Tom Hanks as the captain leading Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, and Vin Diesel, among others, to find Matt Damon. For some of the members, it is just an assignment, for others it is a waste of time, for others it it a noble cause. The central third of the movie drags a bit, and I had a problem with one of the wimpy characters who almost screws up the mission. His character was a huge, obvious cliche. The DVD has good a good picture and sound. The extras include a short "A special message from Steven Spielberg" which is mostly an ad for the D-Day museum, and "Into the Breach", a good behind the scenes featurette. Also included are cast/crew detail and a couple trailers.
Rating:
Summary: The best in its genre!
Review: "Saving Private Ryan" is probably the greatest war film ever made . Steven Spielberg did it perfectly. There is few if any technical flaws, the battle scenes are completely mind-blowing, especially the opening. (Maybe very difficult to watch for some viewers) Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller who decides to take eight of his men and go try to rescue a fellow soldier who recently lost his three other brothers in the war. The plot is excellent and the whole movie was well thought out by Spielberg. Quit simply put, a great movie to go see. You won't regret it.
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