Saving Private Ryan

"Maybe saving Private Ryan is the one decent thing we did in this war."

Saving Private Ryan is considered by most to be not only the bloodiest war film of all time, but the best war film of all time.  Of course, many naysayers could bring up other great war films, like Full Metal Jacket or Apocalypse Now, but those films have a lower audience score than this by 1%.  However, my personal belief is that this is a good war film, but the best one ever?  Not really.  I mean the dialogue is great and the action is very tense, but those previous films were much better.  Steven Spielberg definitely has a a great sense of vision.  This film is pretty amazing.  I believe this was his last film before he went insane.  I don't need to bring of War of the Worlds or War Horse, do I?  Spielberg is a nice director, though.  He can direct action sequences really well as those were the only decent things in War Horse and WoTW.  Here, he proves he's a master at excellent shots and keeps the film from falling into typical war movie zone (Black Hawk Down)

Saving Private Ryan is the story of Private Ryan, a soldier who lost both his brothers in war.  It is required by law that once all the siblings a soldier has died, that soldier must return home.  So who do they send to do this job?  They send Tom Hanks and his platoon to search for Ryan and bring him home.  Along the way, they encounter many German forces, killing many of the soldiers.  Is the premise anything new or refreshing?  Not really.  It is unique to see what laws are enforced in war, such as something as silly as this, but it's not exactly the best premise ever.  However, the film is pretty well executed and that keeps it going.  Matt Damon stars as Pvt. Ryan, but he isn't in the film until the last 40 minutes.  Tom Hanks stars as the captain and he's basically the main character.  Other people that I recognized in this film were Vin Diesel (Pre-Fast and Furious), Tom Sizemore (That guy that always gets killed in every war movie made), Adam Goldberg (That Jewish guy from Zodiac), Bryan Cranston (Walter White from Breaking Bad), and Nathan Fillion in a short scene as the wrong Ryan.  Don't believe that Fillion was in the movie?  Rewatch it.

The film is amazingly shot.  The iconic opening sequence recreating the battle for Normandy was intense and sad at the very same time.  Spielberg held nothing back as bodies were being torn to shreds left and right.  No horror film could ever measure up to the chilling sight when Tom Hanks sees he's fellow soldiers' bodies floating in the ocean.  And speaking about Hanks, this guy can act.  So much so, that the previous statement possibly would undermine his talent.  He's proven here that once again, he's one of the best.  I cannot compliment his acting anymore.  It's a shame that he had to go to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close for another paycheck.  Oh well.

Again, there are things holding this film back.  At times, the film can feel overly patriotic.  So much so, that it can be overbearing in some scenes.  Also,  there is this annoying character who lets *SPOILER* Adam Goldberg's character to die and does nothing about it. *SPOILER DONE*  He then is crying like the gutless whiner he is.  It doesn't help that there are many scenes with him in it.  Also, he doesn't even die.  I mean, I don't want the guy to.  But if you have no backbone, you shouldn't sign up for war and possibly get more comrades killed.  Actually, he was the reason for the entire battle at the end.  So, I really hate that guy.  Also, while the film holds nothing back, it can get a little to gratuitous at times.  I mean, yeah, war is probably as gory as this, but seeing a man explode while trying to plant a bomb and showing everything is a little too much.  I don't have a weak stomach, but yeah, was some of the deaths shown necessary?  Then, there's the fact that the battle scenes stretch out to 20 minutes at a time.  It can get rather boring at a time.

Overall, Saving Private Ryan may not be the savior of war films as I wanted it to be, but it's a very good one.  That's for sure.  At times, the violence seemed to be violent just for the sake of being......violent.  The action scenes stretch out to incredible lengths and at times, I kind of wanted to see it end already.  However, this film is nicely shot and has some amazing dialogue.  It's definitely not forgettable and that shows that Spielberg and co. did their job well.  It's a nice look into the struggles that occurred during World War II and should be a warning to everyone that these wars were no joke.  Tom Hanks stole the show as the Captain.  This guy can act.  I may not have liked some of his critically acclaimed films like Cast Away as much as I should, but he's a great actor.  He makes it look so easy.  Originally, I was planning on giving this film a 7/10.  However, watching Nathan Fillion crying boosted this film up to an 8/10.  So, yeah, that scene helped a lot.

8/10