excellent war film with occasionally poor dialogue

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2005)

In terms of verisimilitude to an actual battlefield, Saving Private Ryan is without a peer in the history of film. I go back to the 1910s, Birth of a Nation, which had some panoramic battle scenes, and to Platoon, which had some credible scenes, to Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now (which is the closest challenger for realism), Black Hawk Down, The Big Parade (wonderfully realistic early silent film of WW One), and many others. None of those takes so much effort and genius in recreating a probable past, in terms of recreating the war torn battlefields/villages in the most minute detail. The first 20 minutes of this film are a landmark by which all other war films will eventually be measured.
Tom Hanks is the emotional anchor for this film, giving us a portrayal that is sensitive yet firm. He's not of the blood and guts John Wayne tradition. His character is a thoughtful man who finds himself in a position to, in his view, do some good in the world by managing this apocalypse on earth in such a way that it actually saves lives.
Spielberg's consistent attention to visual detail and style is what sets SPR apart. The images are grainy, and rely on blues, greens, grays, and browns, with scarcely any red or yellow. He creates battlefield scenery with precision, accuracy, and depth of field. Wonderful work.
Meanwhile, set against this, is a dialogue which can be passively entertaining at times. The urgent conversations in the battlefield are most effective. However, some of the more heavy conversations which take place during the lulls are so poorly thought out, I can scarcely believe any professional screenwriter could have been associated with them. This is a recurrent problem.
Finally, I guess it couldn't be avoided that a film like this would attempt to advance allied propaganda. Genreally, the film tries to stay away from that, and I give it credit, but at other times the propaganda asserts itself in a subtle way which detracts from the overall effect. Most Americans and Western Europeans are numb to this, but I notice it and it disappoints me, although I will reckon that this film does not lose itself in propaganda. It's just an overtone.