A must-see movie, but....

Rating: Null/10 (21 November 1998)

Saving Private Ryan is without a doubt a must-see movie because of the message it conveys in the first 30 minutes or so. I found myself curling up in my seat, cringeing, and hoping not to see any more disturbing scenes, while still glad that I was merely watching a movie. That's how mind-blowing it was. But I seriously felt that the rest of the movie wasn't all that great- it was simply an above average war movie, and the remaining 2.5 hours or so was nowhere near comparable to the first half-hour of the film. There was nothing extraordinarily brilliant, with the exception of a few of the final battle scenes. When I watch a movie, for me, the most important thing is enjoyment. And this movie, while being extremely compelling and thought provoking, was hardly enjoyable (anyone who has seen it would know why). Nevertheless, I had absolutely no idea how the war sequences were choreographed to be so realistic. It really makes you feel that you are in the war itself. But towards the end, Spielberg just couldn't resist to put in his trademark sentimentality into the movie. And for me, that kind of ruined it, because it was undoing all the brilliance of the first 30 minutes. Making it so blatantly obvious that he was trying to make it sentimental and dramatically heroic was in fact glorifying the war, which was the exact opposite of what Spielberg was trying to convey throughout the entire movie. And the nonsense of the final scene made me feel like I was watching another movie written by James Cameron. Despite all the criticisms, I still feel this movie is worthy of the recognition it has been getting. Its brilliance is difficult to deny, and personally, I'll give it 4 out of 5.