World War II Never Looked So Visceral.

Rating: 9/10 (26 August 2014)

"Saving Private Ryan", is one of the most pivotal moments in both Steven Spielberg's career, and the War genre in motion picture history.
It follows United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks), and his squad (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg and Jeremy Davies) as they search for Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is the last-surviving brother of four servicemen.
Most notably to be said about the movie, is the depiction of the Omaha landings. Basically, it was a war re-enactment consisting of 1500 extras and 30 or so amputees. Spielberg did not plan ahead in terms of storyboarding, but instead decided to place the camera where it was best suited for spontaneous reactions. Admist all the amazing locations and bombed out villages, every soldier is relying on one solid emotion to get through the war, hope, which comes in the form of the missing Private Ryan. Unfortunately, that hope is tested as inevitable casualties will demoralise and divide the squadron.
This film covers pretty much all aspects of war. The tension, nature and sadness of it all gets stripped bare, as all stones are turned and the end result is one of poetic beauty. However, I never really found myself caring whether they found Ryan or not. Though the ending can't help but feel forced, it's certainly touching and has a lot of patriotism in mind.
Final Verdict: Definitely one of Spielberg's finest. I look forward to watching "Band of Brothers" (2001), and seeing what this man can do with more running time. 9/10.