Rangers lead the way....

Rating: Null/10 (25 August 2001)

American, overlong, sentimentally contrived, brutally realistic, overrated but still worthy of high praise, `Saving Private Ryan' is a testament to what can be done to highlight moments of a country's history.
Okay I admit I am British-born and I am going to mention the lack of any other nationality in the film, so I shall start with this obvious moot point.
What annoys people is that Tom Hanks' unit never comes across someone of another nation as they move inland and not the superlative and startlingly realized opening. Anyone who knows the slightest bit of history knows that the airborne forces were miss-dropped all over Normandy. Having said that if we British complain so much about the non-representation of our forces in American films why don't we make something equally as jaw-dropping, after all most of the technicians on the film were British? I'll tell you why not. After the release of his film `A Bridge Too Far' in 1977, director Richard Attenborough said he would never make another film whilst participants in the historical event were still alive. Why? Because veterans of the Parachute Regiment complained that they had been made out to be TOO heroic. Hollywood makes `U-571' we make `Enigma', go figure. We should stop taking pot shots at our American cousins, who did bail us out of the war even if it was late in coming, and make some films to redress the balance.
What rankles the most is the underhand way in that Spielberg comments on Field Marshall Montgomery. So he was egotistical  show me a military leader who isn't but to have two field officers passing judgement?? Come on. The soldiers I spoke to were more bothered about keeping themselves alive than worrying about how they rated their commanders. Most of my family were killed in China, many of my South African relatives fought in Africa and Europe. My grandfather and father's friends included bomber pilots, paras and Chindits, so I understand the need to honour these men. I have visited Pointe Du Hoc and I have full admiration for the Rangers that tackled their objectives. But I digress.
The opening is phenomenal and is being recreated, derisorily, time and again in computer games. Nothing has captured the sense of what it must have been like but this goes some way to accomplishing that. The first time viewed I don't think I breathed out.
Unfortunately after such a visceral experience there is always going to be a comedown, physiologically this is what is going to happen with adrenalin and thus the viewer is unwittingly experiencing what an infantryman might have gone through. The comedown for the audience however, is in the film's pacing.
The mid-section does drag and yes maybe this is to show the lulls between the fighting etc. But if I wanted to experience boredom and nothing I would do nothing. Or I would watch `The Thin Red Line' a truly dull experience. Indeed this lack of pacing is noticeable on repeat viewing.
The characterization is not fully realized for such a running time and many of the characters remain clichéd eg: dependable Sarge, the coward. Nevertheless this does not detract from the film as the casting compensates in their visual appearance. From just their looks we are compelled and can empathize.
The cinematography, editing, and sound are all first rate, as we have come to expect from Spielberg although the shafts of light were unnecessary. The washed out colours added a texture of reality and, with the age of digital film-making, the look of the film is far from the normal sheen of fantasy - an edge of documentary lending itself.
On a technical note, and perhaps superficial, there are a few errors that irritate. Firstly why do they use the mortar shells when they have grenades on their belts, which stay unused? Having practised fire support team drills why does Mellish not carry the spare ammo? The unit has two bazookas and yet they leave one lying around. Lastly continuity should have picked up the fact that Tom Hanks' pistol suffers stoppages twice consecutively when he is firing at the Tiger tank, an impossibility. But these are minor complaints.

Overall ****/***** far better than `The Thin Red Line' and on a par with `A Bridge Too Far'.