Another Spielberg Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (13 October 1999)

I saw Saving Private Ryan with some trepidation. I saw it late, and on the small screen. I knew about the initial half-hour, and had read the criticisms of the film from the right and left of the political spectrum. It seems all the "political" reviewers didn't like it, and I was prepared to be disappointed.
All I can say is "wow!". Saving Private Ryan is one of the most gripping films I have ever seen. Gripping in the sense that it grabs you and doesn't let go. You belong to it for the almost 3 hour running time; you can't think of anything else, you can't leave. This is a film you will be thinking about for days afterwards. It is a must rent, a classic. But, if you have lived in a cave for the last two years and haven't heard, the film is highly graphic in its depictions of battle, and is not for the faint-hearted.