a truly gripping and harrowing war film, unparallelled in the last 20 years.

Rating: 8/10 (4 September 2013)

To everyone else, Saving Private Ryan would be a career defining film, both a critical success and a box office smash, but for Steven, it's nothing more than another stone in the pillar of greatness that is Spielberg, - just when you thought he had laid out all his cards on the table, he finds a way of surprising us again and again, as with each passing of a decade, he is constantly reinventing himself. With the like of; E.T, Schindler's list, Jaws and close encounters of the third kind, he has successfully cemented himself as the greatest living directors in the world. And Saving Private Ryan is testimony to that, a truly gripping and harrowing war film, unparallelled in the last 20 years. Blending breathtakingly stunning cinematography, skilled and controlled camera movements and sublime storytelling that is now regarded as a staple of all Spielberg films. But not too forget the help he received from an almighty performance by Tom Hanks, star of such films as; Toy story (1,2 and 3), Forrest Gump and most recently Cloud Atlas.
From the gecko, we see instantly know why Spielberg won an Oscar for best director, as near the beginning of the film when the troops land on Omaha Beach on D-day in the midst of a horrific and bloody tug of war with the Germans - In a scene lasting for a staggering 24 minutes, but I would have gladly sat for another 20 on top, due to the share epic that it was. From the start of the scene, the camera work is somewhat very unstable, Spielberg's use of hand-held camera movement during the scene, helps add the effect of confusion and a rush adrenalin, so from the very start we are almost swept into the scene and immersed into the carnage. The instability of the camera movements perfectly reflects the total and utter chaos that the soldiers experienced. And I love this, because it showing us rather than telling us through 10 minutes of the soldiers talking about how bad the war is, making it far more captivating – a smart move from Steven. It is also interesting to note that the opening sequence is filmed in de- saturated colours, emphasising the negativity of the situation, making it seem more morose. This visual pathetic fallacy continues with the dark, stormy weather, making the death seem all the more cold and devoid of emotion. I could easily just review the opening sequence, because it was just that good! It should be taught at film school as a manual on great cinematography.
Eventually amongst all the anarchy we discover the dead body of soldier with Ryan written on his backpack. Then fast forward a few days later, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell) reveals to Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks), that all three Ryan brothers from the same family have been killed, and he tells John to find the fourth Pvt. James Ryan (Matt Damon), so his mother can have at least one son alive, so she doesn't have to go through that pain of knowing all her sons are dead. John Miller then brings together a troop of trusty soldiers to aid him in this quest. Consisting of; Cpl. Upham (Jeremy Davis), Sgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore), plus privates Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), cynical Reiben (Edward Burns) from Brooklyn, Italian-American Caparzo (Vin Diesel), and religious Southerner Jackson (Barry Pepper). What follow is a heart wrenching journey for both us and the men, as Spielberg cleverly draws out of us all, the colours of the emotional wheel as we've; Laughed with them, felt regret as some of them die on their journey, we have been scared as the ever looming Germans approach, we felt anger, frustration and the occasional breathtaking triumph.
But what the performance I love the most out of that list of talented actors a superb performance is was performance of Tom hanks, outside the storytelling and the cinematography, it truly stood out for me, from the first time he pops up in screen, during the being on Omaha Beach, When we move on to one landing craft in particular, through a series of close ups we see the share terror in the eyes of some of the soldiers, then we shift to a close up of Tom Hank's hands shaking, and from that moment you could tell this was going to be a stellar performance from Tom, and he certainly didn't disappoint. Because he was just playing the character, he was living the character. As he's attention to detail throughout the rest of the film, helps us believe that is a hero who plays a good front for his soldiers, but is as sacred, and consumed with a feeling of trepidation and fear, just like the rest of them.
To conclude, cinematography, Spielberg's geniuses and Tom hanks performance, are the most vital areas that needs to be covered when reviewing a spectacular film such as Saving Private Ryan, but most Spielberg, because without his brilliance and nonchalant camera angles, Saving Private Ryan may not have ever won 5 academy awards, or never would have become a modern classic, as it unfortunately came after the superb likes of; The Deer Hunter, Platoon, Full metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now, so the academy could have thought there wasn't another worthy story to come out of a War film due to the amazing stated, but Steven breaths ingenuity and intelligent filmmaking, to add new life to the war epic, standing up tall next to the greats of the war genre.