Great battle scenes, but somewhat spoiled by many flaws.

Rating: 7/10 (25 September 2007)

The best thing about SPR is the Omaha Beach sequence. That was very realistic, as well as being factual. The rest of the story is fictional, only somewhat realistic, and rather unlikely. First of all, the WWII US Army would never have wasted a Ranger Captain who was a company commander to lead a SQUAD of soldiers. They would have assigned a platoon sergeant, or at most a 2nd Lieutenant. I can believe they might send a squad of regular infantry to find a single soldier, but using Rangers is a stretch. Rangers are more highly trained, and would be used for an important military objective, not a "P.R. mission". There were some touches that I liked. I liked the way Tom Hanks portrayed Captain Miller as a normal guy who's approaching burnout, and is starting to get the "shakes". Also the way he kept a certain amount of distance from his men until they were down to a small group. The part about the company having a "pool" on his prewar occupation, and it turning out to be a teacher. The way the sniper, Private Daniel Jackson (Barry Pepper), quotes Scripture to calm himself and steady his aim. The running "FUBAR" joke. However, the end really bothers me. Having Captain Miller laying a heavy guilt trip on Private Ryan (Matt Damon), as he dies is unrealistic melodrama. Finally, much has been said about various 'tactical errors' made by both the German and American forces in the movie's climactic battle. Steven Spielberg responded, saying that in many scenes he opted to replace sound military tactics for dramatic effect. Shame on you, Steven! Neither Robert Rodat (writer) nor Steven Spielberg (director) have ever served in the military. In fact, Spielberg attended California State University, Long Beach, to avoid the draft for the Vietnam War. So this is the kind of UNREALISTIC war movie made by someone who went to college to avoid military service. I don't think it helped that Robert Roden had to rewrite the screenplay 11 times before it was accepted.
In the words of Sam Fuller, "The only way to make a truly realistic war movie is to fill the theater with smoke and flame, the sound of explosions, and to have someone shoot the person sitting next to you." Amen!