Steven Spielberg has brought us another masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (24 July 2008)

Everything that you could have heard about "Saving Private Ryan" is true.
You may have heard about the opening battle footage. It's a little over twenty minutes long, and it's some of the most violent footage ever put to film. To be honest with you, I expected worse, but it's not so much the violence as much as the horror of it all. It's just sickening.(And I say that as a compliment)
When the actual search for "Private Ryan" happens, you're introduced to the characters and their personalities. They're all very distinct. Some think that casting Tom Hanks as the captain was a bad choice, but I disagree. He's perfect. The rest of the cast is just as good. It features great actors that include Tom Sizemore, Adam Goldberg, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi (I related to his character the most), Matt Damon, and a surprisingly good performance by actor/filmmaker, Ed Burns. The only actor I had a problem with was Jeremy Davies as the interpreter. I've seen Davies in several other movies ("Spanking the Monkey" and "Going All the Way") and he always plays the same annoying wuss character (picture Henry Thomas, but much skinnier and more geeky-looking). I dunno, maybe I'm just nit-picking. It WAS kinda necessary for the character. By the way, there's an interesting bit part played by a major TV celebrity. I don't know why he's in this movie, but it was an unexpected surprise.
The script was written by Robert Rodat (who also wrote "Fly Away Home" and "Tall Tale") and had uncredited rewrites from Scott Frank (wrote "Dead Again" and adapted "Get Shorty" and the great "Out of Sight") and Frank Darabont (wrote the 1994 version of "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," "A Nightmare on Elm Street III," and "The Fly II," but he's known best for writing and directing "The Shawshank Redemption"), and though it's not a perfect script, it's a damn good one. My biggest problem was the bookend parts set in the present. Unnecessary, I thought.
Steven Spielberg is strange in that he'll make mindless movie blockbusters that are well-directed, but lack any substance, and then he'll turn around and make "The Color Purple," "Schindler's List," or "Saving Private Ryan." It almost seems as though he makes some movies just to fill his pockets, and then once his pockets are filled enough, he'll do something from the heart. Steven Spielberg truly is a genius filmmaker, and with as much acclaim as he gets now, he still seems underrated. I just can't believe that "Shakespeare In Love" got the Academy Award of best movie when this one was clearly a better film in every aspect. What a shame.