Just another war movie

Rating: 3/10 (12 April 2001)

"Saving Private Ryan" is probably the war movie that received too much hype in the media to be still seen without prejudices. From my perspective, however, it was neither a good movie nor a particularly intelligent new look on WWII, but part of my resentment against the film results from my different cultural background, in which such an open nationalistic display of national images (the American flag waving full-screen for opening and closing) is found disturbing.
It's surprising that so many people think that this film sheds a new surprising light on D-Day or WWII. If someone needed the bloody and gory opening sequence about D-Day to realize that war is hell, then this person has never thought about war in the first place. Of course war is a horrible experience, but it's amazing how many people needed Mr. Spielberg to tell them. And Spielberg does not solely concentrate on the horrors of war. Like so many other American war films, be it WWII or Vietnam, the heroic suffering is always endured by the brave innocent American side. The fact that the opposing side might also not have enjoyed the fighting is always overlooked.
The much praised historical accuracy, for me, does not rate this movie above others--if I want to know facts about WWII, I'll look them up in a history book, and not buy a movie ticket.
What additionally annoyed me was the bad directing. The lame attempt at a bit of comic relief with the wrong Private James Ryan was totally out of place in a serious war film. Tom Hanks got another chance to play the perfect American mainstream man, and Spielberg did not bother to properly develop his character into a three-dimensional person with highs and lows. Further, the overly patriotic ending destroyed all attempts to make it an anti-war movie.
Despite of all the glorifying reviews in the newspapers and magazines, it's just another war movie, nothing new or different from anything already seen.