Excellent depiction, but not a perfect film

Rating: 8/10 (9 September 2008)

I do not see a whole lot of war movies, but "Saving Private Ryan" is definitely an exception. This film simply has a fascinating plot and great dialogue between the soldiers. The film tells the story of a group of soldiers who must find private James Ryan (Matt Damon) and send him home to his mother, as she realizes that her three other sons were killed in battle. The rest of the film deals with issues such as deciding whether saving a man's life is worth losing several lives of your own soldiers and to what extent one must be loyal to their given orders. Tom Hanks could have (and probably should have) won an Oscar for his role, as he pulls off each scene amazingly well, as usual. The interactions between him and the soldiers, especially Private Ryan, are perfectly done, proof of Spielberg's excellent directing. What prevents the film from being entirely perfect is the overall lack of scenes with dialogue. So much of the film (at least 60%) is made up of battle scenes. Although the depictions of war are very realistic and well done, they tend to drag on too long. It's the dialogue scenes and the decisions the characters must make that make the film as great as it is, but more of those scenes are needed to keep the audience engaged. Nevertheless, an excellent depiction of war, great direction, and great acting make this a very monumental and interesting film. Definitely worthwhile and important to see.
***1/2 out of ****