A modern Classic

Rating: 10/10 (13 May 1999)

To say that 'Saving Private Ryan' is a war film would be like calling a Corvette a wagon. War films tend to glorify war, and show the other side as being Supermeanbadguys (new word!). But 'Saving Private Ryan' can be more accurately described as a war drama. In it, the war is anything but glorified. The scale of the war is shown on both a massive size (the Normandy invasion) and on a more personal level. The Germans seem bad, but they're just doing what we would do under the circumstances. However, even with this in mind, the audience can't help but hate them. This is the most dynamic part of the film; and is enough to make us forget the appallingly deflated character's in Speilberg's 'Schindler's List.' And, of course, there's the acting, with Hanks at his best, and the rest of the cast (Tom Sizemore and Jeremey Davies in particular) shines as well. Overall, a great film. And an utter travesty that it lost the Best Picture Oscar to the massively inferior 'Shakespeare in Love.'