The Definitive War Film

Rating: 10/10 (27 October 2016)

Steven Spielbergs, Saving Private Ryan has some of the best directing of all time, one of the greatest performances of all time from Tom Hanks and truly is one of the greatest films of all time as well as the greatest war film ever made. The opening scene alone makes this movie a masterpiece it's just the perfect way to set the stage for the threat and brutality of war and showing the solider who fought in it to be human beings who are just as terrified as anyone else would be in the same situation. But the film doesn't stop after that the hunt for Private Ryan is incredibly investing because you understand the reasons as to why even if you don't agree with them you understand them perfectly. The fact that the main characters choose to address the somewhat unfair nature of picking one particular solider to go home out of the thousands was a very good decision because you can't help but see their point of view and understand them more. Another good decision was the fact that we don't meet Private Ryan until about 2/3 of the way through the film it puts you in the characters difficult situation of finding one solider out of thousands. Like is said before Tom Hanks is truly amazing in this movie he gives his greatest performance in my opinion and one of the greatest of all time. A lot rides on Matt Damon as Private Ryan in this film because he has to come across as innocent enough and likable enough to justify all the hard ship and death that the characters go through in order to find him but he doesn't, Ryan doesn't want to leave and feels immense guilt for all that has been done in his name and this makes him a much more compelling character. While the opening scene on Normandy Beach is still the films best action sequences there are plenty of other amazing ones because they feel so real you know the danger these characters face when they charge into battle, war isn't glorified in this movie it's shown for what it is and nothing more. Tom Hanks final words to Ryan "Earn This" is haunting and forces the viewer to think about how they would earn such a gift of life and creates for a truly emotional last scene with Ryan which is the perfect ending to this masterpiece.
There are few films that are more universally beloved than Saving Private Ryan for good reasons it does everything that not only a war movie should do but movies as a whole.
A+/100%