"Best Portrayal about everything."

Rating: 10/10 (22 October 2012)

War films have been made earlier and will be made till eternity. But 'Saving Private Ryan' will have the image of what Gandhi has today (Irony intended.). This has set a standard so high that I think it would nearly be Impossible to have a portrayal better than this, especially the first 30 minute scene. Now this first part is what the world recognized thoroughly and it deserves that. But the second and the major part of the story is equally amazing. The film captures the journey of a group of 8 people who set out to find out another of their comrade named- "James Ryan.". They have to travel all the way to him just to deliver the message that all his brothers are dead and that he is relieved from duty. During their journey they encounter snipers, moral dilemmas etc. the idea of 8 people putting their lives at stake for just one person, is an intriguing story and to supplement that you will see a hell lot of action. This is a film not to be missed.
PROS:
Spielberg is a man who does things with huge perfection. There are many ways to see this film. One might see it as a nice action film in which people are assigned a task and they accomplish it by fighting a lot of people. It's the simplest way to put it. But the other way to see it is in a question format. First the question arises as to why 8 people were sent on a near suicide mission to find just one person. Why can't let the war finish. And if he is alive, let him be relieved. But then here comes morality. The superficial answer to the question is that the mother who has already lost 3 of her sons and so her only son should not be risked. So in a way we are taking quantity to be the major factor in here. The analytical reason to send them on such a mission is left to the viewer to decide on his own. Some might say that it is just a form of duty. Correct. Some will say that loss of 4 compared with loss of 1 or 2 is greater. OK. Some might think that a person who has lost his three brothers is more eligible to leave the war than any other, because his grief is higher. OK. So in a way this first question is a direct check on how you view rules of lives or your perception towards human decisions. I would say this is a perfect question and portrayed in the best ways. Second question is direct and is asked by the team people themselves. They are perfectly right in their thinking. Are their lives not as important as any other one who is fighting? People who watched carefully from the starting and thought about the first question nicely, they will be counter attacked by this phase of the film. Isn't it intriguing, to have included the viewer so closely in a film? During this second phase, the team is under a lot of emotional turmoil. They want to abandon the mission. From this moment the third question starts. Which is – 'is doing the duty and obeying orders so important that you put your lives at risk?' While most will say to this question that they are doing the duty for the country. But keeping myself in their positions, I feel too much agitated about the objective of the mission. Why should I risk my life for this purpose? None of them were reluctant in doing their duty for the country but the objective of this mission stirred them. Next we come across a very emotional moment when Tom hanks says that he is doing this so that he completes the mission and can go home peacefully. He says this line with so much emotion that you will forget everything about the three questions and look for Ryan yourself.
This film has everything for people of all ages. It also has light humor at appropriate places. The beauty of the war films is that you have a funny moment and just after that you come across a heartbroken statement. After watching the film you will definitely get convinced that war changes people. One other scene that I will never forget is the authentic knife fight between a US officer and a German officer. That fight depicts what a person behaves in his last moments of death. Also I felt sad over the two strange people fighting and killing so ruthlessly just on some orders.
Also I would like to explore the message of the film in detail. Tom hanks in his last moment says to Ryan – 'Earn it.' These two words alone have a lot of depth. The inner meaning of the word is that the life is wonderful. One should make good use of it.
MESSAGE: "Earn your Life." VERDICT: "A must watch."