Technically beautiful, very violent and rather empty movie.

Rating: 5/10 (19 October 1998)

Saving Private Ryan wasn't really up to its reputation. The movie did have its moments and merits but sadly most of those merits were on the technical side. The effects and the set-ups were great, but that does not tell much of the movie itself... except that a lot of money was burned while doing it. So most of the things that money could buy were done beautifully but the movie didn't really have too much to offer on the other areas.
I left the theatre wondering what on earth were they trying to tell/say to me with that movie. The first half hour of the movie was good enough to stand on its feet, showing the madness of the war. But after that the movie started to stall. There was a lot of useless and over-long scenes that didn't really add anything to the movie. Except maybe a little frustration for the viewer. Length is not a bad thing for a movie, as long as the creators have something to say or to show. In Saving Private Ryan, there seemed not to be.
Technically beautiful, very violent (okay, it's a war movie so maybe it is acceptable) and rather empty movie. I just hope that it is not becoming a habit of praising these overlong drama-movies where a fictional story is placed into a historical context.