An embarrassing waste

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 1998)

Had this movie been hyped as offering the purest carnage visualized with a high degree of technical skill, the advance promotion, at least, would have been honest. But the film is dirty morally and bankrupt artistically. Without plausible story, ideology, acting (character), or any redeeming social purpose, this film ends as a here-come-the-marines-just-in-time tribute to John Wayne, but without appropriate credit to its obvious inspiration. It has all been done before, and much better, except for the artful hype--still Spielberg's outstanding skill. "Ryan" is really "Jurassic Park" with German troops and tanks instead of dinosaurs. Spielberg really succeeds at the level of "War Comics" and has earned the admiration of that audience, but adults who pay to see it ought to be ashamed. "Dreamworks?" Give me a break...it's the usual publicity fake and Hollywood trash.