Powerfully Numbing

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2010)

"Saving Private Ryan" is everything you expect it to be and more. I left the cinema totally numb after this experience, not knowing how I really felt about the movie. All I was thinking was why? Do we really need a another movie about the atrocities of war? Perhaps I just don't want to know the truth or see the reality of this horror that mankind seems determined to continually perpetuate. The heart of man is evil continually. Even more frightening than this is the fact that the powers of the world who have set their minds to war and murder to maintain control would not even think twice after viewing this film.
For Spielberg this film was evidently a lot more than just a revelation of World War II. This was a message from son to father, a call for approval from a boy to his dad. The fact that Arnold Spielberg was overcome with emotion may indicate that his boy did good this time. Steven is as masterfully in control of this film as he was with "Schindler's List". I still feel the earlier film is his dramatic best, yet it is difficult to fault "Private Ryan" in its execution. It is only its concept that I am still battling with.
Tom Hanks plays yet another all American, this time the captain who is ordered to take a small band of men to find Ryan. His performance was strong, yet I was not truly blown away as I expected to be. Perhaps I have come to expect too much of the great Mr. Hanks. The support cast are also intense, and include Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg and Barry Pepper. Special mention goes to Tom Sizemore as Sargeant Horvath, Jeremy Davies as the timid Corporal Upham and Matt Damon, credible as the last of the Ryan brothers. Ted Danson and Dennis Farina drop in as senior officers.
Spielberg has again teamed with "Schindler's" cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, and the results are astounding. The opening sequence is particularly breathtaking. John Williams is of course the only choice for original score. In this impacting picture, I barely noticed his composition. That probably indicates how good it was. Art direction and set decoration are both awesome.
The enormity of the film cannot be denied, neither I suppose can its importance. With all my reservations, it is one of the first - if not the first - movies not to gloss over World War II. It is for this reason I must recommend all those who can handle it go and see it; and it is also why I find it so hard to mark this film down.
Sunday, December 13, 1998 - Bairnsdale Cinemas
There are two ways to look at "Saving Private Ryan". Technicallly and philosophically. Let me address both briefly.
Technically the film has few faults. Certainly, cinematography, sound effects and sets are all astounding. You cannot be anything but blown away by the opening sequence. Spielberg shows again he is a master craftsman, able to bring any vision from within his imagination to the silver screen. He takes this simple story of an unusual rescue mission in the middle of World War II, and turns it into an unforgettable movie experience. Tom Hanks is amazing as Captain Miller, playing with perfect understatement the weary commanding officer who must lead his band of eight men in search of Private Ryan. In impressive support is Tom Sizemore, fantastic as the tough sarge who backs Miller all the way. An excellent support cast back these two compellingly.
Philosophically, I have argued before that this film was brilliant yet unnecessary; that we have seen enough graphic anti-war films and that this was one too many. On second viewing, it is very hard to keep this argument up. Even if we have seen a dozen films such as this, "Saving Private Ryan" is still a very important film. Why? It shows us the horror that war is. The waste, the destruction and the total futility of the whole thing. Why do we keep destroying each other like this? What is wrong with us? I still argue that "Schindler's List" was a more important film, and perhaps a better one. This film rates right up there though.
Saturday, January 8, 2000 - Video