Best Pure Filmmaking I've Ever Seen

Rating: Null/10 (20 June 2002)

Saving Private Ryan is simply the best pure filmmaking I've ever encountered in a lifetime in the Biz. The Normandy sequences use every technique possible to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat, and maybe hiding their heads. Spielberg uses solarization and strobing combined with hand-held shots to put the viewer in the living hell of the invasion. The story, the characters, rung true. This is the way people were before PC and during WWII. Ethnicities that seem exaggerated, were very much in evidence at that time and Spielberg wasn't about to make a post-modern war picture. This is Sands of Iwo Jima / Guadalcanal Diary but realistically portrayed. It made one think if they would be so brave as to ride those tiny LST's to the beach, knowing what was waiting for them.
For those who wonder why it didn't win Best Picture, I say, wake up! Do you think the Academy is a pure democracy? Is it not possible that other less talented members are simply jealous of the consistently fine work that has put Steven Spielberg atop his profession? Academy Awards are simply the product of the likes and dislikes of each member of the Motion Picture Academy - nothing more. They weren't handed down from Mt. Sinai and anybody who believes the world is a fair place should open their eyes. 10/10 ***** An experience.