saving private ryan ( dreamworks ) running time : 2 hours 48 minutes .
starring tom hanks , edward burns , tom sizemore and matt damon directed by steven spielberg
already being hailed as the ' greatest war movie ever made , ' saving private ryan is an harrowing , saddening and riveting movie .
it may not be the greatest war movie in my opinion , but it 's certainly one of the best war movies made , and one of the best of 1998 .
tom hanks stars as a captain who 's troop has to find private ryan ( damon ) who has a ticket home because his three brothers have been killed in action .
action , drama and even some humour occur as the troop journeys through wartime france to find him .
after the disappointing amistad ( 1997 ) spielberg has returned to form with this excellent movie .
i 'm not the war movie genre biggest fan , but
i found this film to be gripping , and very scary , thanks to the excellent cast , direction and terrifying battle scenes .
tom hanks is superb , straying away from his usually soppy dramatic roles , such as in forrest gump ( 1994 ) .
this time , he plays the role with gritty realism , and is much better for it .
occasionally he overacts the sentimentally , but he generally delivers a fine performance .
edward burns , looking a lot like armageddon 's ben affleck , also delivers a top notch performance , moving away from his roles in films such as she 's the one ( 1996 ) tom sizemore makes less of an impact , but is still watchable , and matt damon reinforcing his position as one of the finest young actors working today .
spielberg directs very well , putting the audience right in the heart of the action of the battle scenes .
and what battle scenes they are !
they 're truly terrifying , yet the audience can not drag their eyes away from the screen
.
the battle scenes are filmed with a jerky hand - held camera , and the panic and confusion felt by the soldiers is emphasized by this technique .
the gore and violence is n't spared either , which body parts flying , and blood spurting .
this film is certainly not for kids and sensitive adults .
other factors help saving private ryan be a masterpiece of 90 's film making .
the cinematography is excellent , and the music score by john william 's is also superb .
it is never intrusive , and adds to the drama on - screen .
but while they are thousands of good things great about private ryan , there 's one major flaw that detracts the genius of the film : the writing .
it is unusually flat , with many of the speeches strangely weak .
the film never really makes any profound statements .
this is not a major gripe , as private ryan is a film of action , not words .
still , the script could of been a lot better .
thankfully , the actors help partly to rectify the situation with their great delivery of their lines .
saving private ryan , in the end , is an excellent film , but not the ' greatest war movie ' due to
it 's weak acting .
this film should be viewed by everyone who has the stomach for it , as it 's rewarding and extremely worthwhile .
it really should n't be missed , and dreamworks skg has finally found it 's first hit movie .
rewarding and extremely worthwhile . it really should n't be missed , and dreamworks skg has finally found it 's first hit movie reinforcing his position as one of the finest young actors generally delivers a fine performance the audience can not drag their eyes away from the screen i found this film to be gripping , and very scary , thanks to the excellent cast , direction and terrifying battle scenes superb should be viewed by everyone already being hailed as the ' greatest war movie ever made , ' saving private ryan is an harrowing , saddening and riveting movie one of the best returned to form with this excellent movie it is never intrusive , and adds to the drama on - screen he plays the role with gritty realism , and is much better for it an excellent film certainly one of the best delivers a top notch performance superb a masterpiece of 90 's film making directs very well excellent thankfully , the actors help partly to rectify the situation with their great delivery