steven spielberg 's second epic film on world war ii is an unquestioned masterpiece of film .
spielberg , ever the student on film , has managed to resurrect the war genre by producing one of its grittiest , and most powerful entries .
he also managed to cast this era 's greatest answer to jimmy stewart , tom hanks , who delivers a performance that is nothing short of an astonishing miracle .
for about 160 out of its 170 minutes , " saving private ryan " is flawless .
literally .
the plot is simple enough .
after the epic d - day invasion ( whose sequences are nothing short of spectacular )
, capt .
john miller ( hanks )
and his team are forced to search for a pvt .
james ryan ( damon ) , whose brothers have all died in battle .
once they find him , they are to bring him back for immediate discharge so that he can go home .
accompanying miller are his crew , played with astonishing perfection by a group of character actors that are simply sensational .
barry pepper , adam goldberg , vin diesel , giovanni ribisi , davies , and burns
are the team sent to find one man , and bring him home .
the battle sequences that bookend the film are extraordinary .
literally .
there is nothing in film that has ever been recorded that will prepare you for the sheer onslaught of terrorizing violence in the film 's first 20 minutes .
spielberg films almost the entire movie without music , leaving it up to the characters to generate emotion , and they do to perfection .
the sequences in france , all of them , beginning with the battle and ending with the battle , are fabulous , especially the dialogues between the men as they walk through the hills and countrysides , trying to save private ryan .
there are no words i can use to describe the true horror and power of these sequences .
this is what coppola was looking for in " apocalypse now " , but could n't create .
the sheer horror of these sequences all but condemn war .
the performance by hanks as the leader of this gang is also extraordinary .
he is head and shoulders above of the rest of the actors in the world , with his comic timing , dramatic flair , his quiet emotion that stirs an entire nation to tears .
hanks is this country 's finest actor , and he proves it here .
however , spielberg almost destroys his own masterpiece .
with a chance to make it the one of the greatest films of all time , spielberg creates 10 minutes of purely worthless film .
the sequence involving army chief - of - stafff george marshall and mrs .
ryan is decent , but does n't hold up to the rest of the film , relying on wartime cliches to power it .
but that is forgivable .
what is n't is the bookends of the film , the cemetary sequences .
the first one is quite good , a decent introduction into the lives of these men .
the last sequence is atrocious .
the forced emotion , accompanied by a ridiculous piece of music , is simply horrible compared to the rest of the magical film .
these flaws are what downgrade " ryan " from the greatest film of our era , to the greatest war film of our era .
spielberg should have trusted his own material , and he should have trusted hanks to deliver the most chilling line of the movie , to end his masterpiece right there .
the use of the flag , though patriotic , is in contrast to the movie 's theme .
the power of the bulk of the film , however , is astonishing .
spielberg has truly made a wondrous work of art , that persists even after first viewing of the film , is extraordinary .
this is the film of the year .
Output: P