Saving Private Ryan

Starring: Tom Hanks
Director: Steven Speilberg
Genre: Drama
Year: 1998
Rating: 5 / 5

Reviewed by Guest Scribe Harpoon.

William Tecumseh Sherman is famous for the saying "war is hell." Steven Spielberg, in his latest masterpiece, Saving Private Ryan, could not have made that any clearer. Saving Private Ryan is the story of one man, Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have all been killed within a week of each other during World War II. The screenplay is inspired by the story of the Sullivan Brothers, five brothers who were killed when their ship was sunk by Japanese forces in November 1942. From thereafter, the US military made it policy to never let that happen again, assigning relatives to different units, so that a family could not be wiped out in one fell swoop. Despite this, in Private Ryan, James’ brothers die, leaving him the sole surviving son. From the very highest levels of the Army, it is decided that James must be brought home, but that created the problem of finding him. That job fell to a squad of eight men, led by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), who were ordered to go behind enemy lines, find Ryan, and then bring him out.

We first meet Capt. Miller in a landing craft as it approaches Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy on June 6th, 1944. Miller is the commander of Company "C", 2nd Ranger Battalion. His troops are the vanguard of the largest amphibious invasion ever, one that marked the invasion of Adolf Hitler’s Fortress Europe and the Allied drive to defeat Germany. What follows for the next thirty minutes is the finest battle scene ever filmed. Using a handheld camera, Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography captures the randomness and sheer terror of war and makes it seem that we, the audience, are landing on Omaha right alongside the troops as they first hit the beach under tremendous enemy fire. Time seems to slow down as Miller struggles to rally his troops and gain a toehold in France. Ultimately that goal is achieved, but only at a great price in blood.

At this point we learn the story of the Ryans. Two of James’ brothers were also killed in the Normandy landings, with the third killed a week earlier in the South Pacific. Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall, decides to bring Private James Ryan home. Ryan, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, is also in Normandy, dropped with his unit behind enemy lines to secure vital positions that guard the beachheads. The mission to locate Ryan falls on Capt. Miller’s shoulders. He is to pick eight men from what is left of his unit to search for what he calls "a needle in a stack of needles." Miller’s men are a slice of America: an Italian (Vin Diesel), a city kid (Edward J. Burns), a Jew (Adam Goldberg), a southern religious sharpshooter (Barry Pepper), a medic (Giovanni Ribisi), the burly sergeant (Tom Sizemore), and finally a green translator (Jeremy Davies), who is pressed into duty because both of Miller’s translators are dead. Miller and his squad set off behind enemy lines to find Ryan, a mission that none of the men care for.

As they search for Ryan, we slowly get to better know Miller and his men. We learn that they are really nobody special, and that there are no heroes in this group. They are each your average American Joe, who like many others their age, were drafted into service and trained to fight this battle. They are citizen soldiers who, while doing their part in the "Good War," simply want to live so they can go home. Tom Hanks gives another Oscar-caliber performance as the "everyman," a role that does not seem to fit the popular notion of a hero. But perhaps this is what draws us to Hanks’ Miller, who is just as human as the next guy, but still has to have a command presence. This paradox is cleverly illustrated by the squad’s pool, where the winner takes all if they can guess what the Captain does for a living back home. Hanks is joined by an excellent cast that also includes Matt Damon, who plays the elusive Private Ryan. Jeremy Davies gives a remarkable performance as the terrified translator, Corporal Upham. He, like the audience, is thrust into combat for the first time, and perhaps, is just as scared and transfixed as the rest of us. With a great cast, excellent cinematography, and an impressive musical score by John Williams, Spielberg spins a powerful epic that questions not only our views of war, but also of what makes these eight men risk their lives for one man.

Ultimately, Spielberg’s message is not hard to get across: war is brutal and not fun. All too often, in a society familiar with violence, we lose sight of this, and by two of the best combat scenes ever made, Saving Private Ryan reminds us of this. But this film is not simply about the horrors of war, it is a story of men and sacrifices. And no other movie about war does this as well as Saving Private Ryan.

Cast:

Tom Hanks..........	Captain Miller
Edward Burns..........	Private Reiben
Tom Sizemore..........	Sergeant Horvath
Matt Damon..........	Private Ryan
Barry Pepper..........	Private Jackson
Jeremy Davies..........	Corporal Upham

Certification: Rated R for strong language and excessive violence.
Running Time: 180 minutes.

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