SAVING PRIVATE RYAN REVIEW!!! - VETERAN'S DAY WEEKEND

Initial release date: July 24, 1998

Studios: DreamWorks/Paramount/Amblin Entertainment/Mutual Film Company

Tagline: In the Last Great Invasion of the last Great War, The Greatest Danger for Eight Men was Saving … One

Plot: Captain John Miller takes his men behind enemy lines to find Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have been killed in combat. Surrounded by the brutal realities of war, while searching for Ryan, each man embarks upon a personal journey and discovers their own strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honor, decency and courage.

Cast

Tom Hanks - Captain Miller

Tom Sizemore - Sgt. Horvath

Edward Burns - Private Reiben

Barry Pepper - Private Jackson

Adam Goldberg - Private Mellish

Vin Diesel - Private Caparzo

Giovanni Ribisi - T/4 Medic Wade

Jeremy Davies - Corporal Upham

Matt Damon - Private Ryan

Ted Danson ) - Captain Hamill

Paul Giamatti - Sgt. Hill

Dennis Farina - Lt. Col. Anderson

Writer: Robert Rodat (The Catcher Was a Spy)

Director: Steven Spielberg (Ready Player One; The Post; West Side Story; The Fabelmans)

Rated R for intense prolonged realistically graphic sequences of war violence, and for language (169 min)

There are so many WWII movies out there that are really incredible. But, a WWII movie that came out in 1998 blew everyone away. That film was ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ With starting my Veteran’s Day slate, I figured that this would be the perfect film to kick the slate off.

‘Saving Private Ryan’ is, without a doubt, one of the best films of all time. The entire feature is extremely tense and is filled with numerous emotional moments.

The incredible opening sequence featuring the D-Day invasion is exceedingly moving, a little tough to watch at times, and, yes, graphic. The opening scene also was heavily praised by critics, general audiences and WWII vets.

The acting is also truly amazing and you really feel for the characters throughout the feature. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is also really realistic with its visuals, which makes it even more compelling.

No matter how many times you have watched this WWII epic, you will be moved right until the very end. If you haven’t seen it, make sure to check it out! Available to rent through YouTube, Google Play, Vudu and Apple TV and also available through Redbox On Demand.

Here are quite a few interesting tidbits about ‘Saving Private Ryan’:

• Spielberg cast Damon as Ryan because he wanted an unknown actor with an All-American look. He didn’t know Damon would win an Oscar for writing ‘Good Will Hunting’ and became an overnight star before the film was released.

• The Omaha Beach scene cost $11 million to shoot, and involved up to 1,000 extras, some of whom were members of the Irish Army Reserve. Of those extras, 20 or 30 of them were amputees, issued with prosthetic limbs, to play soldiers who had their limbs blown off.

• All the principal actors, except for Matt Damon, underwent several days of grueling army training. Damon was spared so that the other actors would resent him and would convey that feeling in their performances.

• The Omaha Beach battle was filmed in sequence over a four week period, moving the action up the beach shot by shot and day by day. Spielberg claims that none of it was storyboarded in advance.

• Spielberg claimed that he considered the film a passion project as a gift to his aging father, a WWII vet. He further claimed that he made the picture against his commercial instincts, believing there wouldn’t be a wide audience for a WWII movie with graphic violence, and was pleased when it became a blockbuster hit.

• Cinemas were instructed to up the volume when they showed the film, as the sound effects play a crucial part in its overall effect.

• In 2006 Tom Hanks was inducted into the US Army’s Ranger Hall of Fame as an honorary member, largely thanks to his portrayal of Capt. John Miller.

• Spielberg requested that no one gain admittance to the movie once it had already begun, just as Hitchcock did during the release of ‘Psycho.’

• This film losing out to ‘Shakespeare in Love’ for Best Picture is often named one of the greatest Oscar controversies in the history of the award show. Many industry people attributed the latter’s win to its producer Harvey Weinstein incessantly lobbying for his movie with Academy voters, while attacking this film’s historical inaccuracies.

• The role of Caperzo was written just for Vin Diesel, after Spielberg saw Diesel’s 1997 indie film ‘Strays,’ which was also his directorial, writing, producing and lead acting debut.

• The highest grossing film of 1998 in the US. It was also the last R-rated film to lead the yearly box office until 2014s ‘American Sniper,’ which coincidentally, also had a military theme.

• Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford were both considered for the role of Capt. Miller, before Spielberg decided on casting Tom Hanks.

• Shot in 59 days. The beach scene alone took 25 days.

• Capt. Miller’s hand is often shown shaking throughout the film. Parts cut from the original script suggest this is a physical symptom of PTSD.

• Ranked No. 8 on the AFIs list of the top ten greatest films in the genre “Epic” in 2008.

• Ranked No. 10 on the AFIs 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time (2006).

• In 1994, writer Robert Rodat’s wife gave him the bestseller ‘D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of WWII’ by historian Stephen Ambrose. While reading the book during an early morning walk in a small New Hampshire village, Rodat was “struck by a monument dedicated to those who had died in various wars, particularly because of the repeated last names of brothers who were killed in action.”

• ‘Saving Private Ryan’ was released in 2,463 theaters on July 24, 1998, and grossed $30.5 million on its opening weekend, opening to No. 1 and remained at the top for four weeks until ‘Blade’ topped the film in its fifth week of release.

• The film grossed $216.5 million domestically and $265.3 million in other territories, bringing its worldwide total to $481.8 million.

• Today, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. The film has been frequently lauded as an influential work in the war film genre and is credited with contributing to a resurgence in America’s interest in WWII. Old and new films, video games and novels about the war enjoyed renewed popularity after its release.

• In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

• The film has also received critical acclaim for its realistic portrayal of WWII combat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CiW_DgxCnQ