Saving Private Ryan – 4/5 stars
Earn this
After his three other brothers are killed storming the beaches of Normandy, an order from the Chief of Staff is sent to bring Private Ryan (Matt Damon) home. This task is given to Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and his squad, including Sergeant Horvath (Tom Sizemore), Private Reiben (Edward Burns), Private Jackson (Barry Pepper), Private Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Private Caparzo (Vin Diesel), and Wade the Medic (Giovanni Ribisi), who must go behind enemy lines to find and retrieve him.
Well, I got another classic checked off my list. I’m sure that most of you have already seen this movie. Somehow, I haven’t, at least completely, so I’m glad I finally watched it for Memorial Day. One upside of quarantine is by not going to the theater, I’m getting to watch a lot more older movies I’ve wanted to check out for a while. Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) and was released July 24, 1998. I thought for it having come out 22 years ago, it still held up and was a great story. It had a runtime of 2h 49min, but I thought both the beginning and ending were very well done in showing what the war was actually like.
While it may not be my favorite war movie, I thought it was really well done in illustrating the horror and chaos that happened storming the beaches of Normandy. This is a famous event that I haven’t really seen done before in another war movie, and I’m not sure how it could be better illustrated than here.
It was cool seeing a lot of familiar faces, and I thought all of the actors performed their roles well, specifically with Tom Hanks and Matt Damon in mind.
(Spoilers)
I really liked the ending and how Hanks’ team sacrificed themselves to hold the bridge and save Ryan. I liked how, as he was dying, Hanks’ character told Damon’s to “earn this,” and to live a good life to honor their sacrifice. I thought this was a great movie for Memorial Day because it felt like he was also talking to me, and telling me to honor the sacrifice of all soldiers who died fighting for the freedoms I probably take for granted every day.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie and would rate it 4/5 stars. I thought it was all around well done and still holds up nearly 22 years after its release in showing the chaos and horror of war. Some other war movies I liked, like 1917 and Fury, I thought did a better job showing the men’s states of mind throughout war, while this movie really shined in showing the chaos and bloodshed of battle and the storming of the beaches of Normandy, which is something I’ve never really seen done before.