#193: Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Robert Rodat
Starring Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Jeremy Davies.

Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest American filmmakers of all time, no doubt about it. Every time he releases a stinker it still usually looks good and is put together in a professional manner. So when he releases one that is good, it sometimes feels great just from the sheer mastery he brings to a production.

Then he will make a great film almost superhuman. Saving Private Ryan is one of them, but certainly not the only one.

Think back to when you first saw the opening sequence. If your jaw wasn't on the floor then I question your expectations or what more you could have wanted. It's raw and gritty, more in your face than any scene of warfare ever shown in a film. Yes, some war movies did a better job of putting faces to the characters and showcasing theme but none of them have the adrenaline of Saving Private Ryan.

It's an adventure movie set in World War 2. Spielberg straps you in, gives you a moment or two to catch your breath while the soldiers pontificate about their lives back home and then it's back into the shit.

It's like a well written pop song. There are verses and choruses and it's very straightforward but because it has the hooks (in this case the entertainment value) it's a wonderful achievement.

It's also the first movie where I thought Matt Damon was anything more than a pretty boy. I liked Good Will Hunting fine enough, but as he's gone through his career he keeps proving to me that he is not a one-trick pony and this is where all that started.

This is the first Spielberg flick on the countdown, but I assure you it's not the last.