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About this movie

Genres:
Action & Adventure, Drama
Language:
English
Running time:
2:49:27
Partner rating:
R
Released:
Quality:
480 (DVD equivalent)

Cast & Crew

Cast

  1. Tom Hanks Capt. John Miller
  2. Edward Burns Private Richard Reiben
  3. Tom Sizemore Sgt. Horvath
  4. Jeremy Davies Cpl. Upham
  5. Vin Diesel Pvt. Caparzo
  6. Adam Goldberg Pvt. Mellish
  7. Barry Pepper Pvt. Jackson
  8. Giovanni Ribisi T/4 Medic Wade
  9. Matt Damon Pvt. James Ryan
  10. Dennis Farina Lt. Col. Anderson

Directors

  1. Steven Spielberg

Producers

  1. Steven Spielberg
  2. Ian Bryce
  3. Mark Gordon
  4. Gary Levinsohn

Writers

  1. Steven Spielberg

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Saving Private Ryan

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Trailer for Saving Private Ryan

Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and GIs in a landing craft making the June 6, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American soldiers is dep... Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and GIs in a landing craft making the June 6, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American soldiers is depicted in a compelling, unforgettable 24-minute sequence. Miller's men slowly move forward to finally take a concrete pillbox. On the beach littered with bodies is one with the name "Ryan" stenciled on his backpack. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell), learning that three Ryan brothers from the same family have all been killed in a single week, requests that the surviving brother, Pvt. James Ryan (Matt Damon), be located and brought back to the United States. Capt. Miller gets the assignment, and he chooses a translator, Cpl. Upham (Jeremy Davis), skilled in language but not in combat, to join his squad of right-hand man Sgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore), plus privates Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), cynical Reiben (Edward Burns) from Brooklyn, Italian-American Caparzo (Vin Diesel), and religious Southerner Jackson (Barry Pepper), an ace sharpshooter who calls on the Lord while taking aim. Having previously experienced action in Italy and North Africa, the close-knit squad sets out through areas still thick with Nazis. After they lose one man in a skirmish at a bombed village, some in the group begin to question the logic of losing more lives to save a single soldier. The film's historical consultant is Stephen E. Ambrose, and the incident is based on a true occurance in Ambrose's 1994 bestseller D-Day: June 6, 1944.

Reviews by Rotten Tomatoes

Scored 'fresh' by Rotten Tomatoes

93%Tomatometer score: 93% positive reviews from professional critics.

percent positive reviews

  1. Positive review
    Todd McCarthy, Variety No further commentary is needed when the raw brutality of combat is presented as indelibly as it is here. Full review External link
  2. Negative review
    Andrew Sarris, New York Observer I found it tediously manipulative despite its Herculean energy. Full review External link
  3. Negative review
    Derek Adams, Time Out Why did Spielberg make it? He wants us to imagine we can feel the terror of being there, but does that make us any wiser about this or any other conflict? Probably not. Full review External link
  4. Positive review
    Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail The greatest Steven Spielberg movie since the last great one? Sure. Full review External link
  5. Positive review
    Almar Haflidason, BBC This is an important film that deconstructs war machines into separate, frightened men as it so likely was. Full review External link

Read more reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

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