SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

Every once and a while, you should watch the epic war movie Saving Private Ryan.  I grew up with a dad who glamorized war movies.  He and I watched those old black and white patriotic WWII movies. My dad served his WWII duty in North Carolina, not to his fault. My dad glamorized the war. He thought about patriotism, he believed in the almighty America, and he thought about winning.  Just by chance, I watched Saving Private Ryan, one evening alone, for about the fifth time.

Saving Private Ryan has every aspect of war from the 20^th-century point of view (it is a 1998 film).  Even after watching the movie five times, it is still overwhelming. If my father watched this movie, he might have understood the 1960’s; he might have understood the antiwar movement – he may have understood what war is.  Unfortunately, my dad died in 1990. Dad did apologize for some of his biases in life. However, Saving Private Ryan would have changed him in ways he could never have comprehended.

Saving Private Ryan is a perfect war movie.  The story is executed for one person’s good (Private Ryan) and ended trying to save one good bridge (Ramelle).  The story is inconsequential.  Saving Private Ryan hits every emotion about how we think about war.  Saving Private Ryan shows how exhilarating war is, how strategic, brutal, heroic, calming, terrifying, and unforgiving; I can use many adjectives, but war will always have more adjectives. The feeling experienced during Saving Private Ryan is the story.

My dad would have been dumbfounded watching this movie; the war movie Saving Private Ryan would have changed his life, it would have moved him, and it would have made him a better person.

Every once and awhile, watch this epic war movie Saving Private Ryan; remember, grasp, and feel.

Movie Details

Director

Steven Spielberg

Writer

Robert Rodat

Actors

Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Ted Danson, Jeremy Davies, Paul Giamatti, Dennis Farina, Joerg Stadler, Max Martini, Dylan Bruno, Daniel Cerqueira, Demetri Goritsas, Ian Porter, Gary Sefton, Julian Spencer, Steve Griffin, William Marsh, Marc Cass, Markus Napier, Neil Finnighan, Peter Miles, Paul Garcia, Seamus McQuade, Ronald Longridge, Adam Shaw, Rolf Saxon, Corey Johnson, Loclann Aiken, John Barnett, Maclean Burke, Victor Burke, Aiden Condron, Paschal Friel, Shane Hagan, Paul Hickey, Shane Johnson, Laird Macintosh, Brian Maynard, Martin McDougall, Mark Phillips, Lee Aaron Rosen, Andrew Scott, Matthew Sharp, Vincent Walsh, Grahame Wood, John Sharian, Glenn Wrage, Crofton Hardester, Martin Hub, Raffaello Degruttola, Nigel Whitmey, Sam Ellis, Erich Redman, Tilo Keiner, Stephan Grothgar, Stephane Cornicard, Michelle Evans, Martin Beaton, Anna Maguire, Nathan Fillion, Leland Orser, Michael Mantas, David Vegh, Ryan Hurst, Nick Brooks, Sam Scudder, John Walters, Dorothy Grumbar, James Innes-Smith, Harve Presnell, Dale Dye, Bryan Cranston, David Wohl, Eric Loren, Valerie Colgan, Amanda Boxer, Harrison Young, Kathleen Byron, Rob Freeman, Thomas Gizbert, Nina Muschallik, Mac Steinmeier, Derek Lea, Leo Stransky, Vincent Ventresca

Runtime

2 h 49 min

Release Date

24 July 1998

Genres

Drama, History, War

Overview

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.