Saving Private Ryan
1998
****
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Jeremy Davies, Adam Goldberg, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Dennis Farina, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti
After a blood-soaked landing on Omaha Beach, Captain Miller and a small unit of men are sent out to find and rescue private Ryan, whose three brothers have just fallen in combat. The mesmerising opening scene on the beach is brutal and intense, and just brilliantly shot, edited, and directed. The downside is that nothing in the remaining two hours can quite live up to it. While Steven Spielberg beautifully stages some of the longest and fiercest battle scenes in cinematic history, he loses the big picture in the process. This is most definitely not an anti-war film. Academy Awards winner for best director, editing, cinematography, sound, and sound effects editing.
