Poster © DreamWorks Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
|
GenreDrama & War
RatedR
Runtime2 hr 49 mins
ReleasedJuly 24, 1998
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorSteven Spielberg
StarringTom Hanks, Edward Burns, Matt Damon
|
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Saving Private Ryan's Details | |
| Genre | Drama & War |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 07/24/1998 |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 2 hr 49 mins |
| Budget | Not reported |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Saving Private Ryan's Interests | |
| General | Helmets, dog tags, folded maps, canteens, rainy French villages, a very long walk inland. |
| Music | John Williams. His 'Hymn to the Fallen' is about as solemn as music gets. |
| Movies | The Thin Red Line (1998). Same year, same war, very different headspace. |
| Television | Band of Brothers. Hanks and Spielberg went back to Normandy for ten episodes. |
| Heroes | Captain Miller. The whole squad has a bet going on what he did before the war. |
| Saving Private Ryan's Crew | |
| Director | Steven Spielberg |
| Writers | Robert Rodat |
| Producers | Steven Spielberg, Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon, Gary Levinsohn |
| Cinematography | Janusz Kamiński |
| Music | John Williams |
| Edited By | Michael Kahn |
| Production | Amblin Entertainment, Mutual Film Company |
| Distributed By | DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures |
Start with the problem: the cemetery scenes that bookend Saving Private Ryan tell you how to feel after the movie has already made you feel it. Everything between them is some of the most serious filmmaking Hollywood has ever attempted. Steven Spielberg puts you on Omaha Beach through the noise, the confusion and the fear, and he never once makes it look exciting. Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller as a decent man holding himself together with routine and a steady voice. The squad argues about the mission the whole way, and the movie respects them enough to let that question hang. Jeremy Davies, as the translator who never wanted to be there, is the hardest character to watch and maybe the most honest. It runs 169 minutes and earns them. It made $482.4 million worldwide on a reported $70 million. A 9.1 because it honors the people who were there without turning them into posters. $719 says you stay put through the end credits, and nobody in the room talks until they finish.
What works: Spielberg’s unflinching, chaotic battle filmmaking and Tom Hanks as a quietly worn down leader.
What doesn’t: The present day cemetery bookends are heavy handed and spell out an emotion the rest of the film earns on its own.
Who it’s for: Adults and older teens ready for an intense, honest war film, and anyone with a family member who served.
Spoilers
They find Ryan, but he refuses to leave his unit, so Miller’s squad stays to defend a bridge. Miller is fatally wounded in the battle and tells Ryan to earn what they did for him. The old man in the cemetery is Ryan, asking his wife whether he lived a good life.
June 6, 1944. Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) and his men make it off Omaha Beach on D-Day, and their reward is a brand new job. Back in Washington, the Army learns that a mother in Iowa has lost three sons in the war, so it wants her fourth, paratrooper James Ryan (Matt Damon), found and sent home. Problem: he dropped into Normandy somewhere behind enemy lines, and nobody knows where. Miller sets out with his sergeant, Mike Horvath (Tom Sizemore), a handful of soldiers and a nervous translator, Timothy Upham (Jeremy Davies). Steven Spielberg directs. One hundred seventy minutes, one long walk through Normandy.
Private James Francis Ryan of Iowa. Eight guys walked a very long way to find you.
| Tom Hanks | John H. Miller |
| Edward Burns | Richard Reiben |
| Tom Sizemore | Mike Horvath |
| Jeremy Davies | Timothy Upham |
| Vin Diesel | Adrian Caparzo |
| Adam Goldberg | Stanley "Fish" Mellish |
| Barry Pepper | Daniel Jackson |
| Giovanni Ribisi | Irwin Wade |
| Matt Damon | James Francis Ryan |
| Dennis Farina | Walter Anderson |
| Ted Danson | Fred Hamill |
| Harve Presnell | George C. Marshall |
| Bryan Cranston | I.W. Bryce |
| David Wohl | T. E. Sanders |
| Nathan Fillion | James Frederick Ryan |
| Paul Giamatti | William Hill |
| Ryan Hurst | Michaelson |
| Max Martini | Henderson |
| Leland Orser | DeWindt |