The Road To Dunkirk: Saving Private Ryan
- Jul 18, 2017
- 2 min read
On July 20th Christopher Nolan's WW2 Thriller, Dunkirk, lands in cinemas. To prepare yourselves, and myself, for what will likely be a wholly memorable war film, each day until release I'll be reviewing some of my favourite WW2 films. Now it's time to take a look at was is often considered to be the greatest war movie of all time, a film whose qualities outweigh its shortcomings, Saving Private Ryan.
Following the D-Day invasion, 3 mean are left dead, each of them brothers. The fourth brother, one Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) is missing, somewhere behind enemy lines. Atop Omaha Beach Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) is given his mission. He and seven men will make their way to Private Ryan's position and bring him home. Private Ryan has earned himself a free pass, but is keeping what's left of his family together worth the lives of eight other men?
Saving Private Ryan will be forever remembered for the mark it left on cinema. No necessarily for its writing, its acting or its direction, but for its raw and brutal depiction of war. While all these other elements are excellently done, as one would expect from Spielberg, the battle sequences, particularly the finale and the highly praised D-Day landing will likely never be forgotten. But the impact of these scenes is something of a curse, for the remainder of the film feels lesser for it.
From the moment Captain Miller receives his orders, the film slows to a crawl. As he and his men walk across France, it's nothing but talk, character building and the occasional action scene. While this is all very well done, it feels as though it's taking place at the end of the film. It's a strange thing, to critisize a film for having one of the best openings ever, but Saving Private Ryan would be a better movie without it.
Saving Private Ryan is a really good movie. It has some of the best character and action moments in any war movie. It's easy to recommend it and yet, it isn't without its flaws. While it has earned praise, it hasn't earned as much as it gets.
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