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Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

tomatometer

93

Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 95
Fresh: 88 | Rotten: 7

Anchored by another winning performance from Hanks, Spielberg's unflinchingly realistic war film virtually redefines the genre.

90

Average Rating: 8.1/10
Critic Reviews: 20
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 2

Anchored by another winning performance from Hanks, Spielberg's unflinchingly realistic war film virtually redefines the genre.

audience

92

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 892,013

My Rating

Movie Info

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

R, 2 hr. 50 min.

Drama, Action & Adventure

Robert Rodat

Nov 2, 1999

Paramount Pictures

Cast

All Critics (95) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (97) | Rotten (7) | DVD (47)

No further commentary is needed when the raw brutality of combat is presented as indelibly as it is here.

September 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

I found it tediously manipulative despite its Herculean energy.

April 27, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comments (25)
New York Observer
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The greatest Steven Spielberg movie since the last great one? Sure.

July 12, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A powerful and impressive milestone in the realistic depiction of combat, Saving Private Ryan is as much an experience we live through as a film we watch on screen.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Saving Private Ryan is not a film that one takes pleasure in, or even enjoys in the usual sense, but rather, it's a movie that elicits a hushed admiration and an uneasy appreciation.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | Comment
Sacramento Bee
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Feels like the first truly honest attempt to deal with the horrors of combat - and the terrible responsibility shared by all survivors.

January 1, 2000 Comment
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Thanks to Hanks, and Spielberg's technical finesse, this develops into a powerful and potent portrayal of men at war, and those opening 20 minutes are worth the price of entry alone.

October 3, 2011 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Bloody, tragic war epic doesn't hold back.

December 15, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

The back of the box calls is "the movie that helped the world to remember," but Saving Private Ryan still suffers from a forgettable second act.

May 10, 2010 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment (1)
Slant Magazine

What, asks the film, is the worth of a single human soul? (Blu-ray Edition)

April 30, 2010 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

It deserved all the honors it received, looks and sounds great on Blu-ray, and safely remains among the best war movies of all time.

April 30, 2010 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

Saving Private Ryan set a new benchmark for realism in WWII films, and defined war movies for a generation. A film of scope and vision rarely experienced, its award-winning cinematography and sound editing helped convey the blood-chilling images of

February 17, 2010 Full Review Source: AskMen.com | Comment
AskMen.com

Private Ryan resembles the director's other so-called mature efforts by putting a positive spin on unspeakable horrors.

August 21, 2009 Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | Comment

Violent, harrowing, and horrific; you bet. This is not a movie to take your children to see, or even a date. And it's definitely not worth seeing alone. How the ratings board gave this movie an "R" rating is a mystery. Well, maybe not.

April 14, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | Comments (103)
ColeSmithey.com

I personally have never fought in a war before but I would go out on a limb and say that the first twenty minutes of the film may be the most realistic war scene I have seen.

January 2, 2009 Comment
BDK Reviews

It's forty minutes of steely violence and two hours of cliche-ridden flab.

August 18, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comments (38)
eFilmCritic.com

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.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comments (25)

Saving Private Ryan is an incredible movie, a near-masterpiece.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

The opening 30 minutes are so devastating that much of what follows ends up feeling anticlimactic. Good, but overrated.

March 4, 2006 Comments (2)
FulvueDrive-in.com

The movie epitomizes the paradox of all great filmmaking: It's a thrillingly violent war drama about an unbearably painful subject.

December 11, 2005 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Saving Private Ryan

I remember when "Saving Private Ryan" first hit theaters, some theaters banned children under 17 to go watch the movie, even with their parents. I still remember many of the stories of countless audience members walking out with shuddering and trembling hands as if they were enacted some part in the horrible battles of

October 13, 2010
Albert Kim

Super Reviewer

Saving Private Ryan. The best war film i've ever seen. Second only to Jurassic Park as my favorite of Spielberg's films. Tom Hanks plays his role excellently, and one I wouldn't expect him to do after watching Big. An amazing screenplay and realistic action sequences and one of the best ensemble casting i've ever seen.

October 30, 2011
Directors Cat
Directors Cat

Super Reviewer

    1. Capt. John Miller: You're the doctor! Tell us what you need!
    2. T/4 Medic Wade: I... could use... some more... of those painkillers...
    – Submitted by Jed G (7 days ago)
    1. Pvt. Caparzo: Really? You're gonna shoot me?
    2. Corporal Henderson: I'm gonna shoot you 'cause I don't like you!
    – Submitted by Jed G (7 days ago)
    1. T/4 Medic Wade: Momma... I'm comin' home... Momma... Momma... [dies]
    – Submitted by Jed G (7 days ago)
    1. Pvt. Caparzo: Don't shoot! Let 'em burn!
    – Submitted by Jed G (7 days ago)
    1. Capt. John Miller: Ryan... earn it. Earn it...
    – Submitted by Jed G (7 days ago)

Latest News for Saving Private Ryan

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Foreign Titles

  • Der Soldat James Ryan (DE)
  • Il faut sauver le soldat Ryan (FR)
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