Saving Private Ryan Reviews
Film4
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.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Common Sense Media
Bloody, tragic war epic doesn't hold back.
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| Original Score: 4/5
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.
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| Original Score: 10/10
AskMen.com
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
Full Review
| Original Score: 94/100
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Private Ryan resembles the director's other so-called mature efforts by putting a positive spin on unspeakable horrors.
BDK Reviews
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.
| Original Score: 5/5
Top CriticNo further commentary is needed when the raw brutality of combat is presented as indelibly as it is here.
Combustible Celluloid
Saving Private Ryan is an incredible movie, a near-masterpiece.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
FulvueDrive-in.com
The opening 30 minutes are so devastating that much of what follows ends up feeling anticlimactic. Good, but overrated.
| Original Score: 7/10
EmanuelLevy.Com
The movie epitomizes the paradox of all great filmmaking: It's a thrillingly violent war drama about an unbearably painful subject.
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| Original Score: A-
Film Threat
Neither wholly condemning war, nor spouting patriotism, Spielberg shows us the price we pay.
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| Original Score: 5/5
Reeling Reviews
Saving Private Ryan is a first-class war movie with some absolutely brilliant, gut-wrenching moments, especially the beginning minutes.
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| Original Score: A-
Looking Closer
Most of the film is an accomplished, visionary work.
| Original Score: A
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
It's Spielberg at his best, although the movie doesn't match the primal thrills of Jaws or the overwhelming excellence of Schindler's List.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
rec.arts.movies.reviews
Even the music score by John Williams, one of the most important ingredients of Spielberg's magic formula, is hardly memorable. The acting, on the other hand, is very good.
Full Review | Original Score: 7/10
AboutFilm.com
The first half hour alone forever redefines the war movie genre. Ryan has just one minor flaw: the plot is completely contrived. And if you can characterize a weak story as just a minor flaw... well, that's some damn fine filmmaking.
| Original Score: A
TV Guide's Movie Guide
The movie's greatest strength lies in phenomenal performances that reach from the leads right down to the smallest supporting roles...
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Palo Alto Weekly
The platoon is an unlikely combination of heroes, cowards and crusaders.
| Original Score: 3/4
Laramie Movie Scope
One of the best war films ever made. You don't just see it, you live through it. You survive it and after it, you feel like you know just a little bit what it is like to be in a war.
Full Review
| Original Score: A
Film Quips Online
This film does for World War II what Platoon and The Deer Hunter did for Vietnam. It takes you there.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
