Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” is a widely appreciated war movie, rated among the 10 greatest films made under this particular genre. But it’s not entirely based on the theme of war between two countries. In fact it has a more emotional and human plot to deal with talking about a family of four brothers who are all brave soldiers posted at different places in the war. Unfortunately three of them die on the warfront leaving the fourth brother, Private Ryan, still fighting unaware of the cruel truth at an unknown location.
After learning that Ryan is the only bread earner left in the family, the government decides to find him and send him back to his lonely mother on humanitarian grounds. But the problem is that they don’t exactly know whether he is still alive or at what place he actually is behind the enemy lines. Hence a rescue mission is planned to find Ryan and bring him back. The search is led by a Captain (Tom Hanks) with a squad of few men who are not at all happy with the idea of risking their own lives for one person alone. And that’s what gives rise to the name “Saving Private Ryan”.
Along with its unique plot, the other appealing merit of the movie is its opening beach attack sequence brilliantly shot in a highly realistic style. The first hand war experience simply stuns the viewer with its shocking and bold execution where bodies are falling on ground every second like nothing. And those few brutal minutes in the movie are sure going to blow you mind away like never before. In the acting department, along with his impressive supporting cast, Tom Hanks once again gives a splendid performance as the Captain who was a teacher before joining the Army. The movie won 5 Oscars for the Best Director, Cinematography, Editing, Effects & Sound in the year 1999.
However, I was not able to appreciate the movie a lot on its emotional content as it lacked the famous human touch associated with the name of Spielberg. But still I liked it’s out of the routine story-plot executed in an excellent way by the director, which unarguably converted the movie into a not to be missed experience. If you are a diehard fan of the war genre, then you must have already seen the movie in the first place. But if you haven’t seen it yet, then just go for it as your next choice of a war epic.
Directed By Steven Spielberg
Starring : Tom Hanks, Vin Diesel, Matt Damon & more
