Few Hollywood war movies match the brilliance and power of Steven Spielberg’sSaving Private Ryan.In this 1998 war film, Tom Hanks stars as U.S. Army Captain John H. Miller, a man sent to rescue a soldier currentlydeployed during World War IIduring the Normandy Invasion.Matt Damon is Private Ryan, and by U.S. military orders, once his three brothers died in action, he was to be sent home to his family as the last survivor. Capt. Miller has to get a troop of soldiers through enemy fire to rescue and pull Ryan out.
When this film arrived, Spielberg’s career saw him alternating between popcorn fare and serious releases, with his four previous films beingJurassic Park,Schindler’s List,The Lost World: Jurassic Park, andAmistad. The film marked a departure as it wastwo serious Spielberg historical films in a row, but what resulted was one of the director’s masterpieces, a war movie with a spectacular cast thatwent on to earn 11 Oscar nominations.Spielberg won Best Director but shockinglylost Best Picture toShakespeare in Love.Despite that,Saving Private Ryanhas a superior legacy all these years later.
Saving Private Ryan Is Still Cinema’s Most Influential War Movie
The Movie Influenced Other Movies, TV Shows, Video Games, & More
While few people talk aboutShakespeare in Loveanymore, the Library of CongressaddedSaving Private Ryanto the National Film Registryas “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” in 2014. The film more than deserved that honor. Not many war films have been as influential as Steven Spielberg’s classic. This is due to many things, including the emotional beats of the Army unit losing soldiers along the way and the realistic manner Spielberg directed the battle scenes.
In addition, the movie influenced many films, television shows, and even video games that came after it. The opening scene, with the storming of Normandy, was shot in a way that paid tribute to the classic Stanley Kubrick moviePaths of Glory,and everything since then has paid tribute to Spielberg’s version. Spielberg and Tom Hanksproduced the HBO seriesBand of Brothers, which owes its existence toSaving Private Ryan.The later series,The Pacific,also owes a lot to both war releases.
Saving Private Ryanhelped grow public interest in war movies again, resulting in everything fromClint Eastwood’sFlags of Our Fathersand Ridley Scott’sBlack Hawk Downto Quentin Tarantino’sInglorious Basterdsand the biopicAmerican Sniper.The filmmaking of this movie also helped influence everything from theCall of Dutyvideo game series to the giant battles in later superhero movies.
Why Saving Private Ryan Is As Powerful Now As It Was In 1998
The Steven Spielberg Movie Is A Hard, But Rewarding Watch
Almost 30 years after its release,Saving Private Ryanis as intense and powerful as when it was first released. When the film was first released, there were stories of veterans who began to see more counselors to deal with PTSD issues, reignited by the film’s battle scenes (viaPhilly.com). According to many war veterans, this film had the most realistic depiction of wartime battles of any movie, and that remains true to this very day.
This is a film about men fighting side-by-side, looking to keep each other alive.
Saving Private Ryanis about a group of soldiers sent in to bring a man home. However, that isn’t what makes this movie so powerful. Instead, this is a film about men fighting side-by-side, looking to keep each other alive and complete a mission. However, not everyone gets through this alive, and the deaths all hit hard because Steven Spielberg makes the viewers care about these men.Saving Private Ryanis not an easy watch. It is a hard movie to sit through, but it is rewarding and one of the best war movies ever made in Hollywood history.
