Saving Private Ryan follows the story of Captain John Miller Played by Tom Hanks as he takes his men behind enemy lines to find Private James Ryan played by Matt Damon, whose three brothers have been killed in combat. Surrounded by the brutal side of war, while searching for Ryan, each man has their own personal journey and discovers their own strength to fight for a future with honor, decency and courage.

Named one of the greatest war films of all time and winner of 5 Oscars in 1998 including Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Effects/ Sound Effects Editing. Saving Private Ryan does not shy away from the horrors of war. A very heartfelt but brutal movie Saving Private Ryan is very well written, shot, edited, and directed as the Oscars won were well deserved.

Every soldier has almost equal screen time with very personal stories in between intense battle sequences as you can feel chemistry between the actors which is mostly due to the writing. This film was written masterfully, as the background of World War II sets the stage for great dialogue between all of the characters which makes them seem very human and not one note throw-away characters.

Tom Hanks delivers a great performance as Captain Miller as you see that the war has really effected him and especially in the opening with the Normandy Beach battle. Miller is also the only soldier whose backstory is mentioned as he is a formal school teacher who just want to get home to his wife. As I mentioned every soldier has a personal story to share which taps into the more emotional side of the movie that makes you sympathize with them and helps distract from the brutal reality of war.

The battle sequences are what contribute to it being named on of the best war films of all time. The Normandy Battle sequence captures the horrors of that day as so many mistakes led to over 425,000 Allied and German troops being killed. The movie does not hold back from violence as men are waling around without limbs or half of their bodies missing. The rest of the movie has some fictional battles but are still as great and realistic as the first. Saving Private Ryan was loosely based off a man who was in one of the missed landings on the beach and had a team of men rescue him. Saving Private Ryan isn’t just a great war film but a great film in general. It is a very brutal but emotional movie that I happily give a 10/10.