
Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fou... (Full plot summary below)
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Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother...
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| Chicago TribuneGene Siskel[Saving Private Ryan] accomplishes something I had been taught was most difficult -- making an action-filled anti-war film or, at least, one that doesn't in some way glorify or lie about combat. |
| Daily Telegraph (UK)Martin ChiltonSteven Spielberg's film is not perfect: it plays its strongest card first, the middle section is slightly uneven, and there are sallies into sentimentality. But it is a modern war classic. |
| Minneapolis Star TribuneJeff StricklerThe film is directed by Steven Spielberg, and breaks new ground in content and style. It merges some of the most realistically disturbing battle footage ever included in a feature film with a touching human story. |
| Baltimore SunAnn HornadayBy now we expect this level of performance and narrative competence from a Spielberg film. But what makes Saving Private Ryan a watershed is its emotional maturity. |
| South Florida Sun-SentinelTodd AnthonyIts dramatic shortcomings may demote Private Ryan from the ranks of battlefield classics, but the film explodes romantic notions of World War II like an artillery shell bursting through the center of your rib cage. |
| People MagazineLeah RozenAfter seeing Ryan, many of us will look at our aging fathers or grandfathers with a newfound respect. |
| SlateDavid EdelsteinWhat Steven Spielberg has accomplished in Saving Private Ryan is to make violence terrible again. Nothing in the movie's melodramatic narrative can diminish the shocking immediacy of its combat scenes. |
| Movie MetropolisJohn J. PuccioIt deserved all the honors it received, looks and sounds great on Blu-ray, and safely remains among the best war movies of all time. |
| Film ThreatRon WellsNeither wholly condemning war, nor spouting patriotism, Spielberg shows us the price we pay. |
| Looking CloserJeffrey OverstreetMost of the film is an accomplished, visionary work. |