Special Features:
Message from Steven Spielberg about a D-Day Museum  �  Documentary on the Making of the Film   �  Two Theatrical Trailers  �  Production Notes   �  Cast and Crew

FILM
Despite a couple of flaws this is an absolutely amazing movie. Let me get into the problems first and then I will get get back to the volumes of praise this film deserves. My first problem with the film is the opening and closing scenes at the cemetery. These try to pull at the strings a little too much for my taste and I don't think they really add anything to the movie. Spielberg uses a similar device in Schindler's List and it worked perfectly. Seeing some of the people that were really saved by Oscar Schindler was a huge emotional cap to that movie. In Saving Private Ryan I was more distracted by the hooters on the granddaughters. Problem number two is something I did not even realize until I read William Goldman's article in Premiere magazine right before the Oscars last year. At the end of  the opening sequence in the cemetery the camera dollies into the actors face and immediately cuts to the beach at Normandy. Anyway you look at it, from that camera move, what we are seeing next is that character's flashback. When we get to the end, we know this cannot be Private Ryan because he did not land on the beach at Normandy, he was air dropped inland. It is Private Ryan, which is a huge flaw in film grammar. For as technical of a filmmaker as Steven Spielberg is considered this is a terrible lapse in judgment. Problem number three is that the story plays too much like an old style Hollywood war tale. I agree with the premise of the film that huge sacrifices were made I just wish it had been a little less hokey.

The great director and D-day veteran, Sam Fuller, once said that in his war movies (The Big Red One, The Steel Helmet, Fixed Bayonets, etc.) he lied with the camera. When someone was shot in his films (as with most of the war films made in Hollywood) they just fell down dead, but in real life they were blown to pieces. Spielberg, with this film, went for the truth that Hollywood has always been afraid to give the audience. The assault on the beach, in my opinion, is one of the greatest feats of movie making ever put on film. I have never felt so in the middle of an action sequence in my life. When the door goes down on the first boat, as the troops hit the beach, the sequence of images that follow are something I will never forget. For the next twenty minutes the sense of disorientation, fear and pain surround the viewer. I do not think it is possible for a film to represent the chaos of war any better. 

The set up for the groups next mission is pure Spielberg (good or bad), but I have to say the army car approaching the mother's house was extremely moving in its simplicity. When the priest steps out of the car the mother knows exactly what it means. I especially liked the restraint that Spielberg showed here by staying back. The scene is emotional enough and did not need the exclamation point of a close-up of the mother crying. I wish he kept this restraint in some of the other parts of the film.

For the next couple of hours we get the group led by Tom Hanks walking the countryside searching for Private Ryan. The characters we get to know are broad without being stereotypes. Along the way they have to fight in a couple of skirmishes and in one of the most emotional scenes of the movie, the character played by Giovanni Rabisi is shot while assaulting a German radar station. We can tell from the wound that he is not going to make it and his death practically tears the group apart. A German soldier is captured in the assault and the set up for one of the hokier parts of the film is introduced. (When you get to the end of the movie you will know what I am talking about).

The character that I actually found the most interesting was the interpreter played by Jeremy Davies. Here is a man who does not belong in the middle of combat. He does not realize that in war you cannot always do the "right" thing. He is also a man who is frozen with fear at the absolute worst times. When he is needed the most he is not able to overcome his own fear and a couple of people die because of it. I like this character because most people watching the film want to believe that they would react with courage and bravery if put in the same situation. None of us know until we are there and this character makes us confront that possibility. Eventually he does find his "manhood" in a scene straight out of an early 40's war film. (No subtlety from Spielberg here.)

The group finally finds Ryan and he does not want to leave. For whatever reason I just didn't buy some of the decisions made by the characters in this part of the film. Eventually the group along with the remnants of Private Ryan's platoon fight the Germans. This scene is again one of the most amazing action sequences put on film. In many ways this sequence is more disturbing because we have gotten to know some of the people who are being blown to bits.

VIDEO
Flawless. The film is shot in muted colors and they are all reproduced perfectly. No digital artifacts and the grain levels are tied to the look of the film not anything that is added in the transfer. Dreamworks has not released many DVD's, but everyone I have seen looks fantastic. (I can't wait for the deluxe edition of American Beauty.)

AUDIO
The soundtrack on this film has some of the most amazing uses of the rear surrounds I have heard yet. The opening assault on the beach is a clinic in sound design. We get solid deep bass throughout the film and an overall dynamic range that will test every part of your system. The film won Oscar's for both sound and sound effects editing. You won't find a film more deserving of those two awards.

EXTRAS
Although there is no commentary, which is a major disappointment, I am glad that Dreamworks decided to include the documentary on the film. A film of this caliber deserves something a little more than a movie only disc. My hope is that sometime in the future a super deluxe two disc set will be made with a commentary, deleted scenes, special effects detail, and real D-Day background and footage. In the meantime I can live with what I've got.

SUMMARY
With all of my criticisms of the film you maybe surprised at how much I really do like it. This disc has to be considered a must have for every DVD player owner. It is reference quality all the way and the opening 20 minutes is worth the price in itself.