DVD Reviews

Saving Private Ryan – Blu-ray Review

By Patrick Luce May 13, 2010, 15:07 GMT

Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII\'s D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and GIs in a landing craft making the June 6, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American ...more

Saving Private Ryan makes its Blu-ray debut as part of the Sapphire Series and is well-worth the price of the upgrade from the DVD release.

The film looks amazing on the format and the 1080p high definition picture gives the movie a level of clarity that will bring a whole new appreciation for its commitment to production detail.

Written by Robert Rodat (The Patriot) and directed by Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan featured a great ensemble cast that was led by Tom Hanks and included Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Matt Damon, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, Dennis Farina, and Nathan Fillion.

Watching the film on Blu-ray (which was the first time I had seen it in probably five years), I was really impressed with how great this cast was in the film and how each of the young actors (it was Diesel’s third film and his first big budget studio flick) helped make their characters matter to the plot. The film may be about saving one man’s life in the middle of World War II, but this group of actors makes every character matter.

It was also extremely impressive the amount of detail that went into making the film. On Blu-ray, every little detail is brought out (such as the cracks in the leather of Tom Hanks’ helmet or the busted fingernail on Barry Pepper’s hand) and helps sell the authenticity of the movie. While some of these details don’t add to the story, they make each of the characters seem more real and therefore help the film’s plot be more believable.

Following a short scene in an American military cemetery in Normandy, the film flashes back to the beginning of the D-Day beach landing with Hanks’ Capt. John H. Miller and his squad quickly getting out of the landing boats and making their way up the beach. 

The opening minutes of the film show the horror of the landing and the huge sacrifice that was made by the troops. The beach landing takes up about 30 minutes, and instantly puts the film’s authenticity right in the audience’s face. Soldiers are torn apart by machine gun fire and explosions; there is mass confusion with no clear direction for the soldiers to follow; and several soldiers die just trying to get out of the water.

Once on the beach, Hanks and company make their way up to a machine gun bunker, and achieve their mission of opening up a section for more troops to land. Without out much time to rest (there is a great scene where a hungry Hanks is looking at all the food and coffee that the commanders have in their tent), Miller is given a special assignment that defies all logic.
 
It seems Mrs. Ryan’s three sons have all died in the fighting, and a fourth son was part of the group that parachuted behind enemy lines at the beginning of the D-Day invasion. The powers-that-be feel it is important for Pvt. James Francis Ryan (Damon) to get home to his mother and task Miller and a small squad from his company with going and getting him – even though Miller has no clear idea where he might be in all this mess.

The rest of the film features Miller and company as they move from place to place looking for Ryan, and getting in and out of scrapes along the way. The journey also cost Miller several of his men, tests their loyalty to each other, and makes them question just what they are doing in this war (there is a great scene where they debate whether it is right or wrong to execute a prisoner following the death of one of their own).  

The film never really drags with Spielberg breaking up some of the slower dialogue scenes (such as the rest in the chapel) with quick-paced action sequences (such as when they move through a town or take out a Nazi machine gun nest.

Upon reaching Ryan, the tired squad learns they have one more battle to face as they have to defend a small town and its bridge against the Nazis. They are greatly out-numbered and out-gunned, but still do their duty. The film ends with a dramatic and quiet moment that tugs on the heart and again puts the sacrifice of these soldiers right in the audience’s face.

Saving Private Ryan is arguably on of the best World War II films made and probably one of Spielberg’s greatest accomplishments as a director (in a career that is filled with great accomplishments).

Every aspect of this film (from the costume design by Joanna Johnston to the detailed production work of Tom Sanders) works together to sell this movie as one of the most accurate depictions of the D-Day invasion. Janusz Kaminski's cinematography gives the audience the soldier’s point-of-view of the invasion and captures every detail of the actors’ brilliant performances.

Hanks and his squad are all believable in their roles and the actors all seem to have the camaraderie the audience would expect from a group of soldiers that have been fighting together for some time. They also clearly show the stress and hardship these soldiers endured during the fighting and the toil each death took on them.

While the film is worth re-visiting, the special features on the Blu-ray are a bit of a disappointment - since they are all carried over from the film’s various other DVD releases. The features give you a decent look at the making of the movie, but it would have been nice to get some new material or some kind of new interviews with its cast - most of whom have gone on to be pretty successful in film and television.

The Blu-ray is the way to watch this film and is well-worth the upgrade. The picture is a mixture of slight grain (during some of the beach invasion and other battle scenes) and clear gloss (which show tons of details in the soldiers’ costuming, make-up, and production).

Saving Private Ryan is a film that continues to get better with age, and set the standard for World War II films to follow (including the equally great Band of Brothers from HBO). If you have never watched this film or are a fan of it, I highly recommend this Blu-ray upgrade.

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Editor’s note: There have been reports of an audio issue with the Blu-ray edition of Saving Private Ryan which caused the sound to go out of sync with the film at about chapter 15. The review copy sent to M&C did not have this problem, but some readers have reported it. Paramount Home Entertainment has set up a replacement program for the defective Blu-rays.