Saving Private Ryan

October 21, 7:38 PMSteven Spielberg ExaminerJustin Murphy

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   This was the second film to win Steven Spielberg an Oscar. Saving Private Ryan began with the Omaha beach head assault of June 6, 1944, a half hour sequence that it is best known for. The film’s plot involves Captain John H. Miller leading his troops rescue the last surviving of four brothers, Rivate James Francis Ryan with orders he be retrieved and sent home immediately. He assembles six Rangers from his company and one man from the 29th Infantry, who is fluent in different languages to accomplish this task and then set out for their journey.

    Screenwriter Robert Rodat saw a monument a few year earlier dedicated to right brother died in the American Civil War. He then sought the desire to write a similar story set in World War II, this resulted in some research followed by the first draft of the screenplay. Rodat teamed up with producer Mark Gordon, who was interested, but felt changes need to made. From this came eleven rewrites, and brought the attachment of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. With a long held interest in making films set in WWII, an event he felt shaped the Baby Boomer and Generation X eras.

    He previously touched on WWII in more fantasy based fashion with 1941 and The Indiana Jones (involving a Nazi theme that even predated the war). His more realistic portrayals involve Empire of The Sun and Schindler’s List. The latter being his previous Oscar winner. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were inspired by the success of this film to produce the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. One that also received a great deal of critical acclaim. In fact, both Hanks and Spielberg are teaming up for another WWII based miniseries for HBO entitled The Pacific.

    In addition to the Oscar for Best Director, Saving Private Ryan received critical acclaim for its realistic battle scenes. This included the Omaha assault, among other battle scenes. However, the film did receive negative criticism for Spielberg’s desire to make an American film. As a result, Saving Private Ryan was not released in Malaysia due to Steven Spielberg’s refusal to cut any violence. Yet it had no effect on the overall reception of the film. Roger Ebert gave it four stars and called it a powerful experience. This sentiment can be by most who have watched it or have family that went through the war.