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adamwatchesmovies · 2 years

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Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Saving Private Ryan manages to do the seemingly impossible. This war film shows intense battle sequences without glorifying combat or condemning it as completely futile either. It’s intense, emotional, and thought-provoking.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, American soldiers land on Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion. After the casualties are recorded, it comes to the attention of General George Marshall (Harve Presnell) that three of the Ryan brothers have all been killed. Seeking to spare their mother the burden of having lost all of her sons, he orders Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and the remains of his battalion to find Private James Ryan and return him home.

You’ve probably heard of the intense half-hour opening and the way war is unflinchingly presented on-screen. Even decades later when it isn’t uncommon for war films to be gory, it's shocking. For every moment of heroism, there is another where someone is matter-of-factly killed by enemy fire. An act that would make you cheer is quickly followed by such brutality and inhumanity you struggle to avoid becoming numb - the only emotional defense that could protect you - then, the camera will turn towards one of our main characters and those emotions you tried to shoo away rush back. A movie could never truly capture the stress of the battlefield, but this is probably as close as you’re ever going to get. For that first exchange alone, the film is a masterpiece. In reality, that’s just the setup to a complex and gut-wrenching dilemma.

Even if a character is only on-screen for a little bit, they still feel alive. It makes the picture's central question that much more difficult to answer. Is the quest to save Private Ryan futile? Is it immoral? There’s no guarantee Captain Miller, Technical Sargeant Mike Horvath (Tom Sizemore), Privates First Class Richard Reiben and Adrian Caparzo (Edward Burns and Vin Diesel), Privates Stanley Mellish and Danny Jackson (Adam Goldberg and Barry Pepper), medic Irwin Wade (Giovanni Ribisi) and greenhorn technician Timothy Upham (Jeremy Davies) will even find Ryan. He’s a needle in a haystack being constantly fired upon. Even if they do, how are they bringing him back? Why him? There are thousands of soldiers dying, thousands of families, lovers, and children waiting for them at home. Even if they won’t be missed, their lives are no less valuable than the others'.

On the other hand, seeing the savagery these men go through, that chance of a single person being spared another day of combat is enough to convince you that the mission is necessary. This film doesn’t aim to depict war as useless or necessary; you make your own conclusion. Until the final scene, you won’t know how to feel about it. Even after, you're unlikely to. No ordinary picture can do that.

Saving Private Ryan changes you. It doesn’t sugarcoat anything. Not the combat sequences, the trauma and emotions that follow, or the moral quandaries that accompany the battlefield. Its characters, story, and the way each little moment, each detail builds up to that final, heart-wrenching scene makes it a picture for the ages. (On Blu-ray, November 17, 2017)

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thegreatdivorce · 5 years

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Fly Away Home didn't have to go as hard as they did giving us those autumnal Jeff "Dad Vibes" Daniels looks, but they did and I am thankful. #Godbless #FlyAwayHome #1995 #film #Directedby #CarrollBallard #Producedby #CarolBaum #Screenplayby #RobertRodat #Basedonthe #autobiography #FatherGooseOneManaGaggleofGeeseandTheirRealLifeIncredibleJourneySouth #by #BillLishman #Starring #DadVibes #JeffDaniels #AnnaPaquin #DanaDelany #TerryKinney #Musicby #MarkIsham #Cinematography #CalebDeschanel #ColumbiaPictures https://www.instagram.com/p/B26013-lowZ/?igshid=objc66oszibk

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