WITH a Rotten Tomatoes user score of 95 per cent and a high ranking in every ‘greatest films of all time’ poll, it’s practically illegal not to love Saving Private Ryan. So what on earth could be wrong with this flawless WW2 masterpiece?
Tom Hanks
Amiable Hanks doesn’t quite convince as US ranger Captain John Miller. The film partly explains this by saying he was a school teacher previously, but in reality his casting was probably due to him being very, very bankable at the time. Sadly the viewer can’t forget him as a doofus in Splash. Or the awkward issue of sex with a 12-year-old in Big.
It’s amazing if you haven’t seen any other war films
The praise is so effusive you wonder if fans have seen a war film before. There are quite a few. For realism there’s Stalingrad or Full Metal Jacket. Epics like A Bridge Too Far are pretty historically accurate. Apocalypse Now may have artistic pretensions, but it’s got a lot to say about Vietnam. Or if man’s inhumanity to man is your thing there’s Come and See. Although you may need counselling afterwards.
It’s pure Hollywood underneath the grittiness
The Tiger tank apparently exploding after being shot with a pistol is a classic clever Spielberg shot. Meanwhile characters follow the classic trajectory of overcoming a challenge and emerging a better person. It’s satisfying Hollywood fare, and you feel thoroughly entertained by the end. Like Jaws, oddly enough.
It ignores the role of other nations in D-Day
A common but slightly hair-splitting criticism. It is, after all, an American film with an American focus. However it does inadvertently wander into ‘America singlehandedly won the war’ territory. The last thing we need is another Pearl Harbor, a film so realistic Ben Affleck may as well have karate-kicked Hitler off the roof of the Reichstag and shagged Leni Riefenstahl.
True story syndrome
US soldiers whose siblings had all died were sent home or put in a safe role. Frederick Niland, who Ryan was based on, wasn’t ever lost and no rescue party was sent after him – and such missions would probably be deemed too risky. The film never claims to be true, but it loses some of its gravitas when you realise the actual story is as made-up as Thelma & Louise.
The prologue and epilogue
The scenes of Ryan visiting Miller’s grave add nothing to the story. Unless you felt a good film needed to be bookended by schmaltz about the ‘greatest generation’ and some crowd-pleasing shots of the American flag. If you need a war film to hammer home how great America is, there’s not exactly a shortage.
