Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A good but not great, WWII film...
  • VISCERAL IN-YOUR-FACE WAR EPIC THAT YOU WON'T FORGET!!
  • I think 5stars says it all!!
  • Unbelievable
  • A fantastic movie that left me drained
Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition)
Starring: Tom Hanks , Tom Sizemore , Edward Burns , Barry Pepper , and Adam Goldberg
Director: Steven Spielberg
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
DramaDrama | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
World War IIWorld War II | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
Heroic MissionsHeroic Missions | By Theme | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
War EpicsWar Epics | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
Spielberg, StevenSpielberg, Steven | ( S ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Burns, EdwardBurns, Edward | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Damon, MattDamon, Matt | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Danson, TedDanson, Ted | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Davies, JeremyDavies, Jeremy | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Farina, DennisFarina, Dennis | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Giamatti, PaulGiamatti, Paul | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Goldberg, AdamGoldberg, Adam | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hanks, TomHanks, Tom | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Martini, MaxMartini, Max | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Pepper, BarryPepper, Barry | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ribisi, GiovanniRibisi, Giovanni | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Sizemore, TomSizemore, Tom | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
All ParamountAll Paramount | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
DramaDrama | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
DreamWorksDreamWorks | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
DVDs Under $7.49DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
( S )( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Special EditionsSpecial Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:
  1. Band of Brothers Band of Brothers
  2. Black Hawk Down Black Hawk Down
  3. Braveheart Braveheart
  4. Gladiator (Widescreen Edition) Gladiator (Widescreen Edition)
  5. Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition) Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B00001ZWUS
Release Date: 1999-11-02

Amazon.com essential video

When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds.

A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance.

The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. Saving Private Ryan touches us deeper than Schindler because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars A good but not great, WWII film..........2007-09-06

Though I liked this movie overall, though there are some outstanding shots, sequences, and effects, and though I would probably recommend it to friends and acquaintances as one of the better cinema treatments about World War II, my expectations were too disappointed to engage in high praise of this work. I had many serious "problems" with SPR from the very opening overtly false patriotic flag scene to the very end.

The opening scene of Ryan as an old man visiting the Normandy cemetery was fine except for one very annoying factor, John Williams, lush, overly-sentimental BS musical pretensions, which we've heard 100 times already, and in almost every scene in which this score swelled, I felt it was inappropriate. I would've much rather have heard no music whatsoever throughout the film, or at least a very subtle form of and use of. I don't really like being manipulated like this. And various scenes do this. A lush musical war, no thanks.

The most striking example of the film's almost soulless failure to do justice to its apparent agenda and real blood and guts reality (to show how utterly abominable real war is), brings me to yet another complaint. The films' cinema verite, shaky documentary camera style. NYPD Blue on amphetamines...

A little of this "style" can go a long way. Drenching entire scenes lasting several minutes, was totally ineffective and pretentious to me. Some of the wobbly camera in the opening sequence, was very potent, like the troops running towards the beach. This gave the viewer a real sense of being there, of being in a frantic state of confusion, attempting to move forward into a frightening and imposing blur of horror and motion. However, a bit later, when Hanks and his men are using a mirror at the end of a rifle to try to find out where a particular German machine gun is firing from, why shake the camera? When the medics are trying to fix up wounded men on the beach, why shake the camera? If one were there watching these things, they would simply not be seeing it from this perspective. Again, this whole technique was so overused to me.

What's so disappointing about SPR is that it just could've been done so much better, in so many areas. Long, boring, unimaginative sequences are followed by Hollywood hokum. The truly outstanding radar attack sequence, stood out. The characters were given a REAL identity to me during this portion. But for all the talk (hype?) of blood and gore and entrails in SPR's beginning, to me, the only really powerful depictions of real war in the film, was specifically in the segment when one of the GI's chests was pumping gushes of bright red blood, in addition to some opening shots.

Why wasn't there so much more of this however? Why not show utterly horrible pain and suffering and death? That which is real war? That which is happening even as I write this, which I hope Spielberg or one of his other cronies may deal with in the near future, about Iraq. Holding my breath, but not too long.

The entire Axis prisoner scene, was good. There was a real tension here, and I easily felt myself not watching a movie anymore, but feeling as if I had some sort of personal stake in what I was watching. In SPR, Spielberg's more delicate and subtly discriminating add-ons, were clearly the best moments of the film. All the blood and violence and special effects of the opening and closing sections (the closing sections having nearly as much power as the opening ones), never came close for me, in displaying the real horror of war, than this one little middle section, which culminated in two men on the same side, almost killing each other because a "bad guy" POW was being released.

There were and are WAY TOO MANY shots for me of Americans mowing down whole groups of German soldiers, like as if this was a standard scene out of WWII (it wasn't). It IS a standard, stereotypical scene out of WWII MOVIES however. I had hoped for much more however, in SPR. Otherwise, in Spielberg's fantasy WWII world, whole German squads can easily be mowed down by a single GI, and tanks and other weapons can be disabled with nothing more than some good old GI Joe bravery. For all the effects, for all the blood and guts that ARE shown, SPR continually refuses to step over certain lines. It wants to be two things at once, which is its ultimate undoing, to show the "reality" of war, but to do it in an entertaining Hollywood story suited for mass consumption.

I have to say this film, like digestible war-movie filler candy before and after, satisfies for awhile, but there are no great ideas here, no true moral or political or philosophical "center" or soul. And there is nothing groundbreaking here except for a few FX enhanced "war scenes." There are much better WWI&II films, of all stripes. I'd suggest "Enemy at the Gates," or "Paths of Glory,' or even the low budget "A Midnight Clear." For starters.

This is a fairly good war film, but not a "great" war film. DVD extras aside. What the film clearly does wrong, cannot in the final analysis, overcome the few things it does really great and right. Entertaining? Yes. Transcendent? But only if one is easily prone to hype, political, or cinematic, or falsely (IMO) "patriotic" propaganda. This viewer is none of the above, and in the end, to me is just another Steven Spielberg misfire, which garnered and continues to receive critical/popular praise truly undeserved, compared to so many other much more worthy WWII films. As well as documentaries. I wish the whole script had been rewritten/filmed, concentrating on D-Day alone, and never diverted into a corny, schmaltzy retread of almost any other good or bad WWII flick since, or afterwards.

5 out of 5 stars VISCERAL IN-YOUR-FACE WAR EPIC THAT YOU WON'T FORGET!!.......2007-09-05

'SAVING PRIVATE RYAN' STRUCK ME AS: HARD-HITTING - GRAPHIC & EMOTIONAL WITHOUT OVERT SENTIMENTALISM OR SIMPLY THE 'CITIZEN KANE' OF WAR FILMS,

VERY SIMPLY STATED:

This is the most visceral, in-your-face war epic I have ever experienced. But "Saving Private Ryan" is much more than that, as it gives us a well-developed story line and characters we come to care about during the natural unfolding of the story.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?:

After landing on Normandy through the most visceral and graphically-realistic re-creation ever put to film, this ensemble of American soldiers and the film itself slow down to catch their breath and hand us a great story, having now prepared us for it. The heroic "everyman" types that comprise this small band are fleshed out as they go through their mission to find Private Ryan. It's a sort of follow-the-yellow-brick-road-to-Hell kind of mission that is just about impossible for them to reconcile. What is so important about Private Ryan? See the film and you will find out.

BOTTOM LINE:

Action, drama, and morality are all mixed together in the cauldron of wholesale killing that was the second World War. The "right thing" to do is very difficult to decipher, both by these soldiers and by us viewers, but in no film is the topic more in-your-face realistic and emotionally-supercharged.

After seeing the Normandy sequences in this film, such similar epic recreations as in "The Longest Day" seem not just tame, but also emotionally-removed and from a safe distance. "Saving Private Ryan" is one of the best and most captivating films of any genre that I have ever experienced.

----- CAST

Tom Hanks - Capt. John Miller
Edward Burns - Private Richard Reiben
Tom Sizemore - Sgt. Horvath
Jeremy Davies - Cpl. Upham
Vin Diesel - Pvt. Caparzo
Adam Goldberg - Pvt. Mellish
Barry Pepper - Pvt. Jackson
Giovanni Ribisi - T/4 Medic Wade
Matt Damon - Pvt. James Ryan
Dennis Farina - Lt. Col. Anderson
Ted Danson - Capt. Hamill
Harve Presnell - Gen. George Marshall

----- PRODUCTION CREW:

Steven Spielberg - Director / Producer
Ian Bryce - Producer
Mark Gordon - Producer
Gary Levinsohn - Producer
Robert Rodat - Screenwriter
Janusz Kaminski - Cinematographer
John Williams - Composer (Music Score)

ABOUT THE DVD:

Great Transfer of both audio and video. Compared to the VHS edition, it is like viewing a different and better film due to the transfer, NOT any change in the content, which is identical.

"Director's Message" is well put and needs to be said, but I can only say I wish there was more, a lot more.

Behind-The-Scenes Featurette: A segment titled "Into The Breach" was excellent, but frankly this film needs more than a 24-minute short and you can get more on the 2-Disk DVD 60th Anniversary edition.

5 out of 5 stars I think 5stars says it all!!.......2007-08-24

Without doubt this movie ranks in my top 5 of all time favourites! In fact I have just recently played the Medal of Honour PC game which begins in the same way as this movie does. Except for the harsh reality of the movie!!! The most astonishing start to any movie I have ever seen (Ghost Ship comes close), this movie is just incredible. Buy it, Watch it & then watch it again...... I may have to purchase a second!!!!

5 out of 5 stars Unbelievable.......2007-08-23

Great War, WWII movie. you have to see it. Great graphics, realism and plot. MUST SEE!!!

5 out of 5 stars A fantastic movie that left me drained.......2007-08-15

From the opening scenes to coming full circle in the closing scenes, Saving Private Ryan is a movie and emotionally draining film that leaves you analyzing your own life to determine if you have led a life worth the sacrifices the men and women of our armed forces have made.

Speilberg has created another masterpiece. Just when I thought he could not create a movie more vital than Schindler's List, he comes up with Saving Private Ryan. I cannot say enough about this film. If bloody realism is not something you can stomach then move past the initial Normandy invasion scenes. If you can stomach it though, I encourage watching the scenes because they set the tone for the characters.

This is one of a few films every household should own.
Saving Private Ryan (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A good but not great, WWII film...
  • VISCERAL IN-YOUR-FACE WAR EPIC THAT YOU WON'T FORGET!!
  • I think 5stars says it all!!
  • Unbelievable
  • A fantastic movie that left me drained
Saving Private Ryan (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Tom Hanks , Tom Sizemore , Edward Burns , Barry Pepper , and Adam Goldberg
Director: Steven Spielberg
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
DramaDrama | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
World War IIWorld War II | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
Heroic MissionsHeroic Missions | By Theme | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
War EpicsWar Epics | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
Spielberg, StevenSpielberg, Steven | ( S ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Burns, EdwardBurns, Edward | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Damon, MattDamon, Matt | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Danson, TedDanson, Ted | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Davies, JeremyDavies, Jeremy | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Farina, DennisFarina, Dennis | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Giamatti, PaulGiamatti, Paul | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Goldberg, AdamGoldberg, Adam | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hanks, TomHanks, Tom | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Martini, MaxMartini, Max | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Pepper, BarryPepper, Barry | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ribisi, GiovanniRibisi, Giovanni | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Sizemore, TomSizemore, Tom | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Action & AdventureAction & Adventure | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
All ParamountAll Paramount | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
DramaDrama | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
DreamWorksDreamWorks | Paramount Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
DVDs Under $7.49DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
( S )( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Special EditionsSpecial Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:
  1. Band of Brothers Band of Brothers
  2. Black Hawk Down Black Hawk Down
  3. Braveheart Braveheart
  4. Gladiator (Widescreen Edition) Gladiator (Widescreen Edition)
  5. Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition) Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B0001NBLVI
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Amazon.com essential video

When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds.

A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance.

The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. Saving Private Ryan touches us deeper than Schindler because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars A good but not great, WWII film..........2007-09-06

Though I liked this movie overall, though there are some outstanding shots, sequences, and effects, and though I would probably recommend it to friends and acquaintances as one of the better cinema treatments about World War II, my expectations were too disappointed to engage in high praise of this work. I had many serious "problems" with SPR from the very opening overtly false patriotic flag scene to the very end.

The opening scene of Ryan as an old man visiting the Normandy cemetery was fine except for one very annoying factor, John Williams, lush, overly-sentimental BS musical pretensions, which we've heard 100 times already, and in almost every scene in which this score swelled, I felt it was inappropriate. I would've much rather have heard no music whatsoever throughout the film, or at least a very subtle form of and use of. I don't really like being manipulated like this. And various scenes do this. A lush musical war, no thanks.

The most striking example of the film's almost soulless failure to do justice to its apparent agenda and real blood and guts reality (to show how utterly abominable real war is), brings me to yet another complaint. The films' cinema verite, shaky documentary camera style. NYPD Blue on amphetamines...

A little of this "style" can go a long way. Drenching entire scenes lasting several minutes, was totally ineffective and pretentious to me. Some of the wobbly camera in the opening sequence, was very potent, like the troops running towards the beach. This gave the viewer a real sense of being there, of being in a frantic state of confusion, attempting to move forward into a frightening and imposing blur of horror and motion. However, a bit later, when Hanks and his men are using a mirror at the end of a rifle to try to find out where a particular German machine gun is firing from, why shake the camera? When the medics are trying to fix up wounded men on the beach, why shake the camera? If one were there watching these things, they would simply not be seeing it from this perspective. Again, this whole technique was so overused to me.

What's so disappointing about SPR is that it just could've been done so much better, in so many areas. Long, boring, unimaginative sequences are followed by Hollywood hokum. The truly outstanding radar attack sequence, stood out. The characters were given a REAL identity to me during this portion. But for all the talk (hype?) of blood and gore and entrails in SPR's beginning, to me, the only really powerful depictions of real war in the film, was specifically in the segment when one of the GI's chests was pumping gushes of bright red blood, in addition to some opening shots.

Why wasn't there so much more of this however? Why not show utterly horrible pain and suffering and death? That which is real war? That which is happening even as I write this, which I hope Spielberg or one of his other cronies may deal with in the near future, about Iraq. Holding my breath, but not too long.

The entire Axis prisoner scene, was good. There was a real tension here, and I easily felt myself not watching a movie anymore, but feeling as if I had some sort of personal stake in what I was watching. In SPR, Spielberg's more delicate and subtly discriminating add-ons, were clearly the best moments of the film. All the blood and violence and special effects of the opening and closing sections (the closing sections having nearly as much power as the opening ones), never came close for me, in displaying the real horror of war, than this one little middle section, which culminated in two men on the same side, almost killing each other because a "bad guy" POW was being released.

There were and are WAY TOO MANY shots for me of Americans mowing down whole groups of German soldiers, like as if this was a standard scene out of WWII (it wasn't). It IS a standard, stereotypical scene out of WWII MOVIES however. I had hoped for much more however, in SPR. Otherwise, in Spielberg's fantasy WWII world, whole German squads can easily be mowed down by a single GI, and tanks and other weapons can be disabled with nothing more than some good old GI Joe bravery. For all the effects, for all the blood and guts that ARE shown, SPR continually refuses to step over certain lines. It wants to be two things at once, which is its ultimate undoing, to show the "reality" of war, but to do it in an entertaining Hollywood story suited for mass consumption.

I have to say this film, like digestible war-movie filler candy before and after, satisfies for awhile, but there are no great ideas here, no true moral or political or philosophical "center" or soul. And there is nothing groundbreaking here except for a few FX enhanced "war scenes." There are much better WWI&II films, of all stripes. I'd suggest "Enemy at the Gates," or "Paths of Glory,' or even the low budget "A Midnight Clear." For starters.

This is a fairly good war film, but not a "great" war film. DVD extras aside. What the film clearly does wrong, cannot in the final analysis, overcome the few things it does really great and right. Entertaining? Yes. Transcendent? But only if one is easily prone to hype, political, or cinematic, or falsely (IMO) "patriotic" propaganda. This viewer is none of the above, and in the end, to me is just another Steven Spielberg misfire, which garnered and continues to receive critical/popular praise truly undeserved, compared to so many other much more worthy WWII films. As well as documentaries. I wish the whole script had been rewritten/filmed, concentrating on D-Day alone, and never diverted into a corny, schmaltzy retread of almost any other good or bad WWII flick since, or afterwards.

5 out of 5 stars VISCERAL IN-YOUR-FACE WAR EPIC THAT YOU WON'T FORGET!!.......2007-09-05

'SAVING PRIVATE RYAN' STRUCK ME AS: HARD-HITTING - GRAPHIC & EMOTIONAL WITHOUT OVERT SENTIMENTALISM OR SIMPLY THE 'CITIZEN KANE' OF WAR FILMS,

VERY SIMPLY STATED:

This is the most visceral, in-your-face war epic I have ever experienced. But "Saving Private Ryan" is much more than that, as it gives us a well-developed story line and characters we come to care about during the natural unfolding of the story.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?:

After landing on Normandy through the most visceral and graphically-realistic re-creation ever put to film, this ensemble of American soldiers and the film itself slow down to catch their breath and hand us a great story, having now prepared us for it. The heroic "everyman" types that comprise this small band are fleshed out as they go through their mission to find Private Ryan. It's a sort of follow-the-yellow-brick-road-to-Hell kind of mission that is just about impossible for them to reconcile. What is so important about Private Ryan? See the film and you will find out.

BOTTOM LINE:

Action, drama, and morality are all mixed together in the cauldron of wholesale killing that was the second World War. The "right thing" to do is very difficult to decipher, both by these soldiers and by us viewers, but in no film is the topic more in-your-face realistic and emotionally-supercharged.

After seeing the Normandy sequences in this film, such similar epic recreations as in "The Longest Day" seem not just tame, but also emotionally-removed and from a safe distance. "Saving Private Ryan" is one of the best and most captivating films of any genre that I have ever experienced.

----- CAST

Tom Hanks - Capt. John Miller
Edward Burns - Private Richard Reiben
Tom Sizemore - Sgt. Horvath
Jeremy Davies - Cpl. Upham
Vin Diesel - Pvt. Caparzo
Adam Goldberg - Pvt. Mellish
Barry Pepper - Pvt. Jackson
Giovanni Ribisi - T/4 Medic Wade
Matt Damon - Pvt. James Ryan
Dennis Farina - Lt. Col. Anderson
Ted Danson - Capt. Hamill
Harve Presnell - Gen. George Marshall

----- PRODUCTION CREW:

Steven Spielberg - Director / Producer
Ian Bryce - Producer
Mark Gordon - Producer
Gary Levinsohn - Producer
Robert Rodat - Screenwriter
Janusz Kaminski - Cinematographer
John Williams - Composer (Music Score)

ABOUT THE DVD:

Great Transfer of both audio and video. Compared to the VHS edition, it is like viewing a different and better film due to the transfer, NOT any change in the content, which is identical.

"Director's Message" is well put and needs to be said, but I can only say I wish there was more, a lot more.

Behind-The-Scenes Featurette: A segment titled "Into The Breach" was excellent, but frankly this film needs more than a 24-minute short and you can get more on the 2-Disk DVD 60th Anniversary edition.

5 out of 5 stars I think 5stars says it all!!.......2007-08-24

Without doubt this movie ranks in my top 5 of all time favourites! In fact I have just recently played the Medal of Honour PC game which begins in the same way as this movie does. Except for the harsh reality of the movie!!! The most astonishing start to any movie I have ever seen (Ghost Ship comes close), this movie is just incredible. Buy it, Watch it & then watch it again...... I may have to purchase a second!!!!

5 out of 5 stars Unbelievable.......2007-08-23

Great War, WWII movie. you have to see it. Great graphics, realism and plot. MUST SEE!!!

5 out of 5 stars A fantastic movie that left me drained.......2007-08-15

From the opening scenes to coming full circle in the closing scenes, Saving Private Ryan is a movie and emotionally draining film that leaves you analyzing your own life to determine if you have led a life worth the sacrifices the men and women of our armed forces have made.

Speilberg has created another masterpiece. Just when I thought he could not create a movie more vital than Schindler's List, he comes up with Saving Private Ryan. I cannot say enough about this film. If bloody realism is not something you can stomach then move past the initial Normandy invasion scenes. If you can stomach it though, I encourage watching the scenes because they set the tone for the characters.

This is one of a few films every household should own.
World War II Collection (Price For Peace/Shooting War/Saving Private Ryan, D-Day Edition)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • The best movie about World War II
  • My Favorite War Movie in an Excellent Set!
  • CYRUS...Why does there always have to be that 10% ???
  • Great war flick
  • good movie, not perfect
World War II Collection (Price For Peace/Shooting War/Saving Private Ryan, D-Day Edition)
Starring: Tom Hanks , Tom Sizemore , Edward Burns , Barry Pepper , and Adam Goldberg
Director: Steven Spielberg , Richard Schickel , and James Moll
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
GeneralGeneral | Military & War | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
World War IIWorld War II | Military & War | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
World War IIWorld War II | Military & War | Genres | DVD | Video
DTSDTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
( W )( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Spielberg, StevenSpielberg, Steven | ( S ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Schickel, RichardSchickel, Richard | ( S ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Burns, EdwardBurns, Edward | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Damon, MattDamon, Matt | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Danson, TedDanson, Ted | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Davies, JeremyDavies, Jeremy | ( D ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Farina, DennisFarina, Dennis | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Giamatti, PaulGiamatti, Paul | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Goldberg, AdamGoldberg, Adam | ( G ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hanks, TomHanks, Tom | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Martini, MaxMartini, Max | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Pepper, BarryPepper, Barry | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ribisi, GiovanniRibisi, Giovanni | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0001NBLY0
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars The best movie about World War II.......2005-03-28

Is "Saving Private Ryan" a great WW II movie? Yes it is. Was the Battle of D-Day the greatest campaign of the war? No, it wasn't, D-Day and the period leading up to it and the campaign through France was a tremendous effort that brought men close to greatness, but it pales compared to the efforts on the Russian Front. As Lt. John Eisenhower said in a toast in Moscow, shortly after the war was over, "I propose a toast to the man responsible for winning the War... the common Russian soldier." So lay off Cyrus.

Everyone should see "Saving Private Ryan," especially those who don't appreciate what it took to beat the Germans and the Japanese. They don't know how close we came to losing World War II and living in HELL for generations afterward. The men and women who fought in this War against the Axis powers are true heroes, whether they be Americans, Russians, British, Indians, Philippinos, or dozens of other nationalities. The hell that hundreds of thousands went through is conveyed in "Saving Private Ryan."

"Saving Private Ryan" is more than just a combat film. The opening and ending scenes tell us that these were real people, with families, hopes and dreams. And so many of the men and women who fought the Axis never realized those dreams, for they bought freedom with their lives. Other scenes within the movie tell us that the men we are watching on the screen are more than just trained killers, but ordinary guys who just want to go home again.

But if you want to see the greatest movie about World War II, I suggest "The Best Years of Our Lives." It won eight academy awards, but it didn't have one scene of combat as it took place immediately after the end of the War. I saw "Saving Private Ryan" once, and that is enough. I can never see "The Best Years of Our Lives" enough times. Two other truely great films about World War II are "A Walk in the Sun" and "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit." Like "The Best Years of Our Lives," these are stories about War and how it changes men.

5 out of 5 stars My Favorite War Movie in an Excellent Set!.......2005-03-16

Saving Private Ryan, wow. This film REALLY grabs you in every way. It is dark, violent, and realistic to it's brutal extreme. It is also a beautiful work of art by masterful director Steven Spielberg, and the crew that made E.T., Artificial Intelligence, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Schindler's List, etc...

You must see the movie, I don't care which edition you buy, "although this set is pretty neat!"

5 out of 5 stars CYRUS...Why does there always have to be that 10% ???.......2004-12-04

This movie, whether it is 100% accurate or not, should be very moving to all Americans. The intent was to honor the sacrifices of our greatest generation, and give us all a glimpse of the terror those men faced. This movie was, and should be, life-changing. If it doesn't stack up to your intellectually superior standards, please just refrain from comment instead of undermining it's honorable intent...

5 out of 5 stars Great war flick.......2004-10-20

Saving Private Ryan set the standard for what we, the public, expect in a war flick. The combination of special effects, grusome reality, well placed action, well scripted acting. SPR doesn't shouldn't be mistaken, as others have suggested, as to what war is really like, but to let you see through the memories of what war veterans look back upon. The comradery, the loss of friends, the carnage and brutality of war. This isn't for the tea-sippin' sissy college student who think they have the answer to life but yet to get one, so, in other words, this isn't for a person who likes "the thin red line". If you want anti-war and anti-patriotic flicks, see "All's Quiet on the Western Front" Saving Private Ryan is successful at showing us what AMERICANS had to go through during the Normandy campaign. Not British, Russian, or cheese-eating frenchies, but AMERICAN. We made this movie, CYRUS, so if you want to see a movie about the russians in WWII, why don't you ask them to make one. Hollywood is in America, they make movies for AMERICANS, because we want them and will pay alot of money to see them.

3 out of 5 stars good movie, not perfect.......2004-07-16

Private ryan was a decent war flick, but was it the best? I wouldn't go that far. It was bloody and all, but it didn't have very good writing. Tom hanks is also overrated in this movie. This film doesn't compare to movies like "das boot", "the thin red line", or "cross of iron". The reviewer down below should take a chill pill, you don't prove your case by using tons of exclamation points and by calling people names. We all have opinions, and they should be respected.
Saving Private Ryan/Amistad
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Two Emotionally Charged Greats From Spielberg
Saving Private Ryan/Amistad
Starring: Morgan Freeman , Nigel Hawthorne , Anthony Hopkins , Djimon Hounsou , and Matthew McConaughey
Director: Steven Spielberg
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

GeneralGeneral | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
Spielberg, StevenSpielberg, Steven | ( S ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Adoti, RazaaqAdoti, Razaaq | ( A ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ashong, Derrick NAshong, Derrick N | ( A ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Brown, RalphBrown, Ralph | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Burrows, Darren EBurrows, Darren E | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Fofanah, Abu BakaarFofanah, Abu Bakaar | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Freeman, MorganFreeman, Morgan | ( F ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hawthorne, NigelHawthorne, Nigel | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hopkins, AnthonyHopkins, Anthony | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Hounsou, DjimonHounsou, Djimon | ( H ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
McConaughey, MatthewMcConaughey, Matthew | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Milian, TomasMilian, Tomas | ( M ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Ortiz, JohnOrtiz, John | ( O ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Paquin, AnnaPaquin, Anna | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Paymer, DavidPaymer, David | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Postlethwaite, PetePostlethwaite, Pete | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Rich, AllanRich, Allan | ( R ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Silva, GenoSilva, Geno | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0000DZ3I5
Release Date: 2003-12-09

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Two Emotionally Charged Greats From Spielberg.......2006-05-17

Two films that will never get old are offered in one fabulous package. Both directed by Steven Spielberg, they are films that will touch you on many levels, and are films that stand up to many repeated viewings as well.

Saving Private Ryan"...

The year 1998 was a great year for films. We saw Some wonderful English period pieces, including Academy Award Winner "Shakespeare in Love", deep and thought provoking films such as the moving "Affliction", and two WWII films, although very different, both beautiful examples of fine filmmaking honoring the heroes of WWII. "The Thin Red Line" was one of those beautiful pieces of filmmaking, the other "Saving Private Ryan".Both received several nods from "Oscar" with SPR garnering 5 statues including a Best Director for Steven Spielberg(and well deserved).

"Saving Private Ryan" is a very moving story. A mother is about to receive notification from the government that 3 of her 4 sons have been killed in action in Europe(I get a lump in my throat just thinking about that part). A rescue squad risks their own lives to go behind enemy lines in search of the fourth and youngest son to relieve him of his duty and spare his mother another tragedy.

Director Steven Spileberg, along with a cast that couldn't be any better, including the likes of Tom Hanks,Tom Sizemore and Matt Damon, put us right there in midst this dangerous mission. The horrors of the WWII are depicted, quite graphically, as never before, and we really come to a true appreciation of what heroes are fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and husbands were. Not only that but we can't help but to become close to these guys, and feel all the emotions that they are going through.
It is a film that will take it's toll on you emotionally, and one that will stay with you for quite sometime after the view.
The music(John Williams)is hauntingly perfect and the photography(Janusz Kaminski)exquisite.

This is a film that has a deep effect on me no matter how many times I view it. It is a cinematic treasure, a beautiful tribute to our heroes of WWII, and one that should be viewed by every generation to come.

"Amistad"...

Based on actual events, Steven Spielberg and Debbie Allen collaborate to bring us one of the many heart wrenching stories of the plight of Africans,during the illegal slave trade of the 1800's.

A group of African people who were brutally dragged from their villages are being transported for slave trade. Only knowing that they are chained and mistreated one man,breaks loose and leads a rebellion against the ship's crew. In order to ensure their own freedom they must take the lives of their captors. They are discovered in American waters, and a trial ensues as to the question of murder.

It becomes an international case. Everybody from the queen of Spain to the owners of the ship "Amistad" are claiming ownership of these men and women. Being pre-civil war, the abolitionists are also making a case for their freedom.This is a case that could lead America one step closer to Civil War.
One property lawyer who has never worked on a case of this proportion, takes on the task of trying to prove that these are not plantation slaves,but citizens of Africa taken by force and did what they needed to do to be free, as any American would do the same. His task is a difficult one,but as the tragic story of these people unfolds he is able to put on his defense. They also get some help from the ex-president John Quincy Adams,whose eloquence puts the Declaration of Independence to the test.

This is a magnificent piece of cinema in all respects. Spielberg brings to our attention yet another important piece of history that was cruel and inhuman,one of American history that we were hardly aware of.It is an epic film that will wash over you with several different emotions, and you will want to watch it again and again.

No big introduction needed for most of the cast who seemed perfectly fitted to their roles. Matthew McConaughey outstanding as the lawyer, Sir Anthony Hopkins is brilliant as Adams, Morgan Freeman and Stellan Skarsgard are totally believable as the abolitionists,and Pete Postlethwaite perfect as the lawyer for the prosecution. Also in a sterling performance is Djimon Housnsou as Cinque, the spokesperson for the Africans. His portrayal of the enslaved man who only wants his freedom will captivate you.I must also make mention of Nigel Hawthorn and David Paymer for their wonderful performances.The cinematography is breathtaking. The music scored by John Williams and especially the African music will stay with you long after the movie. You will also be impressed with the costume designs. The film was nominated for four Academy awards,including one for Best Supporting for Hopkins.

Two emotionally charged pieces of cinema, from a great Director, that would be an essential part of any film library.
Enjoy...Laurie
Charlie Rose (January 12, 2001)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Charlie Rose (January 12, 2001)

    Manufacturer: Charlie Rose Inc.
    ProductGroup: DVD
    Binding: DVD

    ( C )( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
    All TitlesAll Titles | Charlie Rose Store | Television | Genres | DVD | Video
    ASIN: B000HBL7I6
    Release Date: 2006-12-21

    Description

    In this rebroadcasted conversation from December 22, 2000, actor Tom Hanks discusses his latest movie, "Cast Away", his prolific film career, and what's in store for the future. In "Cast Away", Hanks plays a man marooned on an island for four years. The film is directed by Robert Zemeckis.
    Beyond Jurassic Park - A Definitive Behind the Scenes Look Into Jurassic Park
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Beyond Jurassic Park - A Definitive Behind the Scenes Look Into Jurassic Park

      ProductGroup: DVD
      Binding: DVD

      GenresGenres | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
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      ASIN: B000JWRBW4

      Product Description

      Prepare to go even deeper into the breathtaking adventures of the Jurassic Park Trilogy! Highlighted by fascinating, never-seen-before footage from all three Jurassic Park films, this DVD offers an exclusive look at deleted sceenes, additional footage and other materials not shown on any theater screen!
      Charlie Rose with  Tom Hanks (December 23, 2002)
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Charlie Rose with Tom Hanks (December 23, 2002)

        Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
        ProductGroup: DVD
        Binding: DVD

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        ASIN: B000HBL3QW
        Release Date: 2006-08-15

        Description

        Actor and producer Tom Hanks discusses his career and his most recent role in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Christopher Walken.
        Charlie Rose (July 22, 1998)
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Charlie Rose (July 22, 1998)

          Manufacturer: Charlie Rose Inc.
          ProductGroup: DVD
          Binding: DVD

          ( C )( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
          GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Genres | DVD | Video
          All TitlesAll Titles | Charlie Rose Store | Television | Genres | DVD | Video
          ASIN: B000IU33R4
          Release Date: 2006-12-21

          Description

          First, Frank Deford of HBO Sports and Sports Illustrated, Roger Angell of The New Yorker, and George Will, author of "Bunts", discuss the renaissance of American baseball and the excitement of the home-run record race.||Then, Tom Hanks continues his two-part discussion of his recent successes, Forrest Gump and Philadelphia, and the new Spielberg movie Saving Private Ryan.||Finally, a rebroadcast of a tribute to Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut launched into space and one of the only men to step foot on the moon (from July 20, 1994).
          Charlie Rose with Vin Diesel; Ernst Jorgensen & Anthony DeCurtis; Sam Phillips (August 16, 2002)
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Charlie Rose with Vin Diesel; Ernst Jorgensen & Anthony DeCurtis; Sam Phillips (August 16, 2002)

            Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
            ProductGroup: DVD
            Binding: DVD

            ( C )( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
            GeneralGeneral | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video
            All TitlesAll Titles | Charlie Rose Store | Television | Genres | DVD | Video
            WorldWorld | Charlie Rose Store | Television | Genres | DVD | Video
            ASIN: B000HBL4G6
            Release Date: 2006-08-15

            Description

            An interview with actor Vin Diesel about the film business and his latest movie, XXX. Then, we remember rock-and-roll legend Elvis Presley with Elvis-historian Ernst Jorgensen of RCA Records, Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone magazine and Sam Phillips, who founded of Sun Records and discovered Elvis in 1953.
            Charlie Rose (March 19, 1999)
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Charlie Rose (March 19, 1999)

              Manufacturer: Charlie Rose Inc.
              ProductGroup: DVD
              Binding: DVD

              ( C )( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
              All TitlesAll Titles | Charlie Rose Store | Television | Genres | DVD | Video
              ASIN: B000IU32YS
              Release Date: 2006-12-21

              Description

              In a rebroadcast of an interview that originally aired October 20, 1998, Roberto Benigni discusses his multiple Oscar nominations for the movie "Life is Beautiful", the development of the film, and the decision to bring humor to the subject of the Holocaust.||Then, in an interview that originally aired July 20, 1998 and July 21, 1998, Tom Hanks talks about his Oscar- nominated performance in "Saving Private Ryan", his reverence for the subject of World War Two, and the research and process of creating the film with Steven Spielberg.||Finally, in an interview that originally aired October 30, 1998, Oscar nominee Edward Norton discusses white supremacy, violence, hate, acting, and "American History X".

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