Saving Private Ryan (1998) 7/30/98 Review by Billy Newsom
This movie gave me a headache! The photography, I must tell you, is unique. The camera is never still during battle scenes. It made me nauseous watching a 70' screen shake as the cameraman follows soldiers around a battle scene. Spielberg purposelessly made the camera vibrate rather than damping it, a la Shaky Cam. If Spielberg likes this effect, I don't. Not for every single shot in every single battle.
Besides poor camera work, the plot was somewhat thin. It was a complex plot for a war movie, but it was still lacking. I would give the screenwriting a "C" only because there was some good comic relief. But the entire movie was so predictable, that the length (over two hours) made the movie languish. Toward the end, all I wanted was for the men to find Ryan, finish their little war game, and send him home -- so I could go home.
The characters, well, what can I say. They are stereotypes, what the movie script writers call "composite" characters. The guy who freezes up. The guy whose every other line is a half-audible prayer. The intellectual. The guy who's the gung-ho no-frills ground-pounder. The guy everyone looks up to.
I could almost see the script as I watched the film. It was because the characters, even though they are well-developed, are still one dimensional. They are almost completely static, too.
Outstanding directing, average screenwriting, excellent realism and effects, average music, and superb sound make this movie one of the best of 1998. But I watched this movie the same day as I saw Gone With the Wind, and I'm sorry, there's just no comparison. 7 out of 10. Go see Vivien Leigh again.
Post Review addition:
This movie is going to be awesome on DVD. I hope that I can get used to the shaky camera tricks on a 4' screen. But I'm really looking forward to those booming artillery shells -- I want to make my neighbors think that a war is going on in my house! But to be honest, this movie must be seen and heard in a movie theater to get the full effect. Just bring some Dramamine or Tylenol.
People seem to think that the gore in this movie can make up for its weak storyline. Sorry, it just can't. The gore didn't keep me interested like a plot would have. A bad trade-off, in my opinion.
Billy
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Billy Newsom, webmaster of The Motherboard HomeWorld
http://www.motherboards.org/
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