Saving Private Ryan [Sapphire Series] [2 Discs] [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and GIs in a landing craft making the June 6, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American soldiers is depicted in a compelling, unforgettable 24-minute sequence. Miller's men slowly move forward to finally take a concrete pillbox. On the beach littered with bodies is one with the name "Ryan" stenciled on his backpack. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell), learning that three Ryan brothers from the same family have all been killed in a single week, requests that the surviving brother, Pvt. James Ryan (Matt Damon), be located and brought back to the United States. Capt. Miller gets the assignment, and he chooses a translator, Cpl. Upham (Jeremy Davis), skilled in language but not in combat, to join his squad of right-hand man Sgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore), plus privates Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), cynical Reiben (Edward Burns) from Brooklyn, Italian-American Caparzo (Vin Diesel), and religious Southerner Jackson (Barry Pepper), an ace sharpshooter who calls on the Lord while taking aim. Having previously experienced action in Italy and North Africa, the close-knit squad sets out through areas still thick with Nazis. After they lose one man in a skirmish at a bombed village, some in the group begin to question the logic of losing more lives to save a single soldier. The film's historical consultant is Stephen E. Ambrose, and the incident is based on a true occurance in Ambrose's 1994 bestseller D-Day: June 6, 1944. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Cinematography - 1998 (Janusz Kaminski)
•     Won Best Director - 1998 (Steven Spielberg)
•     Won Best Editing - 1998 (Michael Kahn)
•     Won Best Sound - 1998 (Gary Rydstrom, Ronald Judkins, Andy Nelson, Gary Summers)
•     Won Best Sound Effects Editing - 1998 (Gary Rydstrom, Richard Hymns)
•     Nominated Best Actor - 1998 (Tom Hanks)
•     Nominated Best Art Direction - 1998 (Lisa Dean Kavanaugh, Tom Sanders)
•     Nominated Best Dramatic Score - 1998 (John Williams)
•     Nominated Best Makeup - 1998 (Conor O'Sullivan, Lois Burwell, Dan Striepeke)
•     Nominated Best Original Screenplay - 1998 (Robert Rodat)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1998 (Mark Gordon, Ian Bryce, Gary Levinsohn, Steven Spielberg)

• American Society of Cinematographers

•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 1998 (Janusz Kaminski)

• Broadcast Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Director - 1998 (Steven Spielberg)
•     Won Best Picture - 1998
•     Won Best Score - 1998 (John Williams)

• Chicago Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Picture - 1998

• Directors Guild of America

•     Won Best Director - 1998 (Steven Spielberg)

• French Academy of Cinema

•     Nominated Best Foreign Language Film - 1998

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Director - 1998 (Steven Spielberg)
•     Won Best Picture - Drama - 1998

• Los Angeles Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Cinematography - 1998 (Janusz Kaminski)
•     Won Best Director - 1998 (Steven Spielberg)
•     Won Best Picture - 1998

• National Board of Review

•     Nominated Best Picture - 1998

• National Society of Film Critics

•     Won Best Picture (Runner-up) - 1998

• New York Film Critics Circle

•     Won Best Picture - 1998

• Screen Actors Guild

•     Nominated Best Actor - 1998 (Tom Hanks)
•     Nominated Best Ensemble Acting - 1998

• Toronto Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Actor - Runner-up - 1998 (Tom Hanks)
•     Won Best Director - 1998 (Steven Spielberg)
•     Won Best Picture - 1998

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• 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
       Dale Dye - War Dept. Colonel
       Bryan Cranston - War Dept. Colonel
       David Wohl - War Dept. Captain
       Paul Giamatti - Sergeant Hill
       Ryan Hurst - Paratrooper Michaelson
       Harrison Young - Ryan as Old Man
       Dylan Bruno - Private Alan Toynbe

• Director:

  Steven Spielberg

• Producer:

  Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon, Steven Spielberg, Gary Levinsohn

• Screenwriter:

  Robert Rodat

• Cinematographer:

  Janusz Kaminski

• Composer (Music Score):

  John Williams

• Editor:

  Michael Kahn

• Production Designer:

  Tom Sanders

• Art Director:

  Chris Seagers, Alan Tomkins

• Supervising Art Director:

  Daniel Dorrance

• Art Director:

  Ricky Eyres, Tom Brown

• Co-producer:

  Allison Lyon Segan, Bonnie Curtis

• Associate Producer:

  Mark Huffam, Kevin de la Noy

• Set Designer:

  Lisa Dean Kavanaugh

• Costume Designer:

  Joanna Johnston

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Gary Rydstrom, Ronald Judkins

• Special Effects:

  Industrial Light & Magic

• First Assistant Director:

  Sergio Mimica-Gezzan

• Consultant/advisor:

  Dale Dye

• Casting:

  Priscilla John, Denise Chamian

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Simon Crane

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Neil Corbould

• Sound Effects Editor:

  Richard Hymns

REVIEW:

• Saving Private Ryan marked another foray into World War II for Steven Spielberg, this time examining the soldiers' struggles to maintain their sense of mission even in situations that seemed to defy reason and hope. To show the carnage of the D-Day Omaha Beach landing, Spielberg used a barrage of sound and the unpolished immediacy of a hand-held camera to thrust the viewer into the conflict for a 24-minute sequence of relentless, random violence more intense than in any previous Hollywood war movie. The desaturated color further recalled WWII newsreel footage while rendering the blood a matter-of-fact part of the landscape. Adapted from an incident recorded by historian Stephen E. Ambrose, the mission to save one man after the Normandy invasion becomes a means for Capt. Miller and his troop of WWII film archetypes to debate the sacrifices of war, even a "good" war. Critically hailed for its stunningly realistic battle sequences and heartfelt performances, the film became a summertime hit despite its realistic violence and serious subject. After winning several critics' prizes, Saving Private Ryan garnered 11 Academy Award nominations and won five, including Spielberg's second Oscar for Best Director and Janusz Kaminski for Best Cinematography. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi