I don’t thinks people realize this nowadays but I think Saving Private Ryan might be one of the most influential films of the past 25 years. In films it helped revive the genre of the war film after the genre being primarily used for patriotism purposes through the 70s, and cynical purposes during the 80s, but this helped make it blockbuster entertainment appealing to adults. In TV shows it directly spawned Band of Brothers, which we’ll talk about more later. In video games this directly spawned the Medal of Honor series, the Call of Duty series, and about 100 other games exploring every aspect of WWII from the 90s to the mid to late 00s.
Craziest of all, the film revived interest in WWII in general right as many of its veterans were growing older, which helped keep the important memory of those events alive in our minds. The wave of this film’s impact may have faded nowadays, but it still looms pretty large in my mind as the catalyst for so much culture during my lifetime being based around this one war, taking many of the lessons and ideas from this very movie.
Would somebody watching this for the first time catch this legacy? I really don’t know, but it is there, and if nothing else I think it’s still impossible to ignore the craft on display. Over 20 years on and the D-Day scene still feels very visceral and effective. The battle scenes are still harrowing. When Tom Hanks gives his backstory to ease the tensions in his unit it still plays fantastically.
It’s also fun seeing the cast on display, many of whom were very early into their careers like Vin Diesel, Bryan Cranston, Paul Giamatti, and Nathan Fillion. While some people think the old Ryan stuff is overwritten I think the idea of him asking if his life was worth it is also really powerful stuff. Considering what a general nightmare fighting a war is, it can touch on some very life-affirming stuff, and I think this film does that very well.
I do have to bring up two relatively minor quibbles with the film though. First I think the Jeremy Davies character doesn’t need to be in the movie. He serves as a sort of audience surrogate that still has his humanity and comments on how fucked up everything is, and how the rest of the soldiers are losing their humanity. But as seen in other stories like this I think the character just isn’t needed, and the audience can maybe see, oh Tom Hanks is getting a little numb to this horror, or some of the soldiers are going overboard. The audience can make all the observations Davies’ character makes, and while he’s not as bad as I remember, if there’s a weak link in the film it’s definitely him.
Finally, while I think it’s safe to say this is one of the best war movies, I think “Band of Brothers” is still a far superior work of art. It may not have some of the grand spectacle, but in general you get so much more time with the men of that company and get to see them progress as the war tears apart at them.
It’s also a better look at what the campaign across Europe was actually like, and it gets to touch upon the heavier aspects like the Holocaust. It can also do this because that miniseries is entirely based on fact and real people, while this is heavily fictionalized in both people and the battles after D-Day. I think both this movie and the miniseries are great and both should be watched, but if you have to watch one I think you have to go with Band of Brothers.
4.5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
