While some folks were seeing ANTZ others were seeing SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. This would be a nightmare/dream for me. It would come down to a quarter flip for me during which I would root for both sides of the coin. However, deep down I don't think I could turn away from seeing the new Spielberg flick. Giving the images we've seen, and then these two reviews (which I know are from real regular folks) well, I'm dying to see this film. The WAR film is one of my favorite genres, that period of black and white WWII flicks... stunning. Go see films like BACK TO BATAAN, THEY WERE EXPENDABLE, EDGE OF DARKNESS, SGT YORK, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, THE BIG RED ONE, WAKE ISLAND, FIRES ON THE PLAINS, DAS BOOT, etc... A lot of great films... heck, even Spielberg has done the war film a couple of times with 1941 and EMPIRE OF THE SUN, but this is his first full fledged no-holds barred war film, and I'm shaking in my boots hoping for a great film. Here's what these two folks thought...
Anyways, I, Barbara WaaWaa, was writing to let you know that I saw SPR today, and was so blown away by it I wanted to get the word out early -- and I thought of you. Below is a mini-review, which you may feel free to post on your site.
There's been curiously little advance hype around SPR -- and after seeing the movie, now I understand why. The movie is so good - so extraordinarily moving, so stunningly directed, so damned PERFECT - that it needs no hype to succeed. If you thought that wretched piece of cinematic dung ARMAGEDDON was moving (and a few of you did, apparently), then be sure to take a whole BOX of kleenex to this one.
The story, as you probably already know, is very simple: Tom Hanks is a wartime captain assigned to bring Private Ryan, the last surviving of four brothers, back home from behind enemy lines. The bulk of the movie, which runs 2 hours and 40 minutes, is one mammoth battle sequence after another. Except you've never seen battle scenes like these: Incredibly violent, gory, suspenseful, and terrifying. Spielberg, who hasn't made a good movie since Schindler's List, makes you feel like you are ON THE BATTLEFIELD alongside these characters, and it is not a pleasant place to be. He shoots the battles with both handheld and steadicams, at different frame rates, with bullets whizzing and explosions blaring on the surround tracks, and the effect has to be seen to be believed.
Hanks gives an incredibly complex performance (he's not playing the same character he's always playing, either), and Tom Sizemore also stands out as his second in command. Mostly, though, the movie is really Spielberg's show -
and it proves, without a doubt, that this guy has few peers in Hollywood today. SPR is going to be huge, not because of any elaborate ad campaigns or costly special effects, but because it is simply a profound, heartfelt and -- to use a cliche -- unforgettable experience.
