Saving Private Ryan

Reviewed by Drav3n

Format: Blu-ray

Release: May 4, 2010

Rated: R

Runtime: 169 Minutes

World War II has never looked better!

The Movie:

We all know that there are tons of war movies! While most of them are good, there's always some that just come up short. Then you have Steven Spielberg's 1998 epic World War II movie, Saving Private Ryan, which I believe should be considered the standard when it comes to war movies. I don't care what people say, this is the BEST war movie in existence today!

As everyone knows, this movie starts out with the American soldiers landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy during the historic D-Day invasion of World War II. Once the soldiers move beyond the beach, they learn that they have been reassigned onto a special mission. The mission: Private James Ryan's three brothers have been killed in combat, and it's up to Captain John Miller and his men to find Private Ryan and make sure he is able to return home alive. The men follow their orders, while questioning them at the same time, wondering why these eight men have to risk their own lives to save just one.

Steven Spielberg has created the most accurate war film to date. As intense as this film can be, it's done so to deliver the theme and purpose in the most realistic sense possible. It's also the one film that is able to accomplish what other war films have not been able to do in the past, which is able to demonstrate the absolute realism of war while showing the effects that war leaves on the soldiers. No matter how many times you view this film, you can't help but feel emotion during the opening battle scene. When you can watch a movie several times and still feel the emotion in that same exact scene, that's when you know a movie was done correctly, and in this case, that's what this film has done correctly compared to other war films.

To add to this film's perfect quality, Spielberg delivers a star-studded cast as well. Leading the cast onto the battlefield is Tom Hanks, Adam Goldberg, Jeremy Davies, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper, Paul Giamatti, Giovanni Ribisi and Ted Danson. Another thing Spielberg did different was instead of having the generic army soldier, he was able to give every character a distinct personality that added such an incredible depth to this film.

Saving Private Ryan has been labeled as one of the best films ever made. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won 5 awards. Watching this movie, you can't help but feel thankful knowing what these soldiers did for our country. And although this is a war film, the film's message is quite clear. What makes one person's life more or less important compared to someone else's? Watch the movie and see if you can answer that question for yourself!

Presentation:

This film is presented in full 1080p with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. All I can say is WOW! This film looks gorgeous! Before I watched this on blu-ray, I went back and watched the first thirty minutes of this film on dvd. To say that the blu-ray is a HUGE upgrade, still doesn't justify it!

Normally, seeing a consistent amount of grain on a blu-ray bothers me and actually distracts me from the movie. Now, there is a consistent amount of grain on this film, BUT, I think it actually adds more authenticity to this film. The movie is suppose to be about World War II, which took place in the 1940's. I Don't want to see a perfect looking film. Colors look like they have been drained out a bit, and there's a good amount of the film that looked like it's been washed out. In some shots the image looks alot softer than the rest of the film. Its things like this that give this film such a real feel to it, making this an excellent transfer to blu-ray. The detail in this film is incredible. To be able to actually see the fine detail and scratches on the guns and helmets, and the amounts of blood, sweat and dirt on the characters faces during the up close shots, is incredible! Skin tones are solid, blacks are deep, in areas where colors should stand out, they stand out with no problems. Everything about this transfer shines on this release!

This is probably the best looking, non-animated or non-cgi film, to be released on blu-ray. When you want to show off what blu-ray is, you want to show them this movie!

Audio:

This film is presented with a beautifully sounding 5.1 Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio. There are also French, Spanish and Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks as well.

The good news is that this film sounds amazing! This film will satisfy you and your sound system, and hopefully irritate your neighbors. Your system will have its work cut out for it during the intense first thirty minutes of this film!

Everything comes through crystal clear and sounds perfect. You can even hear when the soldiers are re-loading their guns and their clips hit the ground, that is how clear the audio is! Even for those without a sound system, they will truly be able to appreciate the sound in this film. If HD audio has not impressed you yet, or if you just never really noticed a difference, prepare to experience that difference!

The bad news is that there seems to be a syncing issue with the audio matching the video. Now, it's not the entire movie, only certain scenes. But if you are paying close attention to the actors when they speak, you are gonna notice this little glitch. From what I've read, a firmware update should correct this issue. If/when that occurs, I will update this review with more information.

UPDATE 1: Paramount has officially recalled the Saving Private Ryan blu-ray disc. Replacements should be available as of May 18 and will have a YELLOW UPC CODE on the back. Or you can call 888-370-8621 to receive details on how to obtain a replacement copy

Bonus Material:

All of the features from the previous dvd release has been ported over to this blu-ray release. There are no new features, and the only thing to be featured in HD are the trailers. Considering all of the other releases in the "Sapphire Series" have bonus features exclusive to the blu-ray release, this one does not. Very disappointing!

• Shooting War (480p, Runtime 1:28:05) - An excellent documentary narrated by Tom Hanks that shows the war from the lens of the film camera. This is actually the first war to be captured on film.
• An Introduction (480p, Runtime 2:35) - Spielberg discusses his fascination with World War II and how this film holds up to veterans that served in the war.
• Looking into the Past (480p, Runtime 4:40) - Spielberg discusses the events on which the film are based on, and the research that took place.
• Miller and his Platoon (480p, Runtime 8:23) - Spielberg and Hanks discuss working together and as they look at the other characters and what they bring to the film.
• Boot Camp (480p, Runtime 7:37) - Shows the contribution from the military, and how to use the weapons, and learned techniques and signals.
• Making Saving Private Ryan (480p, Runtime 22:05) - A great featurette showing the process to create this film, Spielberg explains how he shot the film differently compared to his previous film, and a look at the authenticity of locations and wardrobes that were used
• Re-creating Omaha Beach (480p, Runtime 17:58) - This feature starts with a quick historical overview of the actual Omaha Beach invasion. From there the feature moves on to creating the film set in Ireland, how they actually got 2,500 real troops, creating the landing scenes, and much more.
• Music and Sound (480p, Runtime 15:59) - Composer John Williams and sound designer Gary Rydstrom discuss how the score was created, and the leaving out music during the battle scenes added to the realism in the film
• Parting Thoughts (480p, Runtime 3:43) - Hanks and Spielberg share their final thoughts on the film and the importance it contains.
• Into the Breach (480p, Runtime 25:01) - A behind the scenes documentary that, not only has interviews with the cast and crew, but has interviews with World War II veterans.
• Trailers (1080p) - Theatrical (2:16 ) & Re-Release (2:05 )

Bottom Line:

I have now purchased Saving Private Ryan four times: on VHS, twice on dvd, and now on blu-ray. Not once have I found a reason to complain. This is an incredible film with an incredible audio and video transfer. The extras are satisfying, even though they are a port from the dvd. It has proved worthy of all its awards and honors, and will easily be the war movie that will never be forgotten. Overall, this release is a must-own for fans of this movie or of war films, and for videophiles and audiophiles!