Saving Private Ryan (1998)
95%RT Audience Score: 95%
Awards & Nominations: Won 5 Oscars
79 wins & 75 nominations total
Anchored by another winning performance from Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg’s unflinchingly realistic war film virtually redefines the genre.
Saving Private Ryan is the kind of movie that makes you want to stand up and salute, even if you’re just sitting on your couch in your pajamas. Spielberg’s direction is so masterful that you feel like you’re right there on the battlefield, dodging bullets and explosions. And the cast is top-notch, with Tom Hanks leading the charge as the stoic Captain Miller. It’s not just a war movie, it’s a human story about sacrifice, brotherhood, and the cost of freedom. So grab some popcorn and get ready for a cinematic experience that will leave you breathless.
Production Company(ies)
Dreamworks Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Amblin Entertainment,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks SKG
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Curracloe Beach, Ballinesker, County Wexford, Ireland
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for intense prolonged realistically graphic sequences of war violence, and for language
Year of Release
1998
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 49m
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Language(s):English, French, German, Czech
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 24, 1998 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 25, 2004
Genre(s)
War
Keyword(s)
Saving Private Ryan, R, War, Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Rodat, produced by Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon, Gary Levinsohn, Steven Spielberg, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Peter Bradshaw, Michael Rechtshaffen, Gene Siskel, Martin Chilton, Rex Reed, Neil Norman, Michael Clark, Fico Cangiano, Sarah Brinks, Film Companion Staff, MPAA rating, Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital, Flat (1.85:1), Captain John Miller, Private James Ryan, Sergeant Michael Horvath, Corporal Timothy E Upham, Private Adrian Caparzo, Private Mellish, war film, graphic sequences of war, graphic sequences of violence, language, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks SKG
Worldwide gross: $482,349,603
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $885,179,536
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 122
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 96,529,938
US/Canada gross: $217,049,603
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $398,316,627
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 120
US/Canada opening weekend: $30,576,104
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $56,111,462
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 199
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $70,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $128,459,870
Production budget ranking: 280
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $69,175,640
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $687,544,025
ROI to date (est.): 348%
ROI ranking: 397
Edward Burns – Private Richard Reiben
Tom Sizemore – Sergeant Michael Horvath
Jeremy Davies – Corporal Timothy E. Upham
Vin Diesel – Private Adrian Caparzo
Adam Goldberg – Private Mellish
Director – Steven Spielberg
Producer – Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon, Gary Levinsohn, Steven Spielberg
Writer – Robert Rodat
Director(s)
Steven Spielberg
Writer(s)
Robert Rodat
Producer(s)
Ian Bryce, Mark Gordon, Gary Levinsohn, Steven Spielberg
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
Won 5 Oscars
79 wins & 75 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Cinematography Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Directing Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Editing Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Sound Editing Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (144) | Top Critics (47) | Fresh (134) | Rotten (10)
An old-fashioned war picture to rule them all – gripping, utterly uncynical, with viscerally convincing and audacious battle sequences.
June 6, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
The visual masterwork finds Spielberg atop his craft, weaving heart-pounding action and gut-wrenching emotion that will leave viewers silently shaken… If words occasionally fail the picture, the images speak indelible volumes.
July 24, 2017
Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
[Saving Private Ryan] accomplishes something I had been taught was most difficult — making an action-filled anti-war film or, at least, one that doesn’t in some way glorify or lie about combat.
June 8, 2015 | Rating: 4/4
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Steven Spielberg’s film is not perfect: it plays its strongest card first, the middle section is slightly uneven, and there are sallies into sentimentality. But it is a modern war classic.
June 8, 2015 | Rating: 5/5
Martin Chilton
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece. It cements Steven Spielberg’s reputation as one of the seminal filmmakers of the era.
June 8, 2015
Rex Reed
Observer
TOP CRITIC
The result, I am sorry to say, is that Saving Private Ryan seems almost banal in its achievement, a film that sacrifices humanity for technical wizardry.
June 8, 2015
Neil Norman
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Arguably Spielberg’s most visceral and inspired work, Saving Private Ryan speaks to devout patriotism, sacrifice and unflappable camaraderie. Sadly, these might be ideals our currently politically-divided country might never see eye-to-eye on again.
October 25, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Michael Clark
Epoch Times
A masterpiece across the board. Steven Spielberg’s war epic revolutionized the genre and medium since its release. [Full review in Spanish]
October 3, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Fico Cangiano
CineXpress Podcast
Despite my disproportionally emotional response to this film, I really enjoyed watching it again…
March 26, 2021
Sarah Brinks
Battleship Pretension
One of the most impactful, immersive war movies of all time, Steven Spielberg’s cinematic achievement takes us as close to the front line as possible offering a human take on the chaos of war.
October 27, 2020
Film Companion Staff
Film Companion
The opening moments on Omaha Beach are surely the most memorable of the entire film.
September 24, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
After a gut-wrenchingly graphic opening that re-stages the D-Day landing in a numbing fine detail – arguably the greatest war-movie scene of them all – it is impossible not to be caught up in this classic drama for the long haul.
April 24, 2020
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)…
Plot
Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother…
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast of Saving Private Ryan includes Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel, and Adam Goldberg, among others.
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