Saving Private Ryan (1998) ****

Divorced from the audience hype at the time of its release, the Normandy beach sequence is still thrilling, chaotic, and harrowing, and Saving Private Ryan (1998) remains a really strong Spielberg film (though one that sits just above the halfway mark of my rankings of his filmography—hey, the man has made a lot of classics!). 

It is indeed one of the best war films ever put to celluloid, both a technical and emotional achievement. I actually find the final bridge battle perhaps even more exciting than the Normandy one. SPR's main troupe of characters are easy to like and relate to. In particular, Jeremy Davies is impressive—portraying cowardice convincingly on screen (and in a way that still evokes empathy) is a difficult role.

While I do slightly prefer the other, more poetic war film of 1998, Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, and while I've never been a fan of its bookend scenes (and still find them saccharine), SPR is nonetheless a moving and visceral experience and the 4K UHD disc is an absolute stunner.

You can find my Steven Spielberg Feature Films Ranked list here.