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DVDs
Saving Private Ryan
 By
Richard Moore
Although
some people may write this extraordinarily powerful movie off as
being more World War II hanky-blowing stuff from Steven Spielberg,
Saving Private Ryan is quite possibly the most gut-wrenching
and visually disturbing war movie made.
It
is created to take you on a rollercoaster-paced ride that includes
the Allied invasion of Europe on D-Day, through a rescue mission
by a small band of soldiers to retrieve a missing paratrooper called
James Ryan (whose three brothers have all just been killed) to a
final climactic battle scene that will have you breathless.
Spielberg
follows scenes of peaceful introspection and soul-searching with
some of the most gripping and best-filmed action sequences yet seen.
This
is not for the squeamish.
When
you get to the D-Day landings you can almost smell the free-flowing
vomit and fear of the men inside the landing craft as the floating
bricks lurch through artillery fire to the enemy-held beaches.
And
once there, the sound of explosions and machinegun fire whizzing
by will have you inadvertently ducking for cover and the sheer pace
of the action all around will have you stunned.
Blood
flows by the helmet-load and the damage done to the human body by
flying pieces of steel is graphically shown. Limbs are blown off,
innards draped everywhere and the absolute violence of a confined
killing zone has never been more realistic.
Spielberg
uses hand-held cameras to perfection in the landing scenes with
the jarring movement of the style adding to the "being there" feel.
One
of the brilliant aspects of the battles is the way in which Spielberg
raises the feeling of impending danger by slightly overexposing
the scene and then pitching the music at a higher tone so you get
the feeling of rising adrenalin.
Despite
the knowledge of "something is about to happen'' the suddenness
of renewed violence still comes as a shock to the system.
On
a character level, Spielberg has worked hard to round out the main
people and whether you like them or not you hope, with few exceptions,
that each survives the dangerous rescue mission.
On
DVD, the picture is pin-sharp and even in the battle scenes where
hand-held cameras are used, the quality of the vision is of Academy
Award-winning excellence.
This
is one movie where a large monitor really enhances the grand scale
of the experience.
It
is easy to hear why the sound effects team won an Oscar for their
work in a movie that you must watch while connected to a surround-sound
system.
It
really enhances the being-in-battle feel of the movie.
Conclusion:
Movie:
95%
DVD
Extras: 50%
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