A 90s war film often hailed as one of the best ever made is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Steven Spielberg’s 1998 epic Saving Private Ryan was set during World War II, taking place in 1944 Normandy, France.
It follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), on a mission to bring home Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) after his three brothers were killed in action.
Inspired by the books of Stephen E. Ambrose, the cast is rounded out by Tom Sizemore, Vin Diesel, Edward Burns, Jeremy Davies, and Barry Pepper, among others.
Saving Private Ryan was an instant hit, lauded by critics and fans alike for its graphic portrayal of combat as well as its strong central performances.
There were even reports of World War II veterans being unable to watch the film due to their traumatic memories.
The film became the second-highest-grossing film of 1998 and went on to win a slew of awards, including Oscars, Golden Globes, and Baftas.
It has often been called one of the greatest war films ever made, inspiring battle scenes in several productions that followed, and has also been credited with revitalising interest in media about World War II.
Saving Private Ryan holds an impressive 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics’ consensus reading: ‘Anchored by another winning performance from Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg’s unflinchingly realistic war film virtually redefines the genre.’
In their review, The Times said: ‘The 24-minute sequence at the start of Steven Spielberg’s Second World War drama is one of the greatest pieces of combat cinema yet made.’
The Guardian wrote: ‘An old-fashioned war picture to rule them all – gripping, utterly uncynical, with viscerally convincing and audacious battle sequences.’
5 more war films you can stream right now
Apocalypse Now
In Vietnam in 1970, Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) takes a perilous and increasingly hallucinatory journey upriver to find and terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a once-promising officer who has reportedly gone completely mad. In the company of a Navy patrol boat filled with street-smart kids, a surfing-obsessed Air Cavalry officer (Robert Duvall), and a crazed freelance photographer (Dennis Hopper), Willard travels further and further into the heart of darkness.
Where to watch: Channel 4 and StudioCanal+ via Prime Video
Das Boot
A German submarine patrols the Atlantic Ocean during World War II, manned by a crew that must contend with tense conflicts and long stretches of confined boredom. While war correspondent Werner (Herbert Grönemeyer) observes day-to-day life aboard the U-boat, the grizzled captain (Jürgen Prochnow) struggles to maintain his own motivation as he attempts to keep the ship’s morale up in the face of fierce battles, intense storms and dwindling supplies.
Where to watch: Netflix
Schindler’s List
Businessman Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) arrives in Krakow in 1939, ready to make his fortune from World War II, which has just started. After joining the Nazi party primarily for political expediency, he staffs his factory with Jewish workers for similarly pragmatic reasons. When the SS begins exterminating Jews in the Krakow ghetto, Schindler arranges to have his workers protected to keep his factory in operation, but soon realises that in so doing, he is also saving innocent lives.
Where to watch: Now TV and Sky
Full Metal Jacket
Stanley Kubrick’s take on the Vietnam War follows smart-aleck Private Davis (Matthew Modine), quickly christened ‘Joker’ by his foul-mouthed drill sergeant (R. Lee Ermey), and pudgy Private Lawrence (Vincent D’Onofrio), nicknamed ‘Gomer Pyle,’ as they endure the rigors of basic training. Though Pyle takes a frightening detour, Joker graduates to the Marine Corps and is sent to Vietnam as a journalist, covering — and eventually participating in — the bloody Battle of Hué.
Where to watch: Netflix
The Hurt Locker
Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner), Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are members of a bomb-disposal unit in Baghdad. As their tour of duty enters its final weeks, the men face a set of increasingly hazardous situations, any of which could end their lives in an explosive instant.
Where to watch: Mubi and StudioCanal+ via Prime Video
The Hollywood Reporter commented: ‘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.’
The Daily Telegraph called it a ‘modern war classic’, while the Observer was among the many publications hailing it a ‘masterpiece’.
Meanwhile, LA Weekly summarised: ‘If Steven Spielberg’s emotional intelligence matched his visual genius, his harrowing, passionately felt and honourably flawed new film might qualify for one of the greatest American movies ever made about World War II.’
Speaking to Far Out Magazine earlier this year, cinematographer Janusz Kamiński explained how they achieved the film’s unique look that adds to its emotional punch.
‘We did not want this to look like a Technicolour extravaganza about World War Two, but more like colour newsreel footage from the 1940s, which is very desaturated and low-tech.’
Saving Private Ryan is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.
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