When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds. A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance. The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. Saving Private Ryan touches us deeper than Schindler because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. --Doug Thomas
Tom Hanks | Captain Miller |
Matt Damon | Private Ryan |
Tom Sizemore | Sergeant Horvath |
Edward Burns | Private Reiben |
Barry Pepper | Private Jackson |
Adam Goldberg | Private Mellish |
Vin Diesel | Private Caparzo |
Giovanni Ribisi | T-4 Medic Wade |
Jeremy Davies | Corporal Upham |
Ted Danson | Captain Hamill |
Paul Giamatti | Sergeant Hill |
Dennis Farina | Lieutenant Colonel Anderson |
Joerg Stadler | Steamboat Willie |
Max Martini | Corporal Henderson (as Maximilian Martini) |
Dylan Bruno | Toynbe |
Daniel Cerqueira | Weller |
John Williams | Composer |
Janusz Kaminski | Cinematographer |
Demetri Goritsas | Parker |
Ian Porter | Trask |
Michael Kahn | Editor |
Gary Sefton | Rice |
Thomas E. Sanders | Production Designer |
Phill Zagajewski | Production Designer |
Julian Spencer | Garrity |
Steve Griffin | Wilson |
William Marsh | Lyle |
Marc Cass | Fallon |
Markus Napier | Maj. Hoess |
Neil Finnighan | Ramelle Paratrooper |
Peter Miles | Ramelle Paratrooper |
Paul Garcia | Field HQ Major |
Seamus McQuade | Field HQ Aide |
Ronald Longridge | Coxswain |
Adam Shaw | Delancey |
Rolf Saxon | Lt. Briggs |
Corey Johnson | Radioman |
Loclann Aiken | Soldier on the Beach |
John Barnett | Soldier on the Beach |
Maclean Burke | Soldier on the Beach |
Victor Burke | Soldier on the Beach |
Aiden Condron | Soldier on the Beach |
Paschal Friel | Soldier on the Beach |
Shane Hagan | Soldier on the Beach |
Paul Hickey | Soldier on the Beach |
Shane Johnson | Soldier on the Beach |
Laird Macintosh | Soldier on the Beach |
Brian Maynard | Soldier on the Beach |
Martin McDougall | Soldier on the Beach |
Mark Phillips | Soldier on the Beach |
Lee Aaron Rosen | Soldier on the Beach (as Lee Rosen) |
Andrew Scott | Soldier on the Beach |
Matthew Sharp | Soldier on the Beach |
Vincent Walsh | Soldier on the Beach |
Grahame Wood | Soldier on the Beach |
John Sharian | Corporal |
Glenn Wrage | Doyle |
Crofton Hardester | Senior Medical Officer |
Martin Hub | Czech Wehrmacht Soldier |
Raffaello Degruttola | Goldman (as Raph Taylor) |
Nigel Whitmey | Pvt. Boyd |
Sam Ellis | Pvt. Hastings |
Erich Redman | German #1 |
Tilo Keiner | German #2 |
Stephan Grothgar | German #3 / Voice on Bullhorn |
Stephane Cornicard | Jean |
Michelle Evans | Jean's Wife |
Martin Beaton | Jean's Son |
Anna Maguire | Jean's Daughter |
Nathan Fillion | Pvt. James Frederick 'Minnesota' Ryan |
Leland Orser | Lt. DeWindt |
Michael Mantas | Paratrooper Lieutenant |
David Vegh | Paratrooper Oliver |
Ryan Hurst | Paratrooper Mandelsohn |
Nick Brooks | Paratrooper Joe |
Sam Scudder | Paratrooper #1 |
John Walters | Old French Man |
Dorothy Grumbar | Old French Woman |
James Innes-Smith | MP Lieutenant |
Harve Presnell | Gen. George C. Marshall |
Dale Dye | War Department Colonel |
Bryan Cranston | War Department Colonel |
David Wohl | War Department Captain |
Eric Loren | War Department Lieutenant |
Valerie Colgan | War Department Clerk |
Amanda Boxer | Mrs. Margaret Ryan |
Harrison Young | Ryan as Old Man |
Kathleen Byron | Old Mrs. Ryan |
Rob Freeman | Ryan's Son |
Thomas Gizbert | Ryan's Grandson |
Tom Brown | Art Director |
Daniel T. Dorrance | Art Director |
Ricky Eyres | Art Director |
Chris Seagers | Art Director |
Alan Tomkins | Art Director |
Mark Tanner | Art Director |
Mac Steinmeier | Waffen SS Soldier |