Saving Private Ryan (Widescreen)

The film opens as the fateful D-Day invasion of World War II begins. Spielberg gives you very little time to prepare yourself for the images that you are about to see. The constantly moving camera during the first half hour of the film, creates a dizzying and gut-wrenching effect, not for the timid, combined with realistic sound and battle footage, it's quite an experience. My hats off to Spielberg and film editor, Michael Kahn, for what must have been a tough sequence to complete.

After the "battle on the beach", Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks in his best role since Philadephia-before and after) leads a small squad of men, behind enemy lines, to search for the only surrviving son of the Ryan family, Jim Ryan (Matt Damon). His other three brothers were killed in combat. Facing impossible odds, the members of the team, question why they are doing all of this to save one guy...It's up to Miller to keep everyone focused in order for the mission to be completed.

The rest of the squad is made up of some fine actors. Edward Burns Proves he can act outside of his own films. Then unknown, Vin Diesel, makes a lasting impression with his performance. Adam Goldberg, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, and Jeremy Davies, all come together quite nicely under Spielberg's leadership. The script by Robert Rodat is powerful and only resonates louder because of the care that seemed to go into making the film. As usual, composer John Williams, puts the so-called "icing on the cake", with another powerhouse score for a Spielberg film.

As someone who already owns the the DTS version DVD, I was disappointed that, save for a few trailers, there were no other extras. For this edition, Spielberg documentarian Laurent Bouzereau, put together a 75 minute look at how the film made its way to the big screen (found on disc 2). Topics include-historical research, the screenplay, casting, how the cast trained for the rigors of shooting, recreating D-Day, the music and sound for the film, and finally a few parting words from the director. Most of the documentary, aside from the interviews with composer John Williams and sound designer Gary Rydstrom, seems to be stuff culled from other material--at the time of filming or its initial release. Despite the "dated" material though, it's still worth your time, to see how it all came together.

My only wish: When Spielberg's Schindler's List hit DVD, I said that to do the film justice, you needed both historical background and behind the scenes material. Schindler only had historical perspectives, in contrast, Ryan's extras only deal with the film itself. I would have liked to know more without having to look elsewhere.

Saving Private Ryan is a must have DVD for your collection in any form

It was a true story of Friendship and Loyality. Touching to the heart and true to the soul. Saving Private Ryan is one of the Best Movies I've ever seen in my life. It will stay with you forever. Even if you think Romance is the only way. Or if you like only comedies, this movie will amaze you in many ways.

I highly Reccommend.