DVDs

Saving Private Ryan

Region 1

Region 4

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%