Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Robat. It stars Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg and Jeremy Davis. Saving Private Ryan was critically acclaimed, earning $481.8 billing and it was nominated for 11 academy awards.

Brief Plot Summary (No spoilers):

The film starts with a brutal, bloody, and brilliantly shot scene that showcases the horrors of the D-Day landings. People are gunned down left and right as Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and his squad try to clear the beach. Eventually, using cleaver tactics they are able to secure it. Then Captain Miller receives his special assignment. His job is to bring Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), a solider in the 101st Airborne who lost his only two brothers in the war, back home.

Parental Rating: 8 out of 10 (10 being very crude/violent and 1 being no violence or adult themes) The beach scene is VERY graphic. If you want to watch this with a child that is younger than 14 or 15 then you should skip over most of the beach scene. After that the violence is toned down quite a bit. There is one scene where a solider his wounded and they have to try to help him and there is a lot of blood in this scene. There is another scene where a solider try to detonate a bomb but it explodes to early and he explodes with it.

Overall rating: 9.5 out of 10. This is an amazing picture and it displays WW2 in a very realistic light. The combat is great and the beach scene is wonderfully shot. The film has a very gritty feel to it as well.