Director Steven Spielberg has helmed some of the best and most famous movies of all time in the past three decades. Early in his career, he's entertained us with "fun," but not what could be considered "serious" films that ranged from menacing sharks and friendly aliens to adventurous archeologists.
While he's occasionally dabbled in that sort of cinema recently with the "Jurassic" films, he appears to be taking his "other" career -- of helming more adult-oriented and serious fare -- more seriously. "Schindler's List clearly demonstrated that and finally won him the coveted award (an Oscar) that eluded him for so long during his entire career. His latest masterpiece, "Saving Private Ryan," while surprisingly and unfortunately losing out to "Shakespeare in Love" for Best Picture of 1998, did bring home a Best Director statuette for the gifted director.
A harrowing, gripping, and disturbing look at war and heroism set in a fictitious WWII story, Spielberg has delivered an incredible piece of work. Much like "Schindler's List," however, this isn't what one would call an entertaining film for it's too realistic and disturbing to really be "enjoyed." That being the case, it's only one of a few minor complaints that can be raised against this picture.
The "last great war" -- as WWII is often called -- has been used countless times as a backdrop or focal point of movies ever since it ended more than half a century ago, but none have portrayed it as realistically as is done here. Not only do you see the horrors and atrocities -- along with the pain, suffering, and realistically gory deaths that permeated that (and every other) war -- but Spielberg has effectively managed to take the entire audience and dump them right into the middle of it all.
Accordingly, we're no longer voyeurs and the war isn't sanitized as it's been in nearly every film ever made about the subject. Instead, we're suddenly transported onto the beaches of Normandy -- and later a fictitious town under siege -- in such an overwhelmingly realistic fashion that you'll feel that you were there. You definitely won't forget this movie and its horrific scenes for a long, long time after seeing it.
This is Spielberg's fourth film to portray the war -- the others being the over-the-top comedy, "1941," the P.O.W. story, "Empire of the Sun" (one of the director's most underrated films), and of course, "Schindler's List" -- and is arguably the best. Although the main plot is fictionalized, it is based on several families that lost numerous sons during the war and the subsequent efforts to prevent that from ever happening again.
While such material would seem perfect to bring out Spielberg's only great and occasionally observed flaw -- his ability to manipulate the audience in a manner that's occasionally too obvious -- none of that is evident here. Unlike "Amistad" where such grandiose moments stood out like sore thumbs, every moment of this film feels perfect. Nothing seems manufactured to purposefully tweak the audience, and even the few stereotypical war moments -- including the guys sitting around discussing things during quiet times -- seem perfectly congruous with the overall picture.
Not even the appearance of some well known, but questionably cast performers in cameo parts (for a movie like this) can knock this locomotive from its tracks. Upon seeing Ted Danson (Sam on TV's "Cheers"), one initially gets that "Oh no, it's going to be cast like an old disaster movie with name actors, but Danson delivers a believable, albeit brief performance, as does the always fun to watch Dennis Farina ("Get Shorty," "Out of Sight").
Of course the main attraction here is Tom Hanks ("Philadelphia," "Forrest Gump"), the most beloved and favorite actor of recent, and he does anything here but disappoint in this role (that earned him yet another acting nomination). Having already "served" some time in war scenes in "Gump," Hanks is easy to accept as the civilian soldier, but he goes way beyond that. Creating a troubled and complex character, Hanks easily makes Miller sympathetic, but he also gives him enough edgy qualities to keep the audience on its collective toes.
Also very good -- and I think deserving of a best supporting actor nod -- is actor Tom Sizemore who plays Sergeant Horvath, Hanks' right-hand man. Audiences have seen Sizemore for years in the movies ("The Relic," "Heat") playing varying parts, but this is clearly his strongest performance to date.
Filmmaker and actor Edward Burns ("The Brothers McMullen," "She's The One") is also surprisingly decent (since his track record mainly consists of only appearing in his own romantic comedies), as is Anthony Perkins look-alike Jeremy Davies ("The Locusts," "Going All The Way"), although his character is often maddeningly irritating (on purpose, and as written). The rest of the performances are also quite good, including Matt Damon ("Good Will Hunting," "The Rainmaker") as the title character who finally shows up for the last quarter of the movie.
Easily managing to balance the glorification of the soldiers while denouncing this and other wars, Spielberg creates a compelling drama that continually rides on the question of whether "the good of the one outweighs the good of the many." In doing so, screenwriter Robert Rodat has strayed far from his former kid-based material (including "Fly Away Home" and "Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill"), but still manages to deliver a clean, concise, and completely believable script.
Technical credits are outstanding across the board. With most of the war scenes being shot with simultaneously rolling cameras (from varying angles), four time Oscar nominated editor Michael Kahn (with victories for "Schindler's List" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark") had his work cut out for him (no editing pun intended), but does such a fabulous job that he received another Oscar for it.
Although composer John Williams’ (a five-time Oscar winner) score is understated and rarely heard, it’s one of his best in years. Meanwhile cinematographer and three-time Oscar nominee Janusz Kaminski ("Schindler's List," "Amistad") received his first win for his work that not only included the most impressive battle scenes ever captured on celluloid, but some nicely done, quieter moments as well. A scene that transitions from a field of present day cemetery crosses to the buried barricades in the sand at Omaha Beach (actually an Irish shoreline used as a stand in) is tremendously presented as is nearly every other scene he and Spielberg have fashioned.
Kudos should also go out to production designer Tom Sanders and his crew for designing (and then destroying) the fictitious town of Ramelle, as well as to the entire special effects team for creating a host of effects that -- like the best of them -- are seamless and don't draw attention to themselves (meaning the injuries and warfare look so realistic that you'd believe it was all true if you didn't know better).
Combining the efforts of his terrifically talented cast and crew, Spielberg has delivered an amazing and impressive film. From the nicely choreographed "bookend" scenes set in the present day, to the utterly incredible -- and reportedly extremely faithful -- twenty some minute reenactment of the D-day invasion, this picture is awe-inspiring throughout its nearly three-hour duration.
Although this five-time Oscar winner didn’t take home the "big prize," it's doubtful any of the Academy members -- or for that matter critics or the general public -- will forget this film for a long time. Arguably the best movie Steven Spielberg has ever made, this is a powerful, disturbing, and awe-inspiring look at war.
As far as the disc itself, the video transfer, while good, could and should have been much better, but the sound is nothing short of spectacular. And while the supplemental materials are decent, where’s the running audio commentary by Spielberg detailing his thoughts on the film and its production? That would have made this disc a true masterpiece. Nonetheless, for fans of the film, you certainly won’t be disappointed in owning this DVD version of it.
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