Saving Private Ryan released

Saving Private Ryan Released: July 24, 1998 Studio: DreamWorks Genre: war drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 217.00 Worldwide: 482.30 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 412.69 Worldwide: 917.70

Directing: Steven Spielberg Screenwriting: Robert Rodat Starring: Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, Barry Pepper, Harve Presnell, Vin Diesel, Jeremy Davies Review: Because of its “realistic and uncompromising account of the war often romanticized by Hollywood,” AFI07 Saving Private Ryan is “considered as one of the greatest war dramas ever made.” MSN “The film was a critical and box office smash and brought Spielberg his second Best Director Oscar (his first was for his other World War II era film, Schindler’s List (1993).” FS The first half hour of the film is marked by “the brutal, uncompromising, and graphic depiction of the landing at bloody Omaha Beach on D-Day (June 6, 1944) .” FS Most of the film, however, “revolves around the rescue of a downed paratrooper in the French countryside, Pvt. James Ryan (Damon), whose three brothers have recently been killed in action.” FS Thanks to a “morale-lifting, propagandistic, PR effort for the military brass (Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (Presnell),” FS “a unit of war-weary soldiers is forced to risk their lives to find the young man and bring him home.” AFI07 Captain John Miller (Hanks) leads a platoon of “seven stereotypical characters…hard-nosed Sgt. Horvath (Sizemore), a frightened, militarily-inexperienced translator Cpl. Upham (Davies), and five privates (Burns, Ribisi, Diesel, Pepper and Goldberg) – including a cynical hothead from Brooklyn, an introspective medic, a decent soldier, a religious Southern sharpshooter, and a tough Jew.” FS “Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks had been longtime friends before this movie, yet somehow had never worked together. Once each learned the other was reading Robert Rodat’s script, discussions ensued.” MSN Sources: AFI07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud

Awards/Honors/Lists: Oscars: Wins: 5: Best Director – Steven Spielberg, Best Cinematography – Janusz Kaminski, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Effects Editing Nominations: 11, including Best Picture, Best Actor – Tom Hanks, Best Original Screenplay – Robert Rodat, Best Original Score – John Williams, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Makeup Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Awards: Other Lists/Honors: First posted 8/23/2019; last updated 5/27/2023.

Schindler’s List released

Schindler’s List Released: November 30, 1993 Studio: Universal Pictures Genre: war epic/history Box Office (numbers in millions) Domestic: 96.90 Worldwide: 322.10 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 272.70 Worldwide: 911.90

Directing: Steven Spielberg Screenwriting: Steven Zaillian Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes Review: “Who the hell would’ve thought that immature, moneybags director Steven Spielberg would make a movie that is (a) a serious, grown-up film, and (b) the best movie made by Hollywood in years?” ML “As in his earlier work, there’s a sense of wonder at the inexplicable, but it’s no longer childlike.” T95 This is his “greatest dramatic, black and white masterpiece.” FS “Filmed almost entirely on location in Poland…with a pace to match the most frenzied Spielberg works, this looks and feels like nothing Hollywood has ever made before.” LM “As painful as it is powerful,” TV this is “Spielberg’s most intense and personal film to date.” LM The movie is a “staggering adaptation of Thomas Keneally’s best-seller” LM about Oskar Schindler (Neeson), the real-life, opportunistic, German Catholic industrialist. He “initially flourished by sucking up to the Nazis” LM and “employing cheap labor from Polish Jews in his Cracow cookware factory.” FS He eventually went broke, but by giving them jobs, he saved “over 1,000 Jews from the senseless, brutal extermination in Auschwitz.” FS In addition to Neeson’s “towering” LM performance as Schindler, Kingsley is “superb as his Jewish accountant (and conscience)” LM and Fiennes, who portrays Amon Goeth, is “the hideous, disturbing evil personified” FS “odious Nazi commandant.” LM “The elastic editing and grainy camerawork lend an immediacy as surprising as the shockingly matter-of-fact depiction of violence and casual killing.” T95 “At times the film becomes a scream of horror at the inhumanity it recalls and recreates, and the b/w images never become aesthetically sanitized. True, the Jews are huddled, victimized masses. True, too, that Spielberg finally relents and tries to ‘explain’ Schindler so that the last hour becomes steadily more simplistic and sentimental. Otherwise, however, it’s a noble achievement, and essential viewing.” T95 Sources: FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” ML Movieline (Dec. 1995). “100 Best Movies Ever Made” by Virginia Campbell and Edward Margulies T95 Time Out (1995). “Centenary Top One Hundred Films” TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video”

Accolades: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 7 – Best Picture, Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Cinematography, Editing, and Original Score Nominations: 12 – including Best Actor (Neeson), Best Supporting Actor (Fiennes) Hall of Fames: Other Lists/Honors: Experts’ Picks: First posted 7/30/2019; last updated 6/3/2025.