Saving Private Ryan

The winner of five Academy Awards® and internationally acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, "Saving Private Ryan" offers us a glimpse into the realities faced by American soldiers during World War II. The story is told as it is seen through the eyes of a squadron of GIs, who, after enduring the horrific D-Day invasion, were then called upon to perform a dangerous special mission. Captain John Miller (Hanks) must take his men behind enemy lines to find and return Private James Ryan (Damon) to the United States after his three brothers had all been killed in combat. Captain Miller's men find themselves initially questioning their orders—why risk the lives of eight men to save only one? The accurate depiction of the brutalities of war may be unsettling, but if you can endure the troublesome images and allow yourself to hear the message of the movie, you will almost certainly gain a greater understanding of the tremendous sacrifices that so many young men and women have made for our country and appreciate their courage. (Laurie Sevano)

Due to an Audio issue, Paramount has replaced the disc and repackaged the Blu-ray with a Blue Disc 1 and a Yellow UPC. The new UPC number is 097360748451

Special features include "An Introduction" (SD 02:35), "Looking Into The Past" (SD 04:40), "Miller And His Platoon" (SD 08:23), "Boot Camp" (SD 07;37), "Making Saving Private Ryan" (SD 22:05), "Re-Creating Omaha Beach" (SD 17:58), "Music And Sound" (SD 15:59), "Parting Thoughts" (SD 03:43), and "Into The Breach: Saving Private Ryan" (SD 25:01); the documentary "Shooting War" (01;28:05); and the theatrical trailer.

The 1080p AVC picture is superior to the previously reviewed anamorphically enhanced DVD in Issue 35. The imagery is exceptionally defined with superb clarity. The stylized picture is harshly contrasted imagery, but is a superb transfer of Janusz Kaminski's Academy Award®-winning cinematography. The desaturated colors and contrasted imagery is absolutely intentional and closely resembles the theatrical presentation. To create this appearance as it was seen in the theatres, Kaminski and Director Steven Spielberg chose to strip the lenses of their protective coating, flash the film stock, and desaturated the colors with the ENR bleaching process. Shadow delineation is nicely rendered, as seen when Captain Miller and his men try to rest in a church lit only by a few candles. The visual experience is intensely emotional, and everyone should understand that the emotion is created by the deglamorized appearance of Spielberg's vision. This impeccable rendering is impressively detailed in terms of facial features, including pores and hair, skin grime and sweat and blood, and object textures; especially visual on the war-torn stone façades depicting bullet holes, broken concrete, and debris. Dimensionality is excellent as well, conveying an impressive sense of depth. The tonal rendering emphasizes desaturated grays, browns, and greens—hues integral to the grim visual style. There are moments of brightness and color, which is relief to the otherwise bleak visuals. The picture is very cinematic, with an effective grain structure that enhances the gritty visual style. This is a faithful presentation that will impress enthusiasts of filmmaking in its impressive rendering of "this God-awful shitty mess." (Gary Reber)

As with the previously reviewed DTS® Digital Surround™ soundtrack, the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio™ rendering projects an even more realistic sense of immediacy and exceptionally conveys the dimensionality, depth, and impact of the intended sound mix. The sound is incredibly coherent, with a seamlessly integrated holosonic® soundfield that projects pinpoint delineation and realistic sidewall and center back surround phantom imaging. Interchannel detail is articulate, for overall clarity. This soundtrack is a powerhouse of intensity. For over 24 minutes continuously the sound delivers one of most dramatic and full-scale SPL holosonic soundfield experiences of any motion picture soundtrack yet produced. Few other soundtracks to date have delivered such a dimensionally spatial sound sculpture with such breathtaking and intensely emotional impact. The sound breathes life into the stunning imagery, in this case, sadly, war depicted in intimate combat at Omaha Beach. Bullets whiz by in all directions, explosives impact throughout the soundfield, machine gunfire emanates from the split surrounds and you feel the deeply powerful bass, intensified by the full scale .1 LFE channel at below 25 Hz. Even the surround channels are driven full scale SPL at below 25 Hz. This is a soundtrack that is capable of damaging audio systems not capable of intense full-scale 25 Hz bass. It is a soundtrack that demands full-range loudspeaker capability in all channels! No single subwoofer directed by bass management can project the bass-energized holosonic imaging this soundtrack creates. You are immersed in the holosonic soundfield for what seems endless. Even shots underwater are felt and heard with a realism that is breathtaking. The John Williams music score, recorded and mixed by Shawn Murphy, is sweeping and dynamic, with a deep soundstage and an expansive presence that extends well into the surrounds. The lossless DTS® encoding reveals impressive subtle harmonic textures and distinctive directionalized soundfield energy. The sound perspective shifts perfectly in accord with the picture angles, for effective localization. Low-frequency effects are natural sounding, yet at times, extremely powerful. Dialogue, however, is disappointing because it is almost entirely ADR-produced and is wanting in natural spatial integration. But then this is a challenging feat, considering that the dialogue takes place largely on battlefields, open countrysides, and shelled towns. In scenes with pounding rain, the sound is enveloping and able to create chills. And what wonderful extended dimension is created by the back center phantom channel! Listen for the center back fly-overs by the P-51s. The sound is exhilarating. There are instances when dialogue emanates from a surround channel amidst aggressive soundfield envelopment that is very effective. There is so much to celebrate with this sound design. This spatially dynamic soundfield experience ranks among the greatest soundtracks of all time. The richly spatial holosonic soundfield is what WSR has always advocated and enthusiastically applauds here, effectively enveloping the listener with sonic dimension and realism. This is one of the rare "you are there" sonic experiences to behold. (Gary Reber)