--- title: "Saving Private Ryan: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/saving-private-ryan/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/saving-private-ryan" critics_score: 77 critics_reviews: 18 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Saving Private Ryan (1998): what the critics said Critics' score 77 from 18 reviews: 14 positive, 4 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics admire the film, and nearly all of them admire the same thing: the opening half-hour on Omaha Beach. Review after review calls it the most convincing depiction of combat yet put on screen, praising its chaos, its matter-of-fact horror and the handheld camerawork that makes it look like newsreel. Praise also goes to Tom Hanks as a leader coming apart under pressure and to Jeremy Davies as the terrified translator. The reservations gather around everything after the beach. Several critics find the middle section conventional, the characters thin and the sentiment laid on too thickly, and a few say the film plays its strongest card first. The Guardian goes furthest, calling the central mission bogus and the ending feelgood. Time Out faults it for an American-centric view with little political or historical perspective, and The Independent questions its claims to show events exactly as they happened. The spread is wide, from outright raves to the merely respectful. ## Empire — William Thomas Rating 5/5. 1 January 2000. The critic hails the film as a modern masterpiece with the most shocking and searing battle sequences in cinema history. They single out the visceral, numbing realism of the combat and Tom Hanks' performance as a crumbling leader for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/saving-private-ryan-review/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 24 July 1998. The critic praises the film's visceral and realistic depiction of combat, particularly the Omaha Beach landing, as a powerful philosophical statement on war conveyed through action. He highlights the strong performances, especially Jeremy Davies as the terrified translator, and notes its emotional and intellectual impact. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/saving-private-ryan-1998) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 1998. The critic praises the film's graphic and immediate depiction of war in the action sequences, comparing them favorably to Come and See for their believability and matter-of-fact horror. Spielberg is commended for maturing as an artist by avoiding overt manipulation and leaving the film's meaning open to interpretation. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/horrifyingly-graphic-saving-private-ryan-reviewed-1998) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Rating Critic's Pick. 24 July 1998. The critic praises Spielberg's war film as a soberly magnificent achievement that restores passion and meaning to the combat genre through visceral immediacy. They single out the intense, realistic battle sequences and empathetic characters for their groundbreaking impact. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/24/movies/film-review-panoramic-and-personal-visions-of-war-s-anguish.html) ## The AV Club — Tom Breihan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 30 October 2020. The critic views the film as a raw, serious, and masterful exception among 1998's loud summer spectacles, crediting its success to the visceral D-Day opening and strong performances. They single out the unrelenting, hellish beach sequence for its innovative horror and intent to honor veterans while confronting audiences with war's brutality. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/saving-private-ryan-brought-some-gravitas-to-a-summer-o-1845469542) ## Radio Times — David Parkinson Rating 4/5. The review highlights the gut-wrenching D-Day landing sequence and its success in conveying chaos, while noting that away from the fighting the film falls into combat-picture clichés and lacks the resonance of classics like All Quiet on the Western Front. It concludes that the film is still well-meaning, strongly acted, and among Spielberg's very best. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-2b4ald/saving-private-ryan/) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 July 1998. The review lauds the searingly visceral combat sequences as unmatched in realism and intensity. It notes the film is grim and demanding but occasionally undermined by conventional or windy script elements. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/saving-private-ryan-1200454373/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 24 July 1998. The critic calls it a raw and powerful work that overcomes a conventional script with its unprecedented realistic combat scenes. He notes strengths in direction and performances but points to some overdone sentiment and familiar elements. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jul-24-ca-6540-story.html) ## Slant Magazine — Eric Henderson Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 May 2010. The review sees the film as a transitional work whose technical virtuosity in the Omaha Beach sequence remains impressive but whose middle act and simplistic tribute to the 'greatest generation' feel less nuanced over time. They single out the opening half-hour's kinetic, documentary-like intensity for approximating the terror of combat. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/saving-private-ryan/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Michael Rechtshaffen Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 20 July 1998. The critic praises the film as a harrowing, uncompromisingly powerful WWII epic that finds Spielberg at the top of his craft, with heart-pounding action and gut-wrenching emotion, especially in the visceral D-Day sequence. However, the script relies too often on generic conventions and fails to match the personal depth of Schindler's List. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/saving-private-ryan-review-1998-movie-1023817/) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 23 December 2014. The film is a modern war classic despite playing its strongest card first and having an uneven middle section with some sentimentality. The unforgettable 27-minute Omaha Beach sequence is as graphic as any war footage and forces confrontation with the chaos faced by troops. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11162039/Saving-Private-Ryan-review.html) ## The Guardian — Richard Williams Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 1998. The critic praises the visceral and groundbreaking opening 30-minute battle sequence on Omaha Beach for its raw immediacy and skill but criticizes the rest of the film for falling into conventional sentimental Hollywood tropes, including a bogus central mission and a feelgood ending. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian/0,4267,36481,00.html) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 1998. The critic praises the intensity and technical brilliance of the combat sequences as the most believably shocking ever seen. They single out the dramatically weak middle section, sketchy characters and lack of emotional depth for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/saving-private-ryan-review/) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 25 January 2012. The film opens with a visceral, chaotic D-Day sequence that leaves no doubt war is hell, but the subsequent mission story becomes more conventional and less intense. It is ultimately an American-centric WWII tale lacking deeper political, ethical or historical perspective. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/saving-private-ryan) ## The Independent — Charles Wheeler Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 1998. Broadly speaking the depiction of Omaha as sheer hell is valid based on eyewitness accounts, though the film includes gratuitous bloodshed. The narrative follows the mission to save Ryan with multiple battles but the author questions specific claims of telling it exactly as it was. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/was-this-the-way-it-was-1197982.html) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2001. Spielberg surpasses himself with a tougher, stronger film than Schindler's List that captures the chaos and terror of war with visceral immediacy. The critic singles out the electrifying, newsreel-like D-Day landing sequence and Janusz Kaminski's handheld cinematography for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/saving-private-ryan-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) ## Polygon — Rachel Tolleson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 2 September 2026. The critic calls the film one of the greatest war movies ever made and praises its focus on the human condition amid violence rather than war itself. They single out the unflinching Omaha Beach sequence as one of the best war scenes in film history and a lasting history lesson. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/saving-private-ryan-near-perfect-wwii-28-years-later/) ## Den of Geek — Mark Allison Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 25 June 2018. Twenty years on, the critic argues the film remains powerful for its one-sided depiction of Germans as faceless enemies, which underscores war's dehumanizing effect on soldiers. They single out this deliberate lack of balance and the resulting audience complicity in the violence as central to understanding the story's themes. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/how-the-secret-of-saving-private-ryan-s-power-lies-in-its-portrayal-of-the-enemy/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/saving-private-ryan.md