Saving Private Ryan (1998) [ID5916DW]

The Equipment

LG Infinia 55LW5600 - Display
Pioneer Elite CLD 99 - LaserDisc
Pioneer SC-1223 - Receiver
Klipsch RC-3 II - Center
Klipsch RS-35 - Rears
Deftech Promonitor 1000 - Fronts
Sony SA-WM40 - 2xSubs

The Movie

How do you put Saving Private Ryan in your own words? The short answer is that a group of soldiers in Normandy go behind enemy lines to advise another soldier his brothers have died in action and they need to get him out of there. The long answer is this is a very well written, acted and directed movie showing many aspects of war and how they can affect the human condition. Starring Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Paul Giamatti and a whole slew of other great actors, this 169 minute war film is filled with action and a heartwarming story in the end.

The film was released on 7/24/98 and the LaserDisc was released almost a full year later on 6/29/99. That makes this release very late to the party as far as LaserDiscs are concerned and can be a little pricey when you find it. It's a two disc/four sided release with 21 chapter stops. Those being the following:

Disc 1/Side 1

1. Opening Logos
2. Memorial
3. Omaha Beach
4. Rallying
5. Breakthrough
6. Letters
7. A Public Relations Mission
8. Pool

Disc 1/Side 2

9. Private James Ryan
10. Choices
11. Fubar
12. Dog-tags
13. Radar Station
14. Big Mystery

Disc 2/Side 3

15. One Decent Thing
16. Piaf
17. Born Lucky
18. Ammo

Disc 2/Side 4

19. The Alamo
20. The Bridge
21. Duty Roster

The Ratings

The Video

The video is very clean with a good amount of detail throughout. The purposeful look of the film is meant to be dirty and run through a war, so there's some out of focus here, some shakey cam there......but it is consistent and retains the look throughout the film. Very nice detail and grand cinematic moments. The presentation on this is 1.85:1 Widescreen

8/10

The Audio

Dolby Digital surround is the flavor of the day on this pressing. As to be expected, there are lots of loud and deep tones with the film subject being war. There isn't a lack of high tones either on this one with whirring bullets and screaming soldiers. The voices are well toned and very well understood. Overall it is a very good soundtrack and worthy of any of your high end setups.

9/10

Summary

Well, if you like war themed movies with a great story give this one a go. Like I stated earlier, it's a little pricier for this late release LaserDisc but it is worth adding to your collection.

Overall: 8/10

Basically I fully agree what you wrote, I have had multiple copies as I bought complete collections in the past so they came cheap for me, sold or swapped all my double or titles I am not interested in.. In fact I am not a war movie guy so this is a movie I would not pay a lot for or even search for, I still have a mint copy in my collection because the movie has been made very well and quality is great.
For me there is only one minor point which is the jacket... such a cheap one, a nice gatefold would have done so much.. Anyhow I have to live with it...
BTW this release is not so uncommon so would not pay too much for it if you are interested, as the movie was a hype when released many people secured a copy, looking at lddb.com over 200 of us have a copy for the once with collection registered of course.

A quality laserdisc but I've never liked the film.I always hated the Montgomery overrated comment.
Especially when the English should never have fought in ww2 in the first place and we were completely crazy to have ended are alliance with Japan in 1922 probably that clueless moron Churchill's fault.

A super example of how raw war is,

The theater that in which I watched this movie were mostly in tears by the end, I looked around at the audience who were mostly chocked up with tears.

I have never personally seen this before from any movie.

The Laserdisc Video and sound won many awards, and the sound engineers did a mighty fine job.

I have this on US Version and Japanese version and both are superb indeed.

Thank you for mentioning this rare movie in terms of it's impact..........The DOLBY DIGITAL sound is completely immersive indeed.

Kind Regards to all

Apparently this LD and the first pressed DVD feature the film in the orignal colour grading. Later DVD re-releases and the BD have since been altered.

I never liked this movie for many reasons. Yes the war scenes are realistic but the movie is so hollywood !
Besides the battle portrayed never took place. That French town does not even exist in reality.

The Thin Red Line is such a better movie compared to this one but did not win any oscars. Instead this Spielberg blockbuster won them.

The Thin Red line is an extraordinarily beautiful movie with a beautiful soundtrack, fantastic images, excellent performances, a touching story, etc. etc.

Thin red line is a terence mallick film. He is a league or two above spielberg.

Speaking of Mallick, while The Thin Red Line wasn't my cup of tea I highly enjoyed The Tree Of Life. Possibly the best contemporary American film in my opinion.