Matt Damon’s WWII Masterpiece Is Still His Greatest Movie 28 Years Later

There have been many high points in Matt Damon’s filmography, from soaring epics like The Odyssey to tense dramas such as The Departed, as well as action spectaculars like the Bourne franchise. One movie made relatively early in his career, however, stands out as one of his all-time classics. Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg, staked its claim as one of the most impactful war movies of all time when it was released in 1998 and, nearly three decades later, has lost none of its mastery.

‘Saving Private Ryan’ Imagines a Nightmarish WWII Rescue Mission

Set in 1944, during the latter stages of World War II, the film brings us into the US War Department, which has received word that three of four Ryan brothers have been killed in action, with the fourth, James (Damon), missing in action. Due to a military policy of sending surviving siblings home in order to spare a family losing all their sons, Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) is tasked with leading a detachment of soldiers to find Private Ryan. The eight men wade through the rubble of occupied France, risking their lives and facing personal demons on their way to finding their man.

It’s a fictional story based on the experiences of real-life veterans — in particular the Niland Brothers, three of whom were killed or captured while serving their country, meaning the surviving brother was sent home to complete his service. Spielberg went to great lengths to ensure accuracy in his film, including sending key cast members to boot camp to prepare them to play soldiers, although, notably, Damon was left out of the training in order to create separation between him and his co-stars.

Steven Spielberg Puts Us on the Ground at D-Day

Image via DreamWorks Pictures

Having covered one man’s quest to save as many as he could from the horrors of The Holocaust in Schindler’s List, Spielberg returned to the war movie genre to dramatize one of the bloodiest moments in the Second World War, the D-Day landings on Normandy’s Omaha Beach. The opening sequence, set during the landing, is approximately 24 minutes and is still unmatched in terms of portraying the violence and chaos of being on the front line. Through a variety of techniques, the Oscar-winning filmmaker puts you in the sand with the soldiers, making the experience a sensory overload and leaving you in no doubt as to what these men went through. The sequence was said to be so realistic that the United States Department of Veteran Affairs created a helpline for World War II veterans affected by seeing the film. It is brutal, harrowing, and sets the tone for the kind of story Spielberg wants to tell.

Although the mission in the story itself was fictional, the masterful work was symbolic of the many individual quests that soldiers undertook during the war, something Spielberg would later explore further alongside Hanks in their TV biopic Band of Brothers. As the poster’s tagline said, “The Mission is a Man,” and the film focuses on personal journeys, such as Miller’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or his soldiers placing bets on what he did before the war. The stories, disagreements, and individual encounters along the way represent a vast patchwork of experiences that were had by millions of those fighting, many of which were lost to time. A heart-felt tribute to sacrifice, Spielberg’s final movie of the 1990s ensured he ended the decade with a flourish.

Matt Damon Becomes the Center of the Story

Still only in his late 20s, Damon had recently found success as a leading man in Good Will Hunting, which won him an Oscar for his and Ben Affleck’s script. As Private James Francis Ryan, he was not the star of the movie, but he was the center around which the plot was built. The group of soldiers go through Hell to find him, with all the horrors they endure leading them to believe this young man must be worth it. When they arrive at their goal, they discover an ordinary young man, just like them, keen to do his duty and not leave his comrades behind.

The climactic fight, as well as the emotional coda, also underline what we owe to those who gave their lives for our freedom. In the final moments of their time together, Captain Miller tells Private Ryan to “earn it.” In other words, live a life that was worthy of the sacrifices made for him. It’s a question that Spielberg’s film asks his audience – how does one “earn” the sacrifices made? For Ryan, it was living a good life, making the most of every day. At that moment, Damon’s character becomes the film’s lesson as well as its mission.

There are few films that have endured as long as Saving Private Ryan, thanks to its focus on the soldier’s experience, vivid battle scenes, and rousing patriotism. While Matt Damon would have bigger roles to come, being at the core of this classic is still one of his most impressive achievements.

Release Date

July 24, 1998

Runtime

169 minutes