Senior Writer Aaron Sarnecky and Senior TV Columnist Josh Sarnecky are here with their latest podcast. Today they’re talking about Saving Private Ryan for its 25th anniversary.
Saving Private Ryan is an epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. It opened in theaters on July 24, 1998. It grossed over $30 million its opening weekend and would go onto gross over $216 million domestically and over $265 million worldwide, resulting in a worldwide box office of $481 + million.
In the film, US Army Ranger Cpt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) leads his men across Nazi-occupied France to find Private James Ryan (Matt Damon), whose three brothers have all died in combat, and return him home. The film also stars Ed Burns, Tom Sizemore, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper, Jeremy Davies, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribsi and features Bryan Cranston, Ted Danson, Nathan Fillion, Ryan Hurst, and Paul Giamatti and Andrew Scott in minor roles.
Saving Private Ryan was the second highest grossing film of 1998. It was nominated for 11 Oscars, winning five, including Best Director. The film lost Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love, which many critics consider one of the Academy’s biggest mistakes.
Aaron and Josh talk about the movie’s plot, performances, effects, and depiction of World War II. They also discuss its influence on future WWII media.
For another podcast on Spielberg, you can listen to Aaron and Josh chat with Editor-in-Chief Bill Bodkin about Jurassic Park.
