Films of 1998

Submitted by critic on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 09:18
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  • After Life *****
  • Besieged ***
  • Buffalo '66 *****
  • Dr. Akagi *****
  • Earth ****
  • High Art *****
  • Illuminata *
  • Last Night ****
  • Out Of Sight *****
  • Pi *****
  • Saving Private Ryan *****
  • The Truman Show *****
pbrice10/10/2000

I can't help but to disagree on SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.

It certainly has some strikingly brilliant sequences (the obvious being the stunning opener), but was the script really that good, the plot itself, and the tone? I can't say it was a ***** film.

Although I will recommend this movie to anyone, I always do so with 'a grain of salt', being careful to warn them that Steven Spielberg inevitably shines through. Beyond the terrifiying and truly monumental 'storming of the beach,' it ends up Spielberg's Saturday Morning Cartoon vision of war.

critic10/11/2000

I will not try to claim that Saving Private Ryan is a faultless film. I do, however, believe some have greatly over-stated its shortcomings, and that overall, it still demands an enormous emotionnal response. No film, even a ***** film, is without its failings. Some films, however, do overcome these faults, at times, such as in Saving Private Ryan, even in spite of themselves.