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FilmSkool — a free film school

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Name: Saving Private Ryan
Director: Steven Spielberg
Genre: drama film, action film, war film
Duration: 169 min
Rating: 8.6

Directed by Steven Spielberg.

Directed by Steven Spielberg · Shot by Janusz Kamiński · Cut by Michael Kahn · Music by John Williams · 169 min

How it was made

Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński ran weeks of camera tests and rejected a monochrome approach, used earlier on Schindler's List, as too “pretentious,” aiming instead to emulate faded colour combat footage from the war.
Kamiński and Spielberg studied WWII documentaries including Memphis Belle and Nazi propaganda films by Leni Riefenstahl, along with Robert Capa's Omaha Beach photographs, to shape the film's visual style.
The principal cast underwent a six-day boot camp under military advisor Dale Dye and retired US Marines, including 5-mile runs with full packs on three hours' sleep a night; Spielberg deliberately kept Matt Damon away from it so the other actors would resent his character.
Spielberg and Tom Hanks took reduced upfront salaries in exchange for a guaranteed 17.5 percent of the film's gross profits, a deal used to help keep the budget down.

Behind the scenes

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) | Behind the scenes of Steven Spielberg WWII Movie — FilmIsNow Epic Movie Zone · 24 min
the making of 'Saving Private Ryan' , 1998 with Tom Hanks and Matt Damon — movie making stories · 52 min
WWII Historian Rates 'Saving Private Ryan' For Realism | How Real Is It? | Insider — Insider · 27 min
Janusz Kamiński on making Saving Private Ryan — American Film Institute · 3 min
Steven Spielberg on SAVING PRIVATE RYAN — American Film Institute · 3 min

Elsewhere

More by Steven Spielberg

Bullitt
The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara
Escape to Nowhere — 1961
Firelight — 1964
Amblin' — 1968
Duel — 1971
Murder by the Book — 1971
Something Evil — 1972
Watch Dog — 1973
The Sugarland Express — 1974
Jaws — 1975
Close Encounters of the Third Kind — 1977
1941 — 1979
Raiders of the Lost Ark — 1981
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — 1982
Twilight Zone: The Movie — 1983
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom — 1984
The Color Purple — 1985
Empire of the Sun — 1987
Always — 1989
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade — 1989
Hook — 1991
Jurassic Park — 1993
Schindler's List — 1993
Amistad — 1997
The Lost World: Jurassic Park — 1997
The Unfinished Journey — 1999
A.I. Artificial Intelligence — 2001
Minority Report — 2002
Catch Me If You Can — 2003

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