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Veteran director Steven Spielberg is many things but a lover of criticism, he can never be. Although there are some who would accept some constructive criticism, for Steven Spielberg’s 1998 war movie, the case seems different.
Starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon in leading roles,Saving Private Ryanwas a heartbreaking and patriotic reminder of what war can do to people. However, critics hated the fact that Spielberg mixed cultures and ethnicities in places where they allegedly shouldn’t be.
Why critics slammedSaving Private Ryan?
Although the film received great reviews and critical acclaim, a minority of fans and critics pointed out that there were people from different ethnicities and cultures fighting with the U.S. soldiers.
It could be stated that Spielberg wanted to showcase the diversity of different people living together in the USA and going to war for their country, but some critics and fans found it rather odd.
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According toIMDb, the film earned a whopping $482 million at the global box office alongside 5 Oscar wins. Despite the fame and success that the film achieved, it wasn’t enough for critics.
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From reports to alleged conclusions, people slammedSteven Spielbergfor trying to makeSaving Private Ryaninto a ‘Hollywood’ movie where the white guy becomes the savior amongst a group of people from different ethnicities. Spielberg heard none of it.
Steven Spielberg defended the criticism againstSaving Private Ryan
After the film’s release, it was the only thing that people were talking about. The alleged controversial part of mixing cultures and ethnicities seemed to tick a lot of people off.
In 2006, the veteran director sat down for an interview with theDGAwhere he touched upon the subject of mixing ethnicities. According to the director, he tried to make the film as realistic as possible.
I’ve always wanted to make a war movie, and I had a chance to make a realistic war movie, as opposed to an apocryphal Hollywood war movie. Actually, I was beating away the impulses to go Hollywood.
He further continued,
[They said] ‘You’re mixing ethnicities and cultures and showing that Americans are from all over the world.’ That doesn’t bother me at all because you may’t have seen as many World War II movies as I’ve seen, and not have some of that rub off on Saving Private Ryan.
Despite the minor controversy,Saving Private Ryanis still considered to be one of the best films that the world has ever seen. The dramatic perspective of the war is as real as it gets and naturally,Spielberg also received critical acclaim for the same.
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Released in 1998, the film currently stands at a rating of 8.6/10 on IMDb and a whopping 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.Saving Private Ryanis available to stream on Paramount+.
Visarg Acharya
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3263
Visarg Acharya is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 3000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past three years and a copywriter at a corporation. Visarg usually covers news and theories on the MCU and the DCU, with an emphasis on Avengers and Superman; Game of Thrones, and more.A Tarantino fan, Visarg, spends his time critiquing various directors’ filmographies and watching them with curiosity. Medieval fantasy like The Lord of the Rings or sci-fi movies like Interstellar, watching the latest horror movies, and listening to Hans Zimmer become his comfort zone. When idle, he can be found reading fantasy novels with a terrible cup of coffee in hand.
