Oct 1, 2026 · 59 min · 14 segments
On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic, **Saving Private Ryan**, starring Tom Hanks, Ed Burns, Matt Damon and Tom Sizemore…
Jamelle BouieHost
John GanzHost
On this week's episode of the show, we watched Steven Spielberg's 1998 World War II picture, Saving Private Ryan, written by Robert Rodat, produced by S- Spielberg, and really this is a very Spielberg-driven project.
Uh, starring Tom Hanks, Ed Burns, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, and a huge number of just guys you recognize.
Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Dennis Farina, Ted Danson, Bryan Cranston, Nathan Fillion, Paul Giamatti, Leland Orser.
I mean, this is, this is quite a significant film of the decade, uh, made for a budget of $65, $70 million, grossed nearly half a billion dollars.
I mean, we were at the-- we were a little past the fiftieth anniversary of the major events, but this really supercharged interest in World War II and inspired a bunch more, um, I mean, more films, video games, books, the whole nine yards.
The successful HBO series Band of Brothers is in a lot of ways a direct continuation of this film.
The D-Day landing and ge- generally the, the portrayal of combat in this film, um, was a real innovation, [laughs] and you can see the influence of it, uh, everywhere, uh, post this film.
It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2014.
And it's-- I mean, I think it's fair to say it probably is, and is considered to be by many, to be one of the greatest w- w- war pictures ever made.
Uh, uh, and, um, you know, I've seen it a ton, uh, over the years, but this was...
This most recent rewatch was the first one in about half a decade, and I, I will say, watching it this time, I was like, "Yeah, this movie, uh, this movie is, is a triumph." I don't know how much plot synopsis is necessary, but we'll give you some.
On this week's episode of the show, we watched Steven Spielberg's 1998 World War II picture, Saving Private Ryan, written by Robert Rodat, produced by S- Spielberg, and really this is a very Spielberg-driven project.
Uh, starring Tom Hanks, Ed Burns, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, and a huge number of just guys you recognize.
Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Dennis Farina, Ted Danson, Bryan Cranston, Nathan Fillion, Paul Giamatti, Leland Orser.
I mean, this is, this is quite a significant film of the decade, uh, made for a budget of $65, $70 million, grossed nearly half a billion dollars.
I mean, we were at the-- we were a little past the fiftieth anniversary of the major events, but this really supercharged interest in World War II and inspired a bunch more, um, I mean, more films, video games, books, the whole nine yards.
The successful HBO series Band of Brothers is in a lot of ways a direct continuation of this film.
The D-Day landing and ge- generally the, the portrayal of combat in this film, um, was a real innovation, [laughs] and you can see the influence of it, uh, everywhere, uh, post this film.
It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2014.
And it's-- I mean, I think it's fair to say it probably is, and is considered to be by many, to be one of the greatest w- w- war pictures ever made.
Uh, uh, and, um, you know, I've seen it a ton, uh, over the years, but this was...
This most recent rewatch was the first one in about half a decade, and I, I will say, watching it this time, I was like, "Yeah, this movie, uh, this movie is, is a triumph." I don't know how much plot synopsis is necessary, but we'll give you some.
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