Is Saving Private Ryan the best war movie of all time?

One of them. There are a few I prefer, but sure, the argument can be made.

Nope. Captain America (:

WAR movies? Gladiator beats it.

EDIT: I also liked The Last Samurai and Braveheart.

But if we're in the context of WWII, then yes it is the best.

It's certainly up there, with potential to be the best.

It was a good movie but it didn't draw first blood.

@russellmania77: I see what you did there.

It's certainly at the very least one of them

It's overrated.

Here is a review from a German WWII veteran on the movie.

http://www.revisionisthistory.org/reviews.html

No...... That title goes to Howard the Duck. Hands down greatest film of all time...........

Very good.

Wouldn't say best though.

Lawrence of Arabia.

No.

Apocalypse Now is.

Great movie, but no. There are even better WW2 films IMO.

Still, an amazing movie.

Full Metal Jacket.

Though if we're going strictly by WW2 movies then Schindler's List takes it IMO.

@mandarinestro: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

As a kid I loved this movie so I will vote it

Also this.

It's in my top five.

Pft. 300.

I bet he meant best war movie based on actual events.

@judasnixon said:

No...... That title goes to Howard the Duck. Hands down greatest film of all time...........

That movie gets so much trash from people. It was cheesy but I actually like it, cheese and all.

"Best" is a completely subjective term. But that's just my opinion.

Daaaa, movie about how allies fearlessly stabbed nazis from behined after Soviets already broke their back is suuuurely the best movie about the war.

In my opinion yes. It's one of my all time favorites along with We Were Soldiers.

It's up there. Definitely the best WWII though in my honest opinion.

Black Hawk Down.

Other tops are We Were Soldiers, Schindler's List, SPR (since we're talking about it), Band of Brothers (mini series or not, it's a fantastic look at REAL events and men of the time), the Pacific, and to an extent Full Metal Jacket (depends on how you view the movie, it's Stanley Kubrick's vision of reality...which is out there). There are also good films that use war as a backdrop like Apocalypse Now, but it is about a man's descent into madness and not war. The Vietnam War is used as a backdrop and catalyst for a personal story in this case.

Lone Survivor is good, but a bit too "Hollywood" at times for me.

Yes but Platoon, Downfall, Pan's Labyrinth, Full Metal Jacket are co-favourites.

@frozen said:

This so much. And Schindler's List if you count it as a war movie.

Its one of the best.

Maybe

NO. Apocalypse Now.

Gladiator stomps hard.

It's the best WWII one IMO.

Full Metal Jacket.

Although Saving Private Ryan is not bad

It's good, very good in fact but not the best.

There are better.

I think it's the best

I agree. That opening scene IMO does the best job capturing the sheer chaos and gruesomeness of war.

Probably, if not one of the best. It's actually centered around war, battles and the issues that soldiers faced along with one another. Movies like Schindler's List and Apocalypse Now (as people have mentioned here) don't do that. The opening 10-20 minutes when they storm the beach is perfection. I'd say films like Black Hawk Down, We Were Soldiers, Hacksaw Ridge, Platoon (although pretty Hollywood), and Full Metal Jacket do a great job too and are among the best. Fury, which is very Hollywood also has some moments, but I don't think I'd list it as being one of the best.

I thought Black Hawk down was better if it counts as a war movie.

Its one of the best war movies of all time. I guess it could be considered the best as well.

Captain America: The First Avenger is /s

Saving Private Ryan is one of the greats and really high up there, but Apocalypse Now to me is better. I think it comes down to what you personally prefer when you reach the upper echelons that movies like Saving Private Ryan, Full Metal Jacket, or Apocalypse Now inhabit.

the opening scene did the best job of making me not want to fight in a war, ever.

but there's plenty i like more. not necessarily for being better or anything. that's subjective. platoon, three kings, edge of tomorrow, idk. starship troopers count? i like sci-fi more

A lot of it depends on what you mean by best?

What tends to make some war movies very good is that they offer character analysis along with the carnage, and while something like Saving Private Ryan is amazing from a technical standpoint, there is far less of character development as opposed to some of the other mentioned above such as Downfall, Lawrence of Arabia, Apocalypse Now or Bridge on the River Kwai. Some of the characters in SPR go through some development, but it is a lot more superficial than in other movies, touching on truisms about war as opposed to the madness that it creates inside a man. They mostly discuss whether such a sacrifice is worth it for one just one man and one family, but don't really get into much in terms of getting inside the soldier's heads other than when the one guy tries to rescue the girl that looks like his niece, and when the captain is talking about his wife.