Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan Movie Information

Genre:
Action | War

Main Cast:
Tom Hanks
Edward Burns
Tom Sizemore
Barry Pepper
Adam Goldberg
Giovanni Ribisi
Matt Damon
Vin Diesel

Director:
Steven Spielberg


About the movie:

This action movie could be also categorized in several genres such as war epic and war drama. The movie was released in 1998 and directed by one of the Most Accomplished Director, Steven Spielberg. The film's main casts are Tom Hanks (as Capt. John Miller), Matt Damon (as Private First Class John Francis Ryan), Tom Sizemore (as Tech. Sgt. Michael Horvath), Edward Burns (as PFC Richard Reiben), Jeremy Davies (Timothy Upham), Vin Diesel (PFC Adrian Caparzo), Adam Goldberg (Private Stanley Mellish), Barry Pepper (Private Daniel Jackson) and Giovanni Ribisi (as Irwin Wade).

Saving Private Ryan's central story is about finding the lost paratrooper in a war held at the Omaha Beach (the codename used for principal landing points in Normandy, France that was invaded by the Allied forces during the World War II ) whose brothers were all killed in separate war actions (the two in Omaha Beach and one in New Guinea). The search for Private Ryan is a rescue mission ordered by a veteran Captain Commander John H. Miller of the 2nd Ranger Battalion to return Ryan immediately to his downhearted mother.


The first 30 minutes of this action movie is astonishing as it reveals a graphic view of an extreme war - noise of tanks, aircrafts, canon fire, bombs, machine guns, bullets, soldiers, corpses, mud and blood. It's a great opening sequence with a realistic and well-executed combat scenes.


The movie portrays the sacrificial service of the brave soldiers risking their lives to save and defend one another, and the survival depends on doing the very best that they could do - better than taking chances...


MOVIE CRITIC REVIEW:

"Steven Spielberg's best war film -- and one of the two or three best movies the director has made."

Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News

BraveHeart

Braveheart Movie Information

Genre:
Action | Epic

Main Cast:
Mel Gibson
Sophie Marceau
Catherine McCormack
Patrick McGoohan
Angus Macfayden
Brendan Gleeson

Director:
Mel Gibson


About the movie:


Braveheart (released in 1995) is an epic action movie which was produced, directed and starred by Mel Gibson. This film was awarded as Best Picture and Best Director in the Academy Awards (1995). Some of the casts include s Catherine McCormack (as William Wallace's wife), Patrick McGoohan(as Edward the Longshanks), Sophie Marceau (as Princess Isabelle), Angus Macfadyen (as Robert the Bruce), and Peter Hanly (Prince Edward). The film was based on the life of legendary Scottish hero William Wallace. Gibson played the role of William Wallace, who have been recognized when he came to the forefront of the First War of Scottish Independence by opposing Edward the Longshanks, King of England.

The conflict between Wallace and Longshanks ignited when William's wife suffered and died from the cruel hands of the village Sheriff. It became the signal for his rebellion. With his fierce patriotism and determination, his fellow townsmen stand with him and built an army with a reason to have a change in their government and for territorial freedom.


William's troop were outnumbered and not as skilled as the English troops, but their determination to fight for their rights and the love for their land surpass the trials that they had encountered.


The breathtaking battle sequences is one of the most memorable scenes in this action movie - having a lot of "extras" in the set with great action choreography and an expensive production cost.



MOVIE CRITIC REVIEW:

"An explosive action movie...one of the most spectacular entertainments in years"

Caryn James
New York Times



"There's no denying `Braveheart' is an eyeful. The battle scenes are staged with enough dramatic sweep to make De Mille envious. They have a gritty bite that helps keep `Braveheart' big and boldly handsome."

Peter Stack
San Francisco Chronicle

Transformers

The Transformers was introduced by Hasbro, an American toy and game company, and became a popular figure in 1984. Kids and the young-at-hearts are very much hooked on it since it has a variety of robot design that transforms into various vehicles. It gained much popularity when the Transformers Generation 1 animated TV series was released on the same year.


As time passed by, the Transformers transformed from a collection of action figures to cartoons, then started to be featured in comics and video games. It's a dream for those who loved these robots unconditionally (specifically the Autobots) to see these popular characters in full screen. When it was announced that the Transformers will be featured in a full-length live action movie (2007), it is expected that the Transformers fanatics will increase its numbers- as the most awaited and expected to be one of the best action movies sets-off the cinemas world-wide.


The live action movie Transformers is directed by Michael Bay (who is known more for intense action sequences) and produced by equally popular producer Steven Spielberg. The movie stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, who has the data that locate Allspark, an important object being the center of the war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. Other casts of the movie are Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight, John Turturro, and Hugo Weaving(voice of Megatron) and Peter Cullen (voice of Optimus Prime).


As for the other action movies, there's always a battle between good and evil. Aside from the clash between the Autobots (Optimus Prime as the head robot) against the evil Decepticons (Megatron as their leader), Transformers movie has a combination of a light comedy and action in the movie that made it more appealing to the audience. Autobots are interacting with the cast in the movie and it's like for real (CGI or Computer-generated imagery is probably the secret of designing those robots). The fight scenes between the Autobots and Decepticons is the highlight of this action-packed movie and everybody is astounded by what they see on screen. The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons will leave viewers drained but cheering.


Transformers is an action film, but surprisingly has a touching and uplifting elements. The movie isn't just about the robots, it's also about being brave to save the humanity against the dark forces. That may be the reasons why I consider it as one of the best action movies of all time.

MOVIE CRITIC REVIEW:

"There is so much action packed into every second of Transformers that by the time it's over, you may be tempted to go outside and give the box office another 10 bucks."

Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News


"Transformers has some of the best action sequences you'll see all summer."

Desson Thomson
Washington Post