Since its release in 1998, Saving Private Ryan has earned its status as a classic war film. Notably, the movie generated controversy due to its candid and graphic R-rated violence. Tom Hanks, who starred in the film, found himself answering questions from reporters about the violence even before its release.
In response, Hanks astutely compared the type of violence portrayed in Saving Private Ryan to the more trivial and less impactful violence often found in PG-13 rated films. Saving Private Ryan, a World War II drama, commences with the intense and harrowing Battle of Omaha Beach on D-Day.
Tom Hanks Calls Saving Private Ryan Better Than Bond Films
Director Steven Spielberg’s portrayal of the Omaha Beach battle in Saving Private Ryan was groundbreaking for its time. Tom Hanks, who played a key role in the film, expressed the belief that if violence is to be depicted on screen, it should be done in a way that honors the true sacrifices made by soldiers during the historic events at Omaha Beach in 1944.
During the press junket, Tom Hanks addressed concerns about the movie’s graphic violence. He pointed out that there are numerous films with hyperviolence, but Saving Private Ryan isn’t one of them. Hanks emphasized that the violence in the film is necessary to recreate the true events of history, unlike many other movies that may include gratuitous violence for entertainment purposes, such as the average James Bond film.
“You want to complain about movies with hyperviolence, this isn’t the one to do it,” Hanks told the press. “There’s hundreds that come out every year. Your average James Bond movie has a ton more gratuitous violence than this film has. The only thing that this has in it is that we’re recreating what really happened.”
In the realm of fiction, there is undoubtedly a place for violence. According to Hanks, altering the depiction of Omaha Beach to make it more acceptable for viewers would have been equally inappropriate.
Tom Hanks Wanted Young People To See The Film
With an R-rating in place, Saving Private Ryan required children under 17 to watch the film with their parents. Despite this restriction, Tom Hanks expressed the hope that some parents would still choose to bring their children along to experience the movie.
“There’s younger people out there, who daily watch both in movies and television and videos this violent form of storytelling. You can turn on cartoons at four o’clock in the afternoon on some stations and see superheroes shooting rockets at each other and solving their problems with their fists or explosions. If there are some kids that have just become so inured to that, this would be a very good thing I think for them to see because at the end of it, you know what? They’re going to be confused and they’re going to cry because they’re going to see for real what happens when a bullet passes through the human body. It’s not a very pleasant thing to see.”
The intense violence portrayed in Saving Private Ryan came close to receiving an NC-17 rating, which would have barred any child from viewing the film.
Source: Cheatsheet
