Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Parents Guide Movie Rating

MPA: R BBFC: 15 Maturity Rating 16+

MPAA Reason: Rated R for intense prolonged realistically graphic sequences of war violence, and for language.

BBFC Reason: strong bloody violence, gory images, language

BBFC Ratings info: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is a US drama, from 1998, in which a group of American soldiers go behind enemy lines during the Second World War. Violence: Scenes include bloody war violence, in which men are shot, stabbed, burnt, and blasted by explosions. Injury detail: Battle sequences include graphic injury detail and gory images, such as severed limbs, sight of internal organs and bloody wounds. Language: There is use of strong language ('f**k') and milder terms including 'shit', 'bastard'. Occasional moderate sex references also feature.

Sex & Nudity

none

Soldiers talk about women back in the U.S. A Soldier makes a sexual reference to another soldier and says; "I thought you liked it in the a*s?" Private Ryan tells a story back to when he and his brothers caught their oldest brother trying to have sex with a girl in their barn.

Violence & Gore

severe

A soldier is briefly shown with his intestines hanging out of his stomach. Very graphic and possibly the most brutal scene in the entire film. Many people are blown up. Sometimes there is gore but other times theres none. A Flak gun is used against an American infantry unit, killing them. Just after the camera cuts to a different angle, a tank crew man is shot in the face at point-blank range. Some blood that sprays out from the headshot can be seen. A bomb blows up prematurely in a soldiers hands, killing him instantly. Intense and bloody. Chunks of blood spray and spurt. A nazi is shot through a wall by a machine gun. Blood sprays onto a wall and is seen for the rest of the movie. We hear a thud and see a puddle of blood form on the ground. A soldier is shot in the throat. Blood squirts and dribbles from his mouth. Blood puddles beneath his body. This scene is brutal. A medic tends to a soldier that has a very graphic wound on his shoulder. Blood is shown and he is yelling and wincing. Several nazis are intensely gunned down by a squad of soldiers inside of a kitchen. Blood and smoke are everywhere. One nazi has blood drooling out of his mouth. Several scenes with charred up dead bodies shown throughout the movie. There is a very intense event in which a young solder without an arm, seems to calmly (due to shock) pick up his recently dismembered arm and walks away. An American sniper shoots a Nazi sniper right through the scope into his eye. The bullet goes through the entire head (we very briefly see his gory eye socket and bits of matter spray) and stains the wall behind the nazi with blood. Graphic. Two soldiers (who are Czech) are clearly attempting to surrender with their hands in the air but are shot by US soldiers and then mocked ("Look, I washed for supper"). A soldier is briefly seen headless. The first 27 minutes of the film depict soldiers landing on Omaha beach in Normandy. This is the most graphic and intense part of the film, and the sequence contains bloody, graphic violence, which can be disturbing. During the sequence many soldiers are shot with bloody results, people have their limbs shot off, people are burned etc. At the end of the landing sequence the beach is littered with corpses, and the ocean is tinted red. Very strong bloody and graphic violence throughout. The film features prolonged extreme war violence with dismemberment, soldiers engulfed in flames and other intense images. The depiction of war violence remains consistent throughout the film, with hand-to-hand combat, sniper fire, and other inherently violent depictions of war fighting. Caparzo is killed by a nazi sniper. He falls to the ground and bleeds out all over the ground. A massive puddle of blood is shown next to him. This scene is very sad because he asks a soldier to give something to his father but dies before he can say anything else Jackson kills many Nazis with a sniper, in which several fatal blows are heard. Blood is sometimes shown spewing. He is then killed by a huge explosion. This scene is sad and very unexpected. Captain Miller dies from multiple body shots by nazis. Lots of blood is shown on his uniform and he slowly succumbs to his death. Sergeant Horvath gets shot multiple times and sustains a few injuries, he is eventually killed by a bullet to the heart from an enemy soldier. This scene is disturbing and sad. His dead body is shown a few times. Upham kills a nazi offscreen Several American soldiers make a Nazi soldier dig his own grave as punishment for the death of Wade, the Medic. He is let go, which proves to be a mistake as he joins up with another group of Nazis and is present at the end where he kills several of the same American soldiers The last 27 minutes of the movie is a prolonged battle sequence that features a lot of disturbing war violence and deaths of major characters. The medic, Wade is shot several times (offscreen) and the others try to tend his wounds. This sequence is incredibly graphic as blood gushes from his wounds while he makes reference to his liver failing, and he eventually dies, crying for his mother. This scene is extremely bloody, emotional and disturbing. At one point toward the end of the film, Mellish is locked in hand-to-hand combat with a nazi solider, eventually ending with the painfully slow death of Mellish by being slowly impaled in the heart with a knife. Emotionally hard to watch, as the immediate events leading up to this point may build up heavily for some people.

Profanity

moderate

19 uses of "fuck", 15 uses of "shit", 1 use of "cocksucker", and some uses of "goddamn", son of a bitch", "prick", and "asshole"

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

mild

Morphine is used to sedate a wounded soldier. Characters often smoke cigarettes one character hews chewing tobacco Scenes show the use of tobacco products, but no illegal substances.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

severe

The entire film has extremely intense, graphic, bloody and chaotic battle sequences that are very brutal and violent. A man is seen picking up his own arm and walking off, one of the darkest scenes of the movie. The battle sequences throughout the film are intense both sensually and emotionally. The opening and closing sequences feature realistic war-fighting, loud gunfire, booming explosions, hand-to-hand combat, intense depictions of death and sequences of soldiers succumbing to their wounds. The intense battle sequences make the viewer immersed by means of handheld cameras, and getting close to the action, to a point where there is frequently blood or rain water on the lens of camera. The first war scene is truly very violent. It is about 20 minutes long. You can't get any more realistic than that scene. Lots of people die. Heads get blown off, bodies explode, and people get stabbed.