Saving Private Ryan

“I hope that, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what all of you have done for me.” One of the greatest World War II films. A visceral and unrelenting presentation of war. And while beyond the opening storming of the beach, bears little in the way of factual events, it scales the sprawling European conflict down into a microcosm and conveys everything on a human level that is emotionally authentic. This isn’t the first time I’ve watched Saving Private Ryan on 4K. It’s one of my earliest acquisitions when I made the upgrade. However, at that point in time, I had a basic HDR capable player and TV. Now, I have a Dolby Vision capable TV and player with a 2.1 soundbar and subwoofer. An already stunning transfer gets an extra bump with Dolby Vision but it’s the sound mix that truly blew me away. Not all sound mixes are created equal and not all home video releases use the .1 sub channel to its greatest capability. Most simply pump a bit of extra bass and bring some more richness to the overall sound. But here, it’s put to its full use with explosions, gunshots and vehicles carrying some real weight to them. The beginning of the final battle where the German tank rolls in is so incredibly rendered in the mix, it not only shook the room but felt and sounded like a tank was really right there. There is much more I could say about this film but it would require many tangents and seemingly unrelated ideas that I doubt I could articulate it all fully within a written review.