Better than Saving Private Ryan???

Hell no. I agree with you. Saving Private Ryan is way better. Don't get me wrong, 1917 is a good movie, but there are better war films out there with SPR being near the top.

Neither is a great war movie but personally I prefer 1917.

Saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece. 1917 is good, but nowhere near SPR's level.

no

I say the storming of the beach scene in Saving Private Ryan remains unsurpassed as the most horrific but breath taking war depiction ever filmed. However, personally I don't believe the rest of that movie was that great. Indeed on the whole I found 1917 to be a much more emotive, heartfelt and ultimately powerful movie.

SPR has the beachhead scene that basically makes it take the it. The ending "siege" is great, too. However, I personally found a lot of the middle stuff less memorable, and I think 1917 has a lot of spectacular scenes throughout. 1917 feels more personal, and manages to showcase evocative cinematography while keeping the story so small and contained on this one moment in the lives of these soldiers. I felt more "real" humanity in 1917. SPR's dialogues about "us vs. them" feel more on-the-nose.

With that said, Tom Hanks cuts a brilliant performance; he's a powerhouse in that movie.

On the negative side, the bookend scenes in SPR are flag-wavingly painful. Those saccharine little fake-outs almost evoke eye-rolls from me, getting way too preachy and manipulative. Still, they are small moments.

Ultimately, I'd go with SPR, but I don't think people should be so quick to write off 1917.

Let's say SPR is a great album while 1917 is a great instrumental album.