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18 comments
4 comments
Rank This Matchup or Comment/Reply Below
on 8/21/2009
Both are pretty powerful films. I have trouble with war movies in general, but I have seen both of these; they're pretty powerful pieces of cinema. Who could not pick Private Ryan here, though?
on 12/14/2009
Private Ryan. I loved BHD, but the lasting impact SPR gave me was insane, lol.
on 2/17/2010
I've got to disagree. RYAN was manipulative, incoherent and hawkish. DOWN was a total bulls-eye: truthful, innovative, and taut. Spielberg just white-washed a whole war and compensated by being gory. Unlike DOWN, you will never see Spielberg making a movie about losers -- his heroes must always triumph, no matter what actually happened.
on 2/7/2011
Black Hawk Down by an edge.
on 8/29/2011
hiii
Two of my favorites of all time. Private Ryan is slightly more well crafted. The D-Day scene just cannot be topped. Always tough to vote against Black Hawk Down...but I'm pulling the trigger here.
BHD pissed me off something rotten when it came out. It's been so long since I've seen it that I've forgotter the reason behind my teen fury but there must've been some skewed, patriotic reality-massaging bullshit undertones. Propoganda maybe? Whatever, it doesn't matter now.
on 9/9/2011
Black Hawk Down was non-stop intense firefights from min 30 - min 2:30. BHD FTW
on 9/10/2011
You really cannot replicate that perfect opening scene of Saving Private Ryan.
on 5/29/2012
Saving Private Ryan has the great beginning scene, the excellent sniper duel in the rain, and the ending scene. Black Hawk Down is just non stop havoc and chaos through the streets of Mogadishu. Both are fantastic, but SPR wins.
on 6/10/2012
Both great war movies from completely different time periods. Black Hawk Down is non-stop fighting, and Saving Private Ryan is mixed with fighting and uplifting moments. SPR wins
on 11/14/2012
Black Hawk Down is good n' all, but Saving Private Ryan is just...fantastic!
SPR wins.
As brutal SPR's opening scene was, BHD was so much harder to watch. SPR was emotionally one-dimensional at times, and really didn't explore the concept of war from the POVs of both the parties. According to it, war is all about heroes and their brave sacrifices. BHD says fuck war. There are no heroes in it, only victims. And the so-called "sacrifices" are nothing more than futile exercises. They're cruel, pointless and above all, unfair.
both are great but Saving Private Ryan has a better story and flows better .
on 10/18/2013
SPR definitely
Saving Private Ryan. Better writing and directing, but BHD is still an excellent war film.
on 1/12/2014
very very tight both amazing, but Saving Private Ryan by a whisker
Saving Private Ryan is much better and deeper. Black Hawk Down is a best forgotten film.
on 5/9/2014
SPR is the better crafted war drama BHD had a better story and I like its patriotic message its from my generation but I love Private Ryan way more.
on 5/10/2014
Both are excellent war films, but BHD has slipped in my eyes in recent years. I think it's because despite the filmmakers intentions to make an anti-war film, the film was a victim of poor timing and was very much received as a supportive feature for the American military, riding a tidal wave of patriotism and thirst for revenge post-9/11. Consequently, when I watch the film these days, with the early days of the War on Terror and the Iraq War very much in hindsight I see a film which clearly doesn't shy away from the brutality of war, but ironically seems to be gushing in its praise of the American armed forces whilst also giving a pretty damning commentary of one of their biggest failures in recent years, and yet somehow doesn't criticize their involvement in foreign conflicts heavily enough. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just feels a bit too simplistic. SPR can be overly sentimental at times, and features a lot of cliched, one-dimensional characters, but it seems to have gotten better on repeat viewings (possibly due to an increased viewership of comparative war films on my part). I think that ultimately, while both do a good job a portraying the horrors of war, SPR has dated much better than BHD despite being the earlier film (both in technical and political terms), as well as being better acted and having more replay value. SPR wins.
on 6/9/2014
love both But Private Ryan is the most realistic WW2 film ever with a captivating story and a masterful cast no question RYAN wins.
on 6/22/2020
Black Hawk Down is better by pretty much every metric.
Private Ryan was more compelling with superior acting and an emotional arc that satisfies.
on 6/23/2020
Black Hawk Down>Saving Private Ryan