The summer movies of 1998 tournament has come to end, with a not-so-surprising result ending up on top.
Weeks of voting has led us -- based off the votes of the people -- to the best summer movie of 1998: Saving Private Ryan. The real question is this: Would you vote for it over the film that eventually won the 1999 Academy Awards, Shakespeare in Love?
Feel free to leave your thoughts, but we won't be traveling down that path on this day. Yes, it was controversial in some circles, surprising in others that the film outpaced Saving Private Ryan at that year's Oscars ceremony. Throw in a little movie called Life is Beautiful (and its exuberant star Roberto Benigni) and we had a year full of odd choices.
Although it was hard to top Benigni's excitement earlier in the night when Life is Beautiful won for best foreign film.
Man. What a joy ride we were all treated to in 1999! Unless, of course, you had Tom Hanks winning best actor in your Academy Awards pool.
Where were we?
The merits of Saving Private Ryan and the films from the summer of 1998 can be debated, discussed, and dissected for days on end. Art house versus blockbusters. Shocking hits against unbelievable duds. Some many money, many others lost money, and, for many young stars, a future in show business was cemented.
The same can be said of Saving Private Ryan. For the likes of Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, and Ted Danson, theirs were careers that had already spanned decades. Matt Damon was fresh off a breakout hit the year prior with Good Will Hunting.
One of the things Steven Spielberg and casting director Denise Chamian did best was assembling a talented young group of actors to take this journey. There was Vin Diesel in his first big role, having accrued less than five projects before this.
There was Giovanni Ribissi, who had done plenty of guest spots in television (including Friends) and the movie SubUrbia. Plus, there was Ed Burns, who had conquered the indie circuit a few years prior with his film Brothers McMullen.
But there were three who stood out above the rest in Saving Private Ryan. Three who came through the ranks with Ribisi and have built a similarly solid career in the process.
Adam Goldberg
If the name doesn't sound familiar some of Adam Goldberg's roles certainly will. Goldberg played Private Mellish, a soldier who mercifully dies at the hands of a Nazi in the final battle.
He was a pretty familiar face in independent films during the 1990's, especially prior to Saving Private Ryan. Goldberg was part of a hip young cast -- and Ribisi's sister Marissa -- in the cult classic Dazed and Confused. He played Mike, the one who decided it was time to prove himself by picking a fight with the character played by Nicky Katt.
Even a few years prior to Saving Private Ryan, Goldberg found himself in the center of a cultural phenomenon. He played Eddie, Chandler's new roommate on a few episodes of Friends.
Goldberg later made it onto episodes of ER and Entourage, plus an appearance in David Fincher's Zodiac. He has kept busy overall and most recently was seen in the television series Taken.
Jeremy Davies
Out of the gate, Jeremy Davies is not to be confused with Henry Thomas of E.T. fame, who happened to resurface in the mainstream a year prior in the film Suicide Kings.
Davies played Corporal Upham in Saving Private Ryan, the soldier who is drafted into the unit central to the story. Attempting to fit in with this tight knit group is a pain for Upham, but he is able to avenge Mellish's death (though Upham was the same person who argued to let the Nazi go free earlier in the film so...).
Davies was in Twister in 1997 and was the star of David O. Russell's first feature film, Spanking the Monkey.
Later, he was excellent as Doctor Faraday in Lost and as Dickie Bennett in Justified. He was most recently in the Twin Peaks revival and American Gods.
Barry Pepper
Barry Pepper played Private Jackson, the sniper of the unit who saves the unit's asses on multiple occasions until he ultimately meets his match during the final battle.
Pepper was on the rise in 1998, also part of the massive cast of Enemy of the State (Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Jack Black, Regina King, Scott Caan, and Jason Lee, to name a few).
If you're really on the spot, you'll remember Pepper from the Titanic mini-series, which aired in 1996.
Later, he starred in The Green Mile and in 61*, where he starred as Roger Maris. Whether big parts or small, Pepper has shown a knack to stand out in most projects he does. (You might want to avoid Battlefield Earth).
Pepper was most recently seen in the Maze Runner films.
Watching Saving Private Ryan here twenty years later, the film is still gripping, captivating, and well-acted (though I could still do with the story being book-ended with a present-day narrative. But, after all, it was all the rage in the late 1990's).
And for those positive reasons above -- plus many more -- I can see why it took home the number one spot in the summer of 1998.
photo credit: flickr.com
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