With an intense commitment to realism and authenticity, the director’s use of shaky handheld photography and brutally unsentimental depictions of violence were shocking in 1998. But by the time that was published, Spielberg had already given the idea visual form for younger audiences. Later in the same year as Saving Private Ryan, Tom Brokaw’s book The Greatest Generation would popularize the term used by its title to describe their sacrifice. Released in July 1998, Saving Private Ryan opened during a peak of renewed interest in the generation of Americans who endured the Great Depression and then won World War II, transforming the U.S. Yet when it comes to Steven Spielberg’s seminal World War II epic losing to an amusing (if somewhat lightweight) romantic comedy, never before had there been an upset so fundamentally unexpected that it changed the way awards were won and never before had a generally celebrated studio hit with frontrunner status run into the political machinations of Harvey Weinstein. If Orson Welles was still alive, the stories he’d surely have to tell about How Green is My Valley. Just ask Brokeback Mountain’s producers about Crash, or La La Land’s about Moonlight.

After all, there have been plenty of upsets before and since. It’s a sentiment shared by many, and not just because of the disappointment they experienced when Shakespeare in Love took home that night’s top prize. Saving Private Ryan’s loss of the Best Picture Oscar in 1999 still hurts.

Michael morpurgo saving private ryan