The Movie That Changed Everything

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2017)

It is quite rare that a movie comes along that has the ability to connect to its audiences on such a human level. For even the most "advanced" film fanatics, the movie-watching experience is usually tethered to the moment: You watch the movie, either like it or don't, and then it slowly fades away as life intercedes. In the case of "Saving Private Ryan", though, Steven Spielberg changed an entire's nations attitudes and actions towards a single historical event (WW2).
For a basic plot summary, this film drops viewers (quite literally) into D-Day, with a prolonged battle scene that depicts the assault on Normandy. After the company led by Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) comes out on the other side, they are given a special mission from "upper management": A mother back in the U.S. has just been informed that three of her sons were killed in action. A fourth, Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) is still active in the fight. Miller's goal? Get Ryan out of the war and back to his mother. Is all this effort worth it for one man? Will anyone make it out of the war alive? Those are the questions that Ryan and his men grapple with on the road to find Ryan.
When "Saving Private Ryan" premiered in the summer of 1998, many veterans were so moved by the opening D-Day sequence that they had to leave the theater and compose themselves. It was that much of an emotional experience for them, yet Spielberg treats it with such respect that it never seems like "emotional sabotage" or anything like that. It was just the first time that audiences had ever been treated to such a graphic, true-to-form visage of battle. No disrespect to any of the war flicks that preceded it, but "Ryan" didn't pull any punches.
Like I said, this is a movie that changed perceptions. After viewing this visceral film, many children and grand-children of WW2 vets began asking their parents/grandparents about the war experience. While an uncomfortable topic, to be sure, it was a dialogue that needed to be opened in order to better understand the members of the "Greatest Generation". For so many years, WW2 vets had lived "in silence", so to speak, about their war experiences, only relating to their war companions (as they were the only people who could relate). What Spielberg did, though, was bring the topic to the forefront of conscious, allowing WW2 vets an avenue for relating their experiences to the current culture.
If I were to start a list of the most important movies ever made from a cultural standpoint, "Saving Private Ryan" would perhaps top that list. Not only does it have great action/plot/characters from a film-making standpoint, but it is an experience that can stick with a person forever and change lives.