"Earn this"

Rating: 9/10 (24 November 2015)

I hated this movie at first - the very beginning is maybe 20-30 minutes of horrific violence (yes - it really happened, of course I saw that, I'd just always seen that as gratuitous). I couldn't stand to watch it.
I see now why it was necessary (though I often chicken out and try not to watch) - it's absolutely a part of the movie that's supposed to be there - every drop of blood.
One thing that made my heart jump a little was a quote from a favorite poem - keep an ear out for "Charge of the Light Brigade", if you like it.
Spoiler - yet so much meaning in life itself, especially today's fighting - one line I think should really be shot to the top of everyone's head out of anything any other character says. It just grabbed me. After a harrowing search to find Private Ryan, and what these men went through to get him to safety - as Tom Hanks's character is eventually dying as a direct result of the search to save this young soldier, his last words are to him - "Earn this"