There was no "good ole days" era in wartime !

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 1999)

More than anything else, I believe that eliminating the above myth (ref: summary, above) was the thesis Spielberg was trying to communicate to the so-called ''allies'' and especially the American public. When one looks at the attempt at glamour, beginning with TV shows that trivialised the so-called "good war'' in the 1960s (e.g. ''Hogan's Heroes'', ''McCale's Navy''), not to mention a warehouse full of WW2 flicks where soldiers fought with clean uniforms on dirty beaches -- cranked into production beginning not long after the Japanese surrendered aboard ship with two nuclear holes where cities once sat -- one can certainly understand why Spielberg felt the need to bring home this long-overdue message.
Oliver Stone and others have already reminded us of how horrible was Vietnam, and the DMZ on the Korean peninsula is a living reminder of that war, but WW2 remained glamourised until relatively recent times. While the first 20 minutes of ''Saving Private Ryan'', following a brief but touching introduction, have received much ''press'' -- and indeed that stretch of film is quite an ordeal for the viewer having ANY level of sensitivity whatsoever to get through -- it is the remainder of the film that will convince you utterly that war of any kind is a useless waste. Kudos go in abundance to Spielberg & Co. and one quickly envisages at least 6-7 Oscar nominations on the way, to include ''Best Actor'' (Tom Hanks -- who just keeps getting better and better with age), Spielberg for ''Best Director'', and the film itself for ''Best Picture''. Top rating (5 stars of 5) -- make that six!