"Excruciatingly emotional"

Rating: Null/10 (19 June 2000)

"Saving Private Ryan," with the possible exception of "Glory" and "Platoon" (and neither of those was about WWII) is the most spectacular and, as far as I can tell, accurate portrayal of a major world war, except for maybe one point: War is worse. And here's the difference I have with most reviewers, and even Spielberg himself; I believe that EVERY child, of about 15+ in age, should see this movie. If only for an understanding of the absolute horror of killing other human beings (and fish) by the THOUSANDS in the name of democracy or some other damn thing. I confess that I never really understood such issues as the taking of Omaha Beach on D-Day. At least, not beyond the reflection of poets and storytellers "...And those men took that beach..." I never realized quite how terrible the ground war was. As an Air Force Cadet, I studied the aspects of the world's first air war, which in and of itself was bad enough.
A friend of mine was telling me what he thought of the movie today, and he said "It was enjoyable." Well, that's not quite how I would describe the experience. "Excruciatingly emotional" is more what I was feeling. Yup, I cried. And one line at the very end between a man and his wife strikes me even now, two days later. Eric knows what I'm talking about, I'm sure. I've been crying a lot at movies recently, which is odd. "Titanic", I cried at, but sort of enjoyed having that little damn burst. Before that, "Braveheart" got me every time. Even "Deep Impact" got the tears flowing a bit. But those were all a little fun in the release. As I was walking out of "Ryan," (in a theater that was, although sold out, absolutely dead silent as people exited, most looking at the floor) I felt not a cleansing, but a slightly gnawing guilt. I'll see it again. Mostly so I can pay more attention to the technical aspects of the film (if I can) and try to determine how I might someday make a film half as good as the one Steven Spielberg's genius has wrought this time. His best? Possibly. But it's hard to differentiate five or six "five stars out of five" movies. If you're looking for another, less gory but still brutal look at WWII from Spielberg, check out "Empire of the Sun," a movie that was far better than it's box office take, and one of the first people movies that makes me cry.