A rude awakening

Rating: Null/10 (6 August 1998)

I have seen many movies about war, and thought that I had a grasp of what it was like to be there. When I saw Saving Private Ryan I realized that I had not even come close in my imaginings. As I watched this movie, I sat stunned and speechless. I don't know how Steven Spielberg depicted such a raw, and vivid portrayal of the effects of war, but he did a tremendous job. My hat goes off to him and the many actors, and extras who took me into battle with them. Even though I felt like I was at war myself, I can't seem to shake the thought that this movie was only scratching the surface of actually being there. How these men watched their friends get killed each day, smelled blood and rotting bodies, lived with the fear that they would be next and never go home, or worse, live with the guilt that they had survived, only a true veteran will ever know.
For many years I have taken my freedom for granted. Memorial Day was a day off from work, and a day of picnics. Thanks to this movie, I will never see it this way again. This movie has left myself and millions of other people with a whole new outlook on the way we view our veterans, and those who lost their lives at war. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for what we have today, and for the freedom that many of us have taken for granted. I also thank Saving Private Ryan, for the rude awakening that we all needed. I believe that everyone who sees it, will never be the same.