How Much is One Man's Life Worth?

Rating: Null/10 (17 June 2004)

The film "Saving Private Ryan" almost immediately finds our main character-- not Private Ryan--but Captain John Miller, along with hundreds of soldiers, storming Omaha Beach in France on June 6, 1944. In the chaos of invading France, Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) is assigned the task of locating paratrooper John Francis Ryan (Matt Daman) to return him home. We follow Captain Miller and his seven chosen comrades (Ben Affleck and Vin Diesel, among others) through an impossible, and sometimes deadly, mission amidst constant battles, as they ask themselves: 'How many men should die to save one?'
Every soldier quickly learns when given an order, it is not yours to ask why. This film challenges that military decree from its early scenes of horrified boys facing the unknown in the storming of Omaha Beach to the late scenes of men facing death during this questionable mission. The film serves as a jolt, giving a visual to put with the loss of lives read about in history books. Saving Private Ryan also compares the loss of one mother to the sacrifice of eight others.
Occasional slow and lengthy dialogue, although used to introduce our characters personally, is the only downfall of this film. The effects in this movie are most notable. We are participants in the battles, as the camera jerks nervously, and bullets scream by our ears. Just as powerful is the painful mute silence coupled with the slow motion as we witness particularly excruciating scenes, as if we are falling unconscious. The symbol of a trembling hand stilled only by death, and the close up of a characters eyes as he ages or even changes into another character, give personality to lives lost, and lives saved. The repeated use of the 'death letter' we see removed from many dead soldiers' breast pockets are accompanied by a stories of who are to receive the letters and their significance to the soldier. All to remind us of the real casualties of war.