Cut the first and last scene

Rating: 7/10 (25 August 2007)

To be clear; I like the Normandy beach scene they're actually quite brilliant. But the first and last scenes are those on the cemetery with the old man and his family. Why are those scenes there? They are totally obsolete. I don't need to hear the old man ask his wife if his life was worth it. If the movie itself didn't make this clear then the movie failed and the movie didn't fail.
I saw the movie "A thin red line" a week earlier, and at first I was disgusted by Saving Private Ryan. It just doesn't have the same weight. But then again, you shouldn't compare these two movies as they are totally different. And when I saw this one a few times at later stages this became clear to me.
The story itself is quite simple, and rightfully so. A bunch of soldiers are send to save a last of four brothers. It needs to be simple; it's the little things that make the soldiers so unique. The little stories of Matt Damons, Tom Hanks and other characters make this movie. And the comradery between the men is portrait very good as well. It's not poetic, but men which are fighting (and trying to survive) in an unforgiving war.
I don't know, maybe it's just me. I just got a bit of a beef against Steven Spielberg lately. When the plot has been clear he seem to insert several more scenes that explain the plot again and again. He just needs to stop this. It makes the movie unnecessary long and dull. He does this with most of his movies in the last decade. And don't get me wrong, I got nothing against long movies, but the length needs to fit the movie.
Just cut the first and last scene and all will be fine.