One of the best war movies ever made

Rating: Null/10 (14 April 1999)

Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, and Jeremy Davies star in one of the best war films ever made. Tom Hanks stars as Capt. John Miller, leader of a public relations mission to bring home the last of four brothers Sean, Peter, Daniel, and James who fought in the war. What makes this so hard is that three brothers, Sean, Peter, and Daniel are dead and the mother was going to receive all three letters at once. The opening scene of the old man walking in the war veteran's cemetary with his family a few steps back. Unless people have seen the film before, we don't know who this man is or what significance it has on the film; It gets tied in at the end of the film. I saw Saving Private Ryan twice and the opening scene had such a powerful impact on th rest of the film, but it was one of those things that you must watch it more than once to fully understand it as I did. Saving Private James Ryan turns out to become something more than what Capt. Miller had bargained for. Tom Sizemore is Miller's loyal right hand man Sgt. Horwath. I love the loyalty that Tom Sizemore's character, Sgt. Horwath, holds for his boss Capt. Miller. Wars are one of the worst tragedies of America and to bring it to life with such a realistic view really shocked me. The way Steven Spielberg brought to life the 20 minute war scene at the beginning was eye-opening to say the least. At first, I hated that part since it was so long and drawn out; but, when I saw it the second time just a few days ago I understood why it was done this way. I think Spielberg wanted to bring out emotions and make a statement to the audience that war is something that was devastating and something that should never have happened. Matt Damon was superb as Pvt. James Ryan. Matt Damon continues to produce box office hits as does Tom Hanks and the incomprible legend Steven Spielberg. Saving Private Ryan is one film to savour over and over.