A Landmark World War II Epic

Rating: 10/10 (9 November 2001)

"Saving Private Ryan", my favorite film, should be remembered for decades to come as one of the greatest war films ever made. Director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Robert Rodat captured the brutality and realism of war with a certain passion. I still can't believe "Shakespeare In Love" won the Best Picture Oscar over this film. After twenty minutes of the graphic recount of the D-Day landing on Omaha Beach, we find out that a Private James Ryan, who is behind enemy lines, has to go home after his three brothers have been killed in combat. Captain John Miller, Tom Hanks, leads a squad of soldiers to find Ryan. With some of the most graphic battle scenes, this is a film that will haunt you. It will make you realize of the horrors the soldiers had to face. Spielberg and "Private Ryan" does World War II like Oliver Stone and"Platoon" did for Vietnam. This is a film not to be missed.