Saw it yet again

Rating: 10/10 (11 March 2006)

I posted my original comments on this film the day it first hit the American screens. I will never forget the experience of seeing this film. It was 11 a.m. on a beautiful sunny day. Me(at the time a 35 yr woman) and about 25 old men ( I am assuming many WWII vets) sat in that darkened theatre and watched this incredible film. When the lights came back on we all sat stunned and then filed out into the daylight, all of us wiping the tears from our faces, some of the men very emotionally moved and crying in their seats.
My dad was a WWII radioman in the Navy, his brother was a ship commander, the other in the National Guard. When pressed, my dad would tell me some stories of his time in service. Seeing this film and the faces of those old guys in the theatre helps me understand why dad never talked too much about it. It was that devastating a film, that devastating a time.
I was in another room last night, when I heard the familiar sounds of the landing at Omaha Beach coming from the living room t.v. For about the 30th time I was drawn to watch those intense opening scenes, once again drawn into the action. Just watching that first intense half hour, the bodies washing up in the blood red waves, the look in Tom Hanks eyes, the echoey silence surrounding Barry Pepper as he makes to shoot the first sniper to open Dog 1, well I was again knocked back with emotion. I again was so very impressed at how Spileberg did so much, so well in this film; from the distinctive camera work, to the small details like the drops of blood on the camera lens, to assembling the fine team of actors that brought such life to this film and such feeling for their deaths, to the incredible, adrenalized battle sequences at beginning and end, to the very simple moments throughout and the stories of the men.
I just had to write again, so many years later, to say I really admire this film. It is important, not only from the perspective of film appreciation, but also for the genuine and heartfelt way it tells of one of the most important times in American history and the very brave men who sacrificed so much.