The best film of the 1990's - a masterpiece!!!!

Rating: Null/10 (12 December 1998)

Most war films have one common denominator or two...they either have a give 'em hell attitude ("The Longest Day"), or they deal with an anti-war theme ("Apocalypse Now"). This film does both...only on a larger scale. It has some fine acting (Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Ted Danson), but that is not how I saw this movie. This movie is about war in all of its infinite inhumanity...and you are there...right at the front lines...watching men brutally dying around you. In "Apocalypse Now", this was shown to a degree...then all of a sudden, we are swept up into a chaotic nightmare about a renegade Colonel who goes over the edge. This film explores war on a more real life scale. When the boats arrive at Omaha Beach...you feel what the soldiers feel. When the men decide to go after Ryan, you feel their courage...and their probable destiny. Movies like "The Deer Hunter", "Coming Home", and "Paths of Glory" all gave us a reason to hate war. This film does the same, however, it explores all of the reasons for wanting to go to war...and fighting for what you believe in. This is Spielberg at his finest...the flip side to Schindler's List. The cinematography, special effects, sound, and score all are done perfectly...a masterpiece of American film making in the last decade of the 20th Century.