Far more than just a film...

Rating: 10/10 (27 May 2008)

Steven Spielberg accomplished something here; something that may rival Schindler's List as his masterpiece and the greatest work he ever did in his extraordinary career. Here, with this film, he shows a side of World War II we all have read about but never saw. While he couldn't completely make it a reality, watching this movie is about as close as any of us will get to experiencing such historical events like D-Day. That being said, this is so much more than just a film that chronicles the story of eight men sent to find one in the German-controlled areas of France. Spielberg here paints a picture of the price and the consequences of war and certainly doesn't glamorize anything. The first half hour of the film is almost exclusively set right in the middle of the action as US forces storm Omaha Beach and try to stay alive amidst the torrential downpour of bullets and bombs. This scene alone earned Spielberg the Best Director Oscar and makes this film one of the great war films of all time. Still, he takes it to another level and gives us characters that we can view as simple everyday men on a mission that they don't believe in trying to find a man they know or care nothing about. To be frank, this is more than a film. It is more than an experience. It is a lesson on war and the complications it brings and the sacrifice it requires. That is what makes this a classic and maybe the best war film ever made. These men gave all they could and something most of us will never have to worry about; they gave their lives and in turn saved so many.