A film everybody should see...

Rating: 9/10 (22 August 1999)

Although it has a fairly simplistic plot, this film manages to do what only one other war film I have ever seen has done: it has recreated the battlefield so that the viewer is not witnessing it, but is a part of it. This movie features well drawn-out characters trapped in an incredibly brutal and all-too-real situation: they must survive the greatest hell ever to exist on Earth.
Their mission is to rescue one man, who is the last of his line. Private Ryan's brothers have all died in combat, and he now has a free ticket home. However, he has to be found first, and a team of soldiers led by Captain Miller (Tom Hanks)travels around the lines of the D-Day invasion looking for him.
But the real reason for seeing this has nothing to do with the plot. As far as plots go, it is a fairly simplistic one, despite the fact that these basic events really did happen. The film suffers slightly as the ancient morality of "the other guys are the bad guys" sets in, making it slightly less horrifying than it could have been. However, the real reason for seeing this is the experience. The viewer is AT D-Day and the following chaos, watching as soldiers get their brains blown out before they even have a chance to get out of the landing craft. Watching this film is an experience of walking through hell, and no viewer can come out of it without being changed.
This is a film everybody should see at least once. 4.5/5.