I will never forget this film

Rating: 10/10 (25 June 1999)

I, like many young people had a grandfather that was in the war. I know he faced death many times but I don't know how many times or any of the details of his ordeal in WWII. He wouldn't ever talk about them, not even to my mother or her sister. Sometimes I could never understand that, but now I do. If this is really what it was like to be a soldier, no matter what war you are fighting, then it must be an incredibly difficult ordeal to drudge up memories that are this disturbing, this vivid and this real. I have never been to war and I hope to God that I never have to experience war, but after seeing this movie I believe I can tell you at least what it may have been like. This movie is that vivid and that honest.
The first half an hour of this film is some of the most amazing direction I have seen in any film in my entire life. I have even read that Spielberg toned it down some. That is hard to believe knowing what is up there on screen.
This film is brilliant in every capacity. The direction is so clear and crisp that you feel like you know these men when the film is over. You feel like you understand the war a little better than you did before. The acting is terrific. And not just Hanks and Damon, but everyone from Sizemore to Ribisi to the grunt that gets his guts blown out ( take your pick as to who that is. )
I can't believe a film like Shakespeare in Love, a film that could have been an after school special, was chosen as best picture. Best picture? Over this? How is that possible? If you haven't seen this ( and there aren't many of you out there ) please do yourself a favour, see it tonight. It is such an amazing film and it is one that I will never forget.
A final note: Even though my grandfather has been gone for about 8 years now, I salute him and every other guy that put it on the line and did so because they believed in what they were doing. I have a new understanding and appreciation for people like my grandfather. And that a film could make me feel that way is something special in itself.