Brotherhood is worth dying for

Rating: 9/10 (19 July 2013)

Saving Private Ryan is about a band of brothers who give up their own lives to save the life of a single soldier in the chaos of war. The Controlling Idea, that brotherhood is worth dying for, is well told and thematically supported. The contradictory notion of risking the lives of many to save the few resonates well with the idea of war in general: that the values of freedom, family and human rights are ideals worth dying for: even if these values are preserved only for a few survivors. The hope is the survivors (and the viewers) can go on to live a good life and treasure their freedoms that others died to protect. The question is that in a democracy where human rights and freedoms are valued, why would anyone in their right mind choose to sacrifice their life and limb? The answer: these soldiers choose to do it to protect a brother, and these armies choose to do it to protect the basic human rights of the citizens of fellow nations. This seems to suggest that the very fabric of democratic society rests on the fundamental respect for each other and the rights of others and that these rights and freedoms are ideals that much be protected to the death.
Great film told with what I count to be three major external plots: to save Ryan, to win the war and to save the lives of the men. The lives of the men are lost to achieve the first two. Thus proving the Controlling Idea that brotherhood is worth dying for.
My major complaint is the film is too long. Three hours is a long time and the episodes of peace are not so interesting since not much relationship or personal development takes place. The brothers are "good" from beginning to end and their relationships are "good" from beginning to end. Of course there are minor plot lines like Opum's compassion for POWs and Reiben's questioning of Miller's judgement. But they don't create serious turning points in an otherwise external-action focused story. I think the story would look substantially the same if you cut out the middle: the Carparso dying to save a French child, the radar assault that loses Wade and the church resting.
My Story Chart of the movie is at storycharts.ca