The actual "opening scene" and it's impact on me

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2003)

I am not really sure why I feel compelled to post my experience when watching this movie but after reading many of the previous comments it is apparent that the impact for me is quite different than most other people.
I went to our local theater to see Saving Private Ryan with my teenage son and one of his friends. I was fully prepared for the realistic beach landing sequence that had already gained so much attention prior to the film's release so what happened next is a personal experience I will never forget. The actual "opening scene" is NOT the battle sequence but the images of the elderly Ryan and his family visiting the American cemetery at Normandy, France. In the span of a few seconds, I was transported back in time and place to a raw spring day in 1982 at the beaches of Normandy, France. It was there, with my late Father and Mother, that we walked the same path along the cliffs as shown in the film. My wife and children were with me (as in the film) when my Dad turned and walked out among the sea of crosses and was overcome with emotion (as in the film). The horrors of war were never more apparent to me in a personal way than at that moment.
It was as if Spielberg had been there 30 years ago and somehow filmed our family and then edited it onto the beginning of this movie. I was so shaken that I barely remembered the rest of the movie and it was quite a while before I could get up and leave the theater. I am normally not prone to emotional outbursts and was embarrassed that I could not stop crying even as we left the lobby. My reaction scared my son half out of his wits since he had no idea what had hit me so hard (he was only 2 years old in 1982).
I have only watch the film once since then and the impact was just as powerful. I have often wondered if anyone else relates to this scene as I do since every other reference to the opening scene is actually the beach landing.
For me, the cinematic faults or virtues of this movie are irrelevant in relation to the pain and sacrifice that this war inflicted on the world and I believe there is value in the way this film helps to assure that the pain will never be forgotten.