War As It Is!

Rating: 10/10 (9 May 2009)

When you see certain movies like Rambo, Commando or Predator, you see a warrior going out in the jungles and taking the whole enemy army down single handed! The truth is that while such movies are good in their own right because they allow you to escape into a world of fantasy, the movies are misleading because war is nothing like what is shown in them. You do not survive a war because you have muscles which you can flex. You do not survive a war because you are more skilled than the other. Those are the days of ancient warfare when you would fight with swords. But modern warfare is all about luck. You survive only if you are lucky that of all the thousands of bullets and debris flying around, not one strikes you or even if it does, it strikes you in a way that it does not kill you. Nobody goes into a war without fear. Nobody remembers a country when fighting a war. All that matters is survival - survival at all costs. And that is the true picture of war that Saving Private Ryan manages to show so beautifully.
The movie opens with a very brutal war sequence based on the Ohama beach war. It is difficult to imagine how the movie makers managed to plan the filming of this entire sequence. It is so realistic and will forever dispel the notions of any exuberant youth who thinks that war is glamorous. There is nothing glamorous about war and there never ever will be. I have heard rumors from my friends that some people vomited in the cinema hall due the extent of violence portrayed in this movie. And so I must warn you that if you are someone who is easily affected by blood and gore, pray do not watch this movie or at least this sequence.
Spielberg along with the rest of the crew does a stupendous and a beautiful job of showing a rescue mission that leads the leading group into the heart of war to rescue one man - Private Ryan who has already lost three of his brothers to the World War operations. An order has come in from top authorities to extradite the last of the four brothers. How does the team assigned feel about it? Needless to say, they are grumbling about it but as we should know, a solider is nothing but like a pawn in a game of chess the moves of which are determined by people far from any pain and without any proper understanding of how painful war is in reality.
For any person, this movie is a must-watch. It is a must-watch for many reasons. You must watch it because it will remind you of what the world has seen in World War II. It will remind you that war should indeed be the last solution that a nation must resort to. It will remind you that there is no honor and glory in war. There is only one thing - miserable death. This movie will prove to be a life-changing experience for most people. It might even leave you with some sleepless nights. Yet, it remains a movie that I believe one must watch in his lifetime.