Greatest Tribute to the Greatest Generation

Rating: 10/10 (10 September 2007)

Saving Private Ryan is one of the greatest war movies ever made. It's an unbelievably emotionally powerful film that inspires a horror seldom seen in the usual Hollywood movie. This has to be not only one of the greatest war movies ever made, but possibly THE greatest movie ever ever made. I would easily put it on the level of the Godfather movies. Why? SPR has infinite character depth. There are no GI Joes or murderous killers that every single war movie needs to have. Every soldier is just that - a soldier. I may also be one of the few who felt sorry for Upham. Keep in mind that he wasn't a soldier per se. He was an interpreter. Also, keep in mind that he hadn't really established a bond with the unit yet, which was something that they all shared.
SPR has a realistic portrayal of WWII. They even portrayed the Germans and SS better than any movie I have ever seen. It also forces you to feel sorry for soldiers of both sides, like when the two American soldiers shot the two Czechs (I believe, as mentioned on the forum) who surrendered, and then taunted them. This was a subtlety that I only recently found out about. I always assumed that they were German.
Tom Hank's character was truly great. He wasn't a stock character at all, and seemed like he could be a real person. This was actually true for all of the characters. I also, guiltily, felt a little sorry for Steam Boat Willie, who was probably going to be executed in a ditch for being the sole survivor of, you know. You know what happens in the final scene, and I couldn't feel sorry for him anymore, and was happy, as we all were, when the event after that happened. This was just one of the many amazing themes and subtleties that were involved with this movie. I have seen it over 15 times, and still notice new things every time.
In conclusion, this movie is gruesome but beautiful. What greater present for Veterans Day is there than to watch this movie? They truly were the greatest Generation, and their gift of freedom to us keeps on giving.