The best war movie ever made

Rating: 10/10 (10 August 2007)

Because I have younger siblings, most war films I have seen are the least realistic ones that are just fairly decent (Tears of the Sun, Behind Enemy Lines). Upon finally having my siblings out of the house, I was able to watch it. Let me tell you, I was blown away; the movie was incredible.
The first thirty minutes are all about D-Day, the bloodiest battle I have ever seen on screen. It was very realistic and accurate; the dead and the wounded were lying around everywhere, getting plowed down as the ships opened. Not too many survived. One of the survivors is one of my all-time favorite actors, Tom Hanks. He is affected by the battle severely, and he recruits men afterward to hunt down Private Ryan, whose other brothers have been killed in combat.
The next two hours show us the complete trek to finding Private Ryan and developing all the characters to their fullest. Every character has his own personality, and you learn so much about each and every character. Each one does a great job at showing what type of person they are. Along the way, they have to fight off some Nazis and two men are killed. This effects each and every soldier in Tom Hank's squadron, and the life of war is seen taking its toll on each man, emotionally and mentally breaking them and hurting them.
Every time a character has a meltdown, it is very powerful. The moments are calm and slow, but not soft on the heart. And yet they must press on through the washed-up world until they find Private Ryan and have a historic showdown in cinema history.
Heroes die. Men are wounded and left for dead. Only some survive. The final battle is merciless and although not as bloody as the D-Day Invasion in the beginning, its more difficult to watch because more men die and you know each and every one. What makes it even sadder is that it was all real.
Even my Grandpa, who was in several battles in the Korean War and held as a prisoner for two years in Korea, said the movie was fairly realistic. Steven Spielberg, cinematic genius of the 20th Century, is not afraid to show the blood and gore and hammer disturbingly devastating pain into the hearts of the viewer. And after the movie you find yourself silent, quietly honoring the heroes of WWII. That is what Saving Private Ryan did. 9.8/10.