Outstanding...

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 1999)

This film (I won't be so brash as to call it a movie) confirms my belief that Steven Spielberg is one of, if not the most, talented people of the century. Yes, this sounds like butt-kissing, but it isn't. My grandfather died in WWII, as did millions of your grandfathers, fathers and brothers. Until I saw SPR, I, like many others, had tucked the mere thought of war into a drawer in my mind titled "ignore and it might go away". I am very much ashamed to admit I was one of those who complained that veterans should forget it and get on with their lives. Now though, I can honestly say that this film has changed my life. What's more, anybody who denies that it changed theirs is either lying or devoid of humanity.
Obviously, as anybody who has seen the film will know, the first twenty minutes at Omaha beach are overwhelmingly shocking, heartbreaking and soul numbing. I sat in my seat, emotionally paralysed and totally disbelieving. I put my popcorn on the floor and couldn't bring myself to touch it again. I know people say the plot was often thin and the film slow moving but surely they realise this is far more true to life than non stop action? There were weeks on end where soldiers did nothing but wait in the trenches, where the build- up to the finale was far more nerve racking than the action itself because you knew something had to happen, you just didn't know when. The film reflects this. Therefore it is far MORE true to life than all the "War is Hell" films such as Full Metal Jacket and Platoon.
To those who remain unconvinced, may I remind them a helpline was set up to comfort those who couldn't handle the journey back to the war. I work at a cinema, I have seen the effects of this film. I spent over an hour once, comforting a seventy-five year old man who came out of the film weeping like a child and couldn't bring himself to walk away from the building.
War IS Hell. And to those who fought, and their equally brave families, we should offer nothing but our sincerest thanks.