The silence said it all

Rating: 8/10 (28 January 1999)

The thing that hit me the most after seeing this movie was the way that the audience, upon the turning on of the theater lights, simply rose as one and walked silently out of the theater. Not more than a word was said, and I think that's the best compliment anyone can give this movie. Out of all the teenagers and Gen-Xers that were in the theater, not one of us felt compelled to speak after watching this. I can say that the opening sequence hit me harder than anything I have ever witnessed in my (albeit short) life. I found myself wrapping my arms around my knees, trying to hide my eyes but unable to avoid the horror unfolding on the screen. I actually felt like somehow I was in danger. The horror I felt as the soldiers stepped out of the boats into the gunfire was gut-wrenching. All the movies we watch in school, all the History Channel specials don't even touch what this movie touched, honestly. I never realized the horror of what D-Day and this war was until I saw this movie. It took it out of the abstract and forced those of us who have never had to live through a real war to see it as they did. It makes me want to thank every one of the men who were in this war for what they sacrificed for those of us who live here now. I don't know if I would be strong enough to handle it, and I hold as my heroes anyone who was.
About the movie in itself, I actually thought the scenes at the beginning and end were touching. A bit too theatrically staged, definitely, but I thought it was a nice beginning and end for the movie. The battle scenes, enough said. Phenomenal. The one and only criticism I have is that I think the script was a little weak in its character development. I had a hard time really feeling for the characters, and I think that maybe the battle scenes were emphasized so much that we lost who the men really were. It's hard to develop characters while the audience is concentrating on gunfire. However, this was an excellent, excellent movie, definitely, a 9 out of 10.