This film is a masterpiece. A tribute to the greatest generation and those who serve during WWII.

Rating: 9/10 (6 June 2013)

The fact that it didn't win Best Picture is outrageous. It was great from start to finish. The opening scene with the old man crumble in front of headstones is emotional. The music score by John Williams is amazing. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg. The film tells the story of a mission following the D-day invasion. The movie starts Tom Hanks as Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who must takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. His mission to find Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) and bring him back to the United States so that it can save the family's bloodline and help softly the mother's grief. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore starts as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance. I understand the everyman quality of the average soldier. There were also a lot of actors that you wouldn't have thought for once, playing soldiers as supporting characters such as Ted Danson, Bryan Cranston and Paul Giamatti. Who knew they would be playing soldiers in one of the greatest war film ever. I like how the characters were written with everyday blue-collar Joes. It gives the movie realistic. They are brave while scare. Good, but also bit morally reprehensible. A great scene toward the middle of the film represented the questioning of their own morals when it conflict the attitudes of the war when the group captured a German Soldier. All of them has to debate if they should just murder the man or set the man free. It's toward the middle of the film, that the violence of the film dies down enough, to get a few character development. It was strong enough time to make them seem like people with the amount of screen time they got here. Some people thinks that the movie glorified war or it's over patriotism. I think some critics seriously misinterpreted this movie if they think it glorified war. In movies that glorify war, there are ridiculous outlandish characters that simply don't represent the soldiers who fought in war. In Saving Private Ryan, the characters are down-to-earth-ordinary. This movie also shows that in war, there are no heroes who are guaranteed to survive. It portrays war as what it is: violent and ugly. As pure hell. As for patriotism, I don't believe that the film is patriotism. There are scenes of American soldiers being as crude, cowardly, or just mean-spirited as some of the German's soldiers. I don't think the Germans are portray unfairly. About the fact that there were no allied forces shown was due to the fact that it is an American film presented to an American audience. Would it had been nice to see a British soldier in the film? Yes, but it wasn't needed in the film. The film made younger generations understand what happened that day and the sacrifices that were made in order to win that war, while also telling the dangers and how bad the war really got. The film was balance between pro war and anti-war themes. Yes, there were a few historic accurates that wasn't corrected, but overall, many people have call this film to be the most realistic and maybe the best war film ever. The first 20 minutes horrifically and realistically depicts the Normandy Invasion. The visuals are grainy, de-colorized, and filmed in a first person aspect that convey an adrenalin driven that been never witness in a war film before then, and since after Saving Private Ryan, many directors have used for their war films. The audio is astounding, and actually had me flinching during the harrowing first twenty minutes of the film. Exceedingly realistic and recorded in perfect three dimensional, positional audio that firmly plants you on that horrific beach landings. After this movie came out, I saw an interview with several D-Day survivors. They all said that the invasion sequence was the most realistic portrayal they had ever seen. It was like they were there again. That is strong praise from someone who would know. Every teen aged idiot who fantasizes on war by playing console games needs to watch this film. Show them how it really was. It's not what it is. Overall: It is a must-watch. It's a story of normal, average men forced into extraordinary and terrible situations due to war and how they survive it.