Good but definitely not the Greatest

Rating: Null/10 (11 August 1999)

I guess when you're Steven Spielberg no one ever second guesses you. This is what I was thinking after the lights came on and I left the theater. How else could those cemetery scenes have gotten into the movie? Wasn't there someone who could have told him that those were horrible scenes? War veteran, with his sons, daughters, and barbie-doll grandchildren visits Arlington Cemetery and asks his wife if he's lived a good life. I had to look away. It was the most cheesy thing I had ever seen. I felt embarrassed for Spielberg. I thought the scene at the end of Schindler's List was pretty cheesy ("how many more could I have saved, had I sold this car?"), but this was infinitely worse.
Aside from those scenes (and the one with Lincoln's letter...), the movie is okay. It suffers from a weak screenplay, but the action sequences are the grittiest, most realistic, and overall most effective I've ever seen. The cinematography is dazzling, the sound is perfect, and the images horrifyingly real. You'll grip the armrests and live the fear.
But I don't think this movie is deserving of all the praise that's been heaped on it. It will show you, realistically, the horrors of war - and perhaps that's worth a pat on the back for Spielberg. But it could have been better. It could have been much, much better - if only it had a good plot and some real character development!
Definitely worth seeing, but not the greatest war movie ever.
One more thing - The Thin Red Line was overshadowed by the success of this movie, but was very different and very good. Check it out!