Saving Private Ryan is not one of those movies. Sickened by the rough waters, soldiers unceremoniously vomit as Capt. The second the door on the craft opens, German machine-gun fire rips into the soldiers at the front. Less than half step off the boat alive. Quickly, the water turns red.
Death seems inevitable.
It's not surprising that three brothers don't survive. Only one of Mrs. Margaret Ryan's boys is left, and he's behind enemy lines. About the only thing director Steven Spielberg spares us in Saving Private Ryan is a prolonged scene with the grief-stricken mother. Otherwise, he lets the brutality of war fly across the screen in this movie, which has to be the front-runner for the best picture Oscar. Hanks and his crew are a magnificent ensemble, becoming brothers in arms before our eyes.