Saving Private Ryan

Not your average World War II movie

The opening of the movie jumps straight into the Allied invasion of Normandy, and is definitely an R rated movie because it doesn't hold back on the graphics. Spielberg does a very good job of portraying the horrors that the men faced on the front line.



This movie starts with a number of battle scenes in different countries in which three brothers are killed. The Army Chief of staff learns of the three brothers deaths and he also learns of a fourth brother fighting in the war. He states that no family should be asked to give so much and orders the fourth brother be found and returned home.

Now the race is on to find the last brother before it is too late. A six man team is assembled to find the private. They always seem to be one step behind the privates location and heading deeper into enemy territory. When one of the team is killed some of the other ask if one soldier is worth the cost?

The team does eventually find Ryan, however, while he is distressed at learning about the loss of his brothers. He makes the decision to stay "with the only brothers he has left" and asks Miller to tell his mother of his decision.

Miller and his team however join private Ryans group, and the last of the film centers around a battle to defend a particular bridge. While Ryan does survive, not all of the team sent to find him do.

This is a very powerful war movie, and is about as graphic as it gets. The violence and gore was something not typically seen before when this film came out in 1997.