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Despite its status as one of the most momentous events in living memory, one that defined the entirety of The Greatest Generation as we know it, I don't think we got a truly definitive World War 2 film out of Hollywood for quite some time. Sure, we got some iconic films set around it, like Casablanca, but that's more of a Romantic Drama, and not really about the war itself, at least, what it was like to experience it firsthand. And the same thing goes for From Here To Eternity, or something like The Dirty Dozen, which was more of a men-on-a-mission flick that served as an early prototype for the modern Action movie, you know? On the other hand, just a few years after the Vietnam War, we get Apocalypse Now; doesn't really seem fair to the previous conflict, does it? However, over half a century after WWII ended, we finally did get a film that has come to define that war in a cinematic sense, with Stephen Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, a movie that both upheld a number of previous cultural perceptions of that conflict, while also radically changing certain others, resulting in a work that has stood tall within the genre of War films in general, and has endured in the decades since its release as one of the finest films in Spielberg's lengthy, unparalleled career.

It tells the story of "Captain Miller" a veteran soldier who, in the bloody wake of D-Day, is tasked to lead a squad of men in order to locate "Private Ryan", a random, lowly soldier who's three brothers were all just killed in action, and who has been chosen for early removal from combat in order to ensure that an entire generation of a family isn't lost to the all-consuming maw of the war. Of course, Ryan's location in the active, chaotic war zone that is Normandy is currently unknown, leading Miller and his men into a grueling mission across the blood-stained landscape, as they're continually forced to engage with the enemy, their already meager numbers are steadily whittled down in the process, and they increasingly question whether saving one man is worth all of this torment, pain, and sacrifice on their parts.

Of course, if this makes it sound as though Ryan is questioning our collective cultural & cinematic perception of World War II as being America's token "good war" of the 20th century, that's because it is to a certain extent; of course, it also engages in a re-valorization of The Greatest Generation's exploits during the conflict at times, particularly in a bookending frame device that some might (not unjustifiably) describe as "sappy", but, in the final words of Captain Miller, it earns this by putting us through an absolute wringer to get there, with its brutally honest, unflinching portrayal of warfare, one that places a tremendous emphasis on the traumatizing effects of combat (a stark contrast to certain WWII films that portrayed combat as "adventurous" or exciting), with Janusz Kamiński's grim, grey, desaturated cinematography, which makes extensive use of a jittery, immersive, "you are there"-style handheld camerawork, which feels as though the production sent a cameraman back in time to document the war firsthand. This is also reflected in the film's overall unflinchingly realistic level of gore, which almost certainly would've earned the film an NC-17 rating had it not had the historical background as justification for it, as it feels less like watching a movie at times, and more like being fed through a literal meat grinder, particularly during the now-legendary D-Day sequence, as it feels like the closest thing to experiencing the war firsthand short of actually fight in it, with such sensory details as the absolutely deafening, never-ending sound of machine gun fire, or such sights as a mortally wounded soldier screaming for his mother as his intestines are spilling out all over the sand, with the battle being portrayed in such a chaotic, vivid, and disturbing manner, it actually lead the Department Of Veterans Affairs to create a hotline for veterans to call for counseling upon the film's release.

This de-glamorization of the war also extends to the film's portrayal of the American soldiers as well, whether it be the sight of them straight-up murdering a couple of enemy soldiers who were attempting to surrender, the way that Miller's men are increasingly hesitant to follow his orders as their losses pile up (culminating in an attempt to straight-up desert the mission at one point), and the way that Miller himself is emotionally burdened by the weight of having to lead men into combat to die, in addition to the way that he's shown to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder throughout, with the first shot of him being as close-up of his hands quivering as he (tries to) steel himself for battle, which not only helps to conveys the massive weight of the sacrifice he and the rest of his generation gave during the conflict, but also showcases the inherently messy, ugly reality of any war, regardless of how justified the involvement in it may be on the part of any one nation. And finally, the film excels not just through the unparalleled intensity of its scenes of combat, but during the quieter moments outside it as well, as its potentially hackneyed "I miss home so much" dialogue exchanges succeed through the sheer craft behind the filmmaking, avoiding feeling manipulative in order to become genuinely emotional in the best of ways, and, while some may decry the film as just another example of Spielberg giving into his overly sentimental nature, as far as I'm concerned, like the titular character himself, Saving Private Ryan earns it, and then some.

Despite its status as one of the most momentous events in living memory, one that defined the entirety of The Greatest Generation as we know it, I don't think we got a truly definitive World War 2 film out of Hollywood for quite some time. Sure, we got some iconic films set around it, like Casablanca, but that's more of a Romantic Drama, and not really about the war itself, at least, what it was like to experience it firsthand. And the same thing goes for From Here To Eternity, or something like The Dirty Dozen, which was more of a men-on-a-mission flick that served as an early prototype for the modern Action movie, you know? On the other hand, just a few years after the Vietnam War, we get Apocalypse Now; doesn't really seem fair to the previous conflict, does it? However, over half a century after WWII ended, we finally did get a film that has come to define that war in a cinematic sense, with Stephen Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, a movie that both upheld a number of previous cultural perceptions of that conflict, while also radically changing certain others, resulting in a work that has stood tall within the genre of War films in general, and has endured in the decades since its release as one of the finest films in Spielberg's lengthy, unparalleled career.

It tells the story of "Captain Miller" a veteran soldier who, in the bloody wake of D-Day, is tasked to lead a squad of men in order to locate "Private Ryan", a random, lowly soldier who's three brothers were all just killed in action, and who has been chosen for early removal from combat in order to ensure that an entire generation of a family isn't lost to the all-consuming maw of the war. Of course, Ryan's location in the active, chaotic war zone that is Normandy is currently unknown, leading Miller and his men into a grueling mission across the blood-stained landscape, as they're continually forced to engage with the enemy, their already meager numbers are steadily whittled down in the process, and they increasingly question whether saving one man is worth all of this torment, pain, and sacrifice on their parts.

Of course, if this makes it sound as though Ryan is questioning our collective cultural & cinematic perception of World War II as being America's token "good war" of the 20th century, that's because it is to a certain extent; of course, it also engages in a re-valorization of The Greatest Generation's exploits during the conflict at times, particularly in a bookending frame device that some might (not unjustifiably) describe as "sappy", but, in the final words of Captain Miller, it earns this by putting us through an absolute wringer to get there, with its brutally honest, unflinching portrayal of warfare, one that places a tremendous emphasis on the traumatizing effects of combat (a stark contrast to certain WWII films that portrayed combat as "adventurous" or exciting), with Janusz Kamiński's grim, grey, desaturated cinematography, which makes extensive use of a jittery, immersive, "you are there"-style handheld camerawork, which feels as though the production sent a cameraman back in time to document the war firsthand. This is also reflected in the film's overall unflinchingly realistic level of gore, which almost certainly would've earned the film an NC-17 rating had it not had the historical background as justification for it, as it feels less like watching a movie at times, and more like being fed through a literal meat grinder, particularly during the now-legendary D-Day sequence, as it feels like the closest thing to experiencing the war firsthand short of actually fight in it, with such sensory details as the absolutely deafening, never-ending sound of machine gun fire, or such sights as a mortally wounded soldier screaming for his mother as his intestines are spilling out all over the sand, with the battle being portrayed in such a chaotic, vivid, and disturbing manner, it actually lead the Department Of Veterans Affairs to create a hotline for veterans to call for counseling upon the film's release.

This de-glamorization of the war also extends to the film's portrayal of the American soldiers as well, whether it be the sight of them straight-up murdering a couple of enemy soldiers who were attempting to surrender, the way that Miller's men are increasingly hesitant to follow his orders as their losses pile up (culminating in an attempt to straight-up desert the mission at one point), and the way that Miller himself is emotionally burdened by the weight of having to lead men into combat to die, in addition to the way that he's shown to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder throughout, with the first shot of him being as close-up of his hands quivering as he (tries to) steel himself for battle, which not only helps to conveys the massive weight of the sacrifice he and the rest of his generation gave during the conflict, but also showcases the inherently messy, ugly reality of any war, regardless of how justified the involvement in it may be on the part of any one nation. And finally, the film excels not just through the unparalleled intensity of its scenes of combat, but during the quieter moments outside it as well, as its potentially hackneyed "I miss home so much" dialogue exchanges succeed through the sheer craft behind the filmmaking, avoiding feeling manipulative in order to become genuinely emotional in the best of ways, and, while some may decry the film as just another example of Spielberg giving into his overly sentimental nature, as far as I'm concerned, like the titular character himself, Saving Private Ryan earns it, and then some.