48. Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Steven Spielberg

Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Steven SpielbergBased on a World War II drama. US soldiers try to save their comrade, paratrooper Private Ryan, who's stationed behind enemy lines. The opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan is one of the most harrowing and haunting memory's I have of ever watching a motion picture. I've said it before on this site, I never truly understood (nor will I ever, but this is the closet) the true horrors of war and what it must have been like to be part of the brutality. It's graphic and bloody. People are getting shot down all over the place, limbs are flying everywhere, the camera is shaking and we watch as young men are falling down dead all around us. Video games such as Medal of Honor and Call of Duty have been heavily influenced by this film's opening sequence, as Spielberg really did make you feel you were on the battlefield too, with the uncomfortable uncertainly that you might be the next shot down. The plot of the film is that a group of seven men lead by Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) are sent to search out and find Private James Ryan (Matt Damon), whose two brothers have been killed in battle. The mission to bring him is home is an act to boost morale back home but the men themselves question if finding one man is worth risking the lives of the whole team. The key to the film's success is the camaraderie between the team and the philiosophical debates that arise from their mission. Is one man's life worth the risk of eight men? Do you fall orders from those in charge to the letter, even if you have no belief in the mission yourself, Do you coldly shoot down the man who just killed one of your comrades?. And questions like how do you get over something like the horrors of war... will you ever be able to be the same person you were before? A fantastic ensemable cast and superb directing from Steven Spielberg make Saving Private Ryan one of the most important movies of the 90's.