12 Saddest Heroic Sacrifices In Movies

What really pulls at the heartstrings about the self sacrifice in Saving Private Ryan is how the Captain Miller’s company frequently point out the unfairness of eight people being sent to rescue one to send them home. Unlike other entries on this list, the character of Saving Private Ryan have the whole movie to decide whether or not their mission to save a single person is worth it.

Captain Miller himself speaks honestly to his men about how he hopes saving Ryan will allow him to return home and see his wife again. He has his own reasons to want to save Ryan rather than to do it selflessly as other entries on this list have. That alone transforms the character into a more realistic depiction of how person would think in this situation, i.e, what would Captain Miller get out of saving Ryan.

By the end of the movie, most of Miller’s group has died in battle, some never even getting to meet Ryan. Captain Miller constantly pushes Ryan into safety throughout the final battle and ends up shot and bleeding on the side of the bridge, still holding up his gun.

In his last words he tells Ryan to “earn” their sacrifice, not wanting him to waste his life they all fought so hard for. This movie changes the perspective of self-sacrifice, that isn’t just the action of individual dying to save their friend, but then that friend to make sure their sacrifice was not for nothing.