seen august 8 , 1998 at 6 p . m . at rotterdam square cinemas ( rotterdam , ny ) , theater #6 , by myself for free using my sony/loews critic's pass . 
[theater rating : * * * : good seats , sound , and picture] 
war is a topic that can't help but be glorified any way it is portrayed by the media . 
movies , documentaries , and even history books have a way of making the darker side of humanity exciting since the most general aspects are focused on , such as strategy , politics , and victory . 
it's easy to forget war , in its most basic form , is a battle of armies out to slaughter each other . 
forgotten more easily is the fact that each soldier , no matter what his rank or importance , is a real flesh-and-blood person and not just a number . 
 " saving private ryan " is one of the few films that dares play up this aspect , especially in its unapologetic , realistic delivery . 
it proves there's a huge difference between battling and killing . 
the film opens with one of the most graphic , disturbing scenes in recent memory . 
it's world war ii , d-day to be exact , and the u . s . military is invading omaha beach where the nazis are more than ready for them . 
spielberg uses many techniques to create for a total sense of reality . 
instead of positioned cameras , the footage here seems to have been shot by camera operators running alongside soldiers as if they were just as scared . 
there is no sense of stability , but of constant , anxious , and confusing motion , giving us the feeling of being in the middle of the battle , and just a vulnerable as the poor troops . 
 " poor " is a proper word to describe how pathetic and yet innocent the men fighting are . 
there is little to no dialogue throughout the loud battle and no prologue to define any characters . 
we don't get the feeling these are handsome actors playing heroic roles , but that these are men about to kill and be killed for reasons beyond their understanding . 
the nazis are not portrayed as enemies to be hated , but as people that must be destroyed because they're there . 
in the movies , the good guys can run through a firestorm of bullets and bombs and not get a scratch , but in reality that wouldn't happen . 
the men have nothing to shield or protect them besides some metal flanks and dead bodies . 
they are sitting ducks and we realize this through the perspective of the well-secured germans who can actually see who , what , and where they're shooting , unlike the americans who must fire in a general direction to avoid getting their heads blown off . 
perhaps the film is flawed by not providing any backstory on the war itself and who the men really are , but that seems to be part of the theme . 
the film seems to rely on the audience's sense of patriotism , that the american military is " right " and good and that the nazis are " inherently evil . " 
the battle scene eventually focuses on a group of men who have miraculously survived and made their way close to the enemy stronghold ( a whole 50-foot progression ) , and begin to inflict some damage . 
i have to admit that once the first glimpse of victory over the nazis sprang up , i couldn't help but feel some sense of joy and relief . 
to triumph against all odds is a cliche to be sure , but there's nothing cliche about the graphic , detailed , atmosphere here because it really happened . 
one of the most surprising aspects of the film is how little story construction there is , and yet the events that take place make sense and are interesting . 
the plot is practically irrelevant since the film is more concerned with the reality of the war and the soldiers we meet . 
tom hanks stars as captain miller , a relatively average man who happens to be the leader of a platoon . 
he's never obsessive or any such generic , cartoonish characteristic that might dominate a character like this . 
he doesn't want to be there any more than his men , but when he is given a mission he intends to carry it out . 
the mission the film is concerned with is , as the title states , saving private ryan . 
through a series of command started by an ordinary clerical worker , it is brought to a general's attention that three brothers from iowa have been killed in action and their mother will receive notices of each's death simultaneously . 
when they learn a fourth brother is stationed somewhere in europe , they make it a top priority to have him returned safely to his mother . 
it's easy to sympathize with this situation , after all , no one should have to lose all their children at once . 
but finding one man in this war is , as miller puts it , " like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles . " 
the saving of private ryan isn't just a dramatic device , but a thematic one . 
his salvation represents the sense of innocence the country , the world even , was trying to convince itself it still had . 
when miller's company hears of the mission , they scoff at the idea assuming he is dead , but miller isn't so quick to shrug it off . 
he knows the only thing that can really save soldiers from death is hope , and now he has the opportunity to make someone's sense of hope a reality . 
the mission to find ryan gives miller's group a destination , but not direction . 
along the way many things happen to them , both good and bad . 
a few battles are fought , not to be major accomplishments for the war , but because they encounter german soldiers and have no other choice . 
the act of killing itself becomes one of the film's major philosophical metaphors . 
the soldiers don't mind killing other soldiers in blind battle , but when they come across a lone survivor who begs them to let him go , they can barely stop themselves from killing him in cold blood as some kind of vengeance for their losses . 
unfortunately , death is a fact of war , and most films try to avoid it when it comes to the main characters , but here spielberg doesn't want us to think these men are invincible . 
in fact , only a small amount of color and personality is sketched into each man , and the performances are good enough to make this method work . 
although the characters are somewhat typical , the actors maintain control over the material at all time . 
whether they're arguing with each other , telling stories of back home , or fighting the germans , they never go overboard and always seem believable . 
sure , there's a zinger here and there , but war doesn't change the fact boys will be boys . 
if and when one dies we too can feel the loss , even though we hardly knew them . 
the final act brings the story full circle with another tremendous , violent battle sequence . 
private ryan has been found , but facing four to one odds , can the americans defeat the germans and keep ryan alive ? 
that's not a premise for thrills , it's symbolic of everything the film has worked for . 
it would be wrong to say the film has either a happy or sad ending , it ends the way it must end . 
i remember reading a " calvin & hobbes " comic strip where calvin asked his dad something like , " dad , how do armies of men killing each other solve problems ? " 
 " saving private ryan " is the adult version of that question . 
