Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat, tells the fictional story of a journey through war-torn Europe by a band of soldiers tasked with finding the last surviving of three brothers.
It is included here, however, as it provides the most realistic depiction of the D-Day landings committed to film. The movie opens as Allied soldiers race across the waves towards Omaha Beach. The assault was a suicide mission for a large percentage of the soldiers who took part. It was a terrifying endeavour with no guarantee of success. Still, thousand of soldiers gave their lives so that the Allies could gain a foothold in Europe. a staging area from which they could move across Europe towards Berlin, and the end of the war.
The cinematography and editing of the twenty-minute landing sequence are incredible. The danger, violence and sheer terror of the operation are all put on-screen, in an uncompromising style rarely seen in mainstream Hollywood movies.
