This is one of the most somber episodes I've heard from you lot. Not a criticism, just a note as I usually have these on while working and I couldn't help but notice that it was not the lively conversation I'm used to.

That aside, it is interesting to hear your criticisms and comments on this film as the most I usually get out of people is "It's a masterpiece. The end."

I think the movie is, generally, about all veterans of foreign wars and the survivor guilt they feel. "All these men—on both sides—died, some of them in the very act of saving my ass, and yet I survived. Do I deserve it?"

No. Nobody does.

The sun shines on the grand opening of the brand new local Iowa VFW. Private Reiben (Ed Burns) having finally tracked down that little shit that cost his friends their lives, squarely lands a punch in his face. Private Ryan (Matt Damon) instinctively returns his volley. In the aftermath of broken furniture and glass, wasted alcohol, injured bystanders, blood, tears, and yes sweat; the two men have it out. In a heap Ryan realizes who he has been fighting, and is told the story of how many lives it took to save his.

  Or, maybe nothing that hackneyed happened. Maybe, in the years between the end of World War II and Ryan finally being able to take that trip to Europe with his family (What is so wrong with being into big tits?); Reiber ran into him, and told the story. Ryan thought it a good gesture to visit the white crosses of the men who saved him and Spielberg thought it a good idea for his little war movie.

Just a couple quick notes:

@Dorkman Kevin Smith was a Producer on Good Will Hunting.

@Trey The caper movie with Ed Burns you were thinking of is called Confidence. And yes, it is indeed pretty fun. Coincidentally, it also stars both Leland Orser and Paul Giamatti.

And, of course, another easy way around the problems at the end is simply to have one officer at the bridge who outranked Hanks. Given how scattered everyone was, as the movie showed, you made up units of whoever wandered by. Hanks and friends show up? Guess what! You're holding the north line, and you're not getting Ryan until we're relieved.

Actually, that would make a fun movie: start with them FINDING Ryan, and on the way back they keep bumping into units where a half dozen more soldiers are the key to holding out.

I was just so happy that my wife suggested we see this in the theater that I gave it a pass, but since I knew the units involved I knew at the beginning that the old man with the Screaming Eagle pin on his windbreaker had to be Ryan since the Rangers were all part of one of the Ranger Battalions and not part of the 101st Airborne Division.  it was never a surprise who he was.

BTW there were 2 Ranger Battalions that existed in June 1944.  One of those Battalions went up Pont Du Hoc and one went on Omaha Beach (further BTWs the 2 AMERICAN beaches were Utah and Omaha, the Brits and Canadians had Gold, Sword and Juno beaches).  The way I figure it Hanks best fits a guy named Major Brown who took a Company of Rangers into Normandy on Omaha Beach section Red Dog One.  By the time the movie's Saving Private Ryan part would have taken place Brown's company was down to 11 guys.

I'm sure there have been better books written on the subject, but the movie The Longest Day gives a great breakdown of the entire invasion. You fully understand what units went where, and why.

I'll try to make a defense of SPR, my second favorite Tom Hanks film after Road To Perdition.

About Ed Burns and the beef about risking so many men's lives on a mission to save one soldier:
Hanks and his men were combat infantrymen liberating Europe, they were either going on this mission or another one that would have probably been much more dangerous on the surface. Put yourself in their shoes, would you rather be ordered to take a fortified enemy position- like an artillery battery, anti-aircraft guns, or some machine gun bunkers, or be sent to find and bring back one paratrooper? The only way they were getting out of that combat theater was death, serious injury, or the end of the war. I served in the Marine Corps infantry myself, and let me tell you that Ed Burns and the other guys' problems with the mission were just par for the course. Beefing, moaning, groaning, and complaining are perhaps the #1 past time of foot soldiers. It's normal that they would be complaining leading up to D-Day, the Ryan mission, and complaining about the next mission after this one as well, it's what these guys do. Of course, as the story went, most of them died. But any other mission could have resulted in high casualties just as easily. 20/20 hindsight and all that, but I'd rather be assigned that mission and look forward to it maybe stretching out to a month or so of roaming the French countryside for one guy while staying out of the bigger battles.

I disagree that the film tried to have it both ways regarding the subject of war. War is not a black & white affair. Sometimes it's senseless, horrific, and decisions are made that are totally indefensible. At other times nobility and honor show up, and the idea that being a part of something bigger than oneself makes total sense. I like how the film showed both sides of the coin.

Lastly, some people actually have sincere and genuine feelings when they see the American flag and hear some emotional music playing. Maybe they lost a loved one who died in service to our country. Maybe they know someone who works as a firefighter or in law enforcement, and they appreciate people willingly placing themselves in danger for the well being of others. When it comes to something obviously designed to pull on our hearts strings, I get it if it doesn't work for everyone. I don't think that justifies dismissing it as manipulative tripe.

That's just my opinion, sorry for my lack of brevity. It's a movie, and if you don't love it that's okay. I just don't like Goldman's wet blanket approach.