Saving Private Ryan Analytical Essay

In September of 1998, Steven Spielberg released one of his most renowned and influential films ever, Saving Private Ryan. This movie details the story of a company from the 2nd Ranger Battalion tasked with saving Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) and bringing him home. Private Ryan, of the 101st Airborne, had landed a few days prior, to the D-Day Invasion, to disrupt enemy communications, transport, and supplies. Tragically, while he was performing this operation, his three brothers had been killed in action. Due to this disaster, the military decided to pull him out and take him home, part of what became the Sole Survivor Policy (BBC News). Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) leads the company through many perils, unto the eventual finding of

The viewer can almost feel the fear of the men who are not able to move, the gruesome death of friends, and even one’s own nerves. Another important factor in the power of this scene on the viewer, is the use of color. The canvas is complete with a washed out palette of grays, blues and browns. These aspects help further immerse the audience into this historically fictitious world. These stark deficiencies not found in most film allow us to see the world in a different light, to show us the awful realities about

Captain Miller: Ninety-four. But that means I've saved the lives of ten times that many, doesn't it?... And that's how simple it is. ...that's how you rationalize making the choice between the mission and the man (Saving Private Ryan).

That left with the moral dilemma on how to deal with a situation he always chose the mission over the man, but now that the mission was a man, his whole worldview started to collapse. Yet, Sergeant Horvath is able respond to the Captain’s remark with this inspiring prose on the truth of their service,

I don't know. Part of me thinks the kid's right. He asks what he's done to deserve this. He wants to stay here, fine. Let's leave him and go home. But then another part of me thinks, what if by some miracle we stay, then actually make it out of here. Someday we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful, shitty mess. Like you said, Captain, maybe we do that, we all earn the right to go home (Saving Private Ryan).

In the end this cinematic phenomena, leaves one’s beliefs rattled, how do we justify our actions or this sacrifice. Do we step back and deny the task we have been given, or do we deny the call to come home even though it is hard, and it seems that there is no purpose in it, and “earn the right to go home.” (Saving Private