Top 6 World War II movies ever made

By Wei Jia: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, September 6, 2015

"Saving Private Ryan"

"Saving Private Ryan"

When Stephen Spielberg tried his hand at making a movie about the Normandy landing, a turning point in World War II, the result was anything but unremarkable.

In the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, where a blizzard of bullets and shelling scythe down U.S. troops caught helpless at Omaha Beach, the audience is plunged right in the midst of battle and initiated into its full terror. Using hand-held cameras, Spielberg’s movie unflinchingly follows the American soldiers as they inch their way, amid the severed limbs and bloodied bodies of their comrades, towards a cliff studded with German fortifications that rabidly spew murderous gunfire.

The first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, which is the most unforgettable part of the movie and one of the most realistic and visceral battle scenes in the history of cinema, is worth the admission fees alone. Nonetheless, the main story of the film, which involves eight soldiers sneaking behind enemy lines to get one soldier safely home, is engrossing in a quieter, more profound way.

The illogical order given by the men led by Captain Miller, played by Tom Hanks, to risk eight lives for the sake of one, doesn’t look too absurd if you consider the worth of the apparent suicide mission in terms of sacrifices made for a higher cause. The effort to spare one mother the anguish of having all her children dead fighting for their country is in itself both a validation and rationalization of the sacrifices made by all American soldiers in the war against Nazi Germany. Just like the U.S. troops suffering heavy losses during Operation Overlord on June 6th, 1945, Miller’s mission can be seen as the epitome of all sacrifices made for the sake of fellow countrymen back home, which is one of the most compelling reasons for soldiers to risk their lives in a war and where clear-headed numerical calculations of lives lost and lives saved do not always apply.