Wolff rating: EXCELLENT
Plot summary: Soldiers in France during World War II go on a strange mission to pull a private off the front lines.
Biased, pithy comments: I'm not likely to tell anyone anything they don't already know about this movie, but, for completion's sake, I record my thoughts. Essentially, you couldn't make a much better movie about Omaha Beach, and the movie just starts there. At over three hours, the movie seems effortless in its seamless blend of action and introspection (with an emphasis on action). The movie is largely shot point-of-view, and that along with very natural-looking lighting (and some bright film stocks) makes it an intensely personal movie. I would say that ultimately the plot was overwhelmed the visceral thrills and horrors of battle. It ended up like one of those real-life war stories you'd read where, ultimately, the point was the hell and arbitrariness of combat, rather than any traditional narrative structure.
Other Notes: I was haunted by the more gruesome elements of this film for a few days afterwards. I'm in awe of the men who landed on the beaches to rid the world of tyranny, and they have my gratitude.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg