steven spielberg's second epic film on world war ii is an unquestioned masterpiece of film . 
spielberg , ever the student on film , has managed to resurrect the war genre by producing one of its grittiest , and most powerful entries . 
he also managed to cast this era's greatest answer to jimmy stewart , tom hanks , who delivers a performance that is nothing short of an astonishing miracle . 
for about 160 out of its 170 minutes , " saving private ryan " is flawless . 
literally . 
the plot is simple enough . 
after the epic d-day invasion ( whose sequences are nothing short of spectacular ) , capt . john miller ( hanks ) and his team are forced to search for a pvt . 
james ryan ( damon ) , whose brothers have all died in battle . 
once they find him , they are to bring him back for immediate discharge so that he can go home . 
accompanying miller are his crew , played with astonishing perfection by a group of character actors that are simply sensational . 
barry pepper , adam goldberg , vin diesel , giovanni ribisi , davies , and burns are the team sent to find one man , and bring him home . 
the battle sequences that bookend the film are extraordinary . 
literally . 
there is nothing in film that has ever been recorded that will prepare you for the sheer onslaught of terrorizing violence in the film's first 20 minutes . 
spielberg films almost the entire movie without music , leaving it up to the characters to generate emotion , and they do to perfection . 
the sequences in france , all of them , beginning with the battle and ending with the battle , are fabulous , especially the dialogues between the men as they walk through the hills and countrysides , trying to save private ryan . 
there are no words i can use to describe the true horror and power of these sequences . 
this is what coppola was looking for in " apocalypse now " , but couldn't create . 
the sheer horror of these sequences all but condemn war . 
the performance by hanks as the leader of this gang is also extraordinary . 
he is head and shoulders above of the rest of the actors in the world , with his comic timing , dramatic flair , his quiet emotion that stirs an entire nation to tears . 
hanks is this country's finest actor , and he proves it here . 
however , spielberg almost destroys his own masterpiece . 
with a chance to make it the one of the greatest films of all time , spielberg creates 10 minutes of purely worthless film . 
the sequence involving army chief-of-stafff george marshall and mrs . ryan is decent , but doesn't hold up to the rest of the film , relying on wartime cliches to power it . 
but that is forgivable . 
what isn't is the bookends of the film , the cemetary sequences . 
the first one is quite good , a decent introduction into the lives of these men . 
the last sequence is atrocious . 
the forced emotion , accompanied by a ridiculous piece of music , is simply horrible compared to the rest of the magical film . 
these flaws are what downgrade " ryan " from the greatest film of our era , to the greatest war film of our era . 
spielberg should have trusted his own material , and he should have trusted hanks to deliver the most chilling line of the movie , to end his masterpiece right there . 
the use of the flag , though patriotic , is in contrast to the movie's theme . 
the power of the bulk of the film , however , is astonishing . 
spielberg has truly made a wondrous work of art , that persists even after first viewing of the film , is extraordinary . 
this is the film of the year .