I have just watched the show Saving Private Ryan for the 3rd time in my life. When I watched it back a few years ago, All I thought about it was its super boring. Its full of crap. The only reason I watched it was because of the first 30 minutes of the show. According to reviewers then, they said that this show re-enacted the famous battle on the beaches of Omaha with great accuracy. They said that the realistic battles of war were shown in the first 30 minutes where you get all the blood and gore you'll ever need to last you a lifetime. You see intestines flying, blood splurting out of wounds, injured soldiers crying and screaming for their mothers, and of course, bodies being blown apart by german "stick" grenades. I remember it is also the first ever movie to get an NC-16 rating at the time of release. I was however only 15 then and could not watch the show. Well, basically this story is unique because it investigates the different characters of ordinary people in war. First up, we have our war hero called Captain James Miller (Tom Hanks) followed by his ever loyal 2nd-in-command Sergeant Mike Horvath, one sniper called Private Jackson, a translator called Corporal Upham and of course, Private Caparzo played by Vin DIesel. The story starts out by introducing us to Captain Hames Miller leading his small squad of soldiers alongside the rest of the Allied Troops up a narrow strip of beach against a German Fortress. The historic battle can be found Here. Basically, Captain Miller was the hero and led his unit in the successful capture of the German Fortress. However, the attack on the beach left a particular Private Ryan dead. In the story, this Ryan was the 3rd of 4 brothers to have died in the war and their mother would receive their death notices on the very same day. As the story would have it, Captain Miller and his men were dispatched to bring back the forth Ryan from battle (hence the name Saving Private Ryan) behind enemy lines. In the course of the story, the show investigated the various characters of war. Private Caparzo was the first one to show his compassion during the war when he obliged a German couple to take their child with them. Of course, this was against the regulations of the unit and as the show would have it, in the course of arguement, Caparzo was shot by a sniper. Here, Private Jackson showed his immense skill as a sniper which he believed were a gift from god. Its very interesting here to see how he talks to himself about god giving him strength and the power needed to kill his enemies. I'm not sure but its almost like his contradicting himself. He believes in god but I am not very pleased when he asks god for strength to kill using his god's gift. Anyway, perhapes this is one way soldiers motivate themselves on the battlefield. Private Jackson took down the sniper easily and yes, the show went on..without Vin Diesel (darn..). The next sign of compassion came when Captain Miller's group attempted to take out a German Machine Gun post. They suffered one casualty again and it caused them alot of anguish. The downed soldier was bleeding profusely from a bullet wound and despite the unit's valient efforts to save him, he died in their arms. The only German survivor (i'll call him Mr X) managed to win over Private Upham (the translator) while digging a hole in the ground (I'm sure the hole was Mr X's own grave). Apparaently, Captain Miller wanted Mr X shot but Private Upham intervened and preached about how it is wrong to kill a soldier who has already surrendered...and so on. Captain Miller reluctantly agreed to let Mr X leave and as usual, this caused some unrest within the group. Here is the most important part of the show to me. Captain Miller told his unit his own life story. He said that he was a school teacher in a very small town. He said that he has changed alot since the war started. So much in fact that he wondered if "his wife would even recognise him anymore". Actually, this is very interesting. A school teacher. A person whose supposed to be educated and who supposedly isn't the fighting sort is now a Captain. A hero and a great leader. Really, it goes to show that in a war, everything changes. Even the person whom you think you are may just be a fake. I'm not sure. But alot of people would have said that if ever they were in a war, they would stand and fight and die for their country. But when you are holding a gun, and you come under fire from bullets that would tear you apart, fear really steps in. And I think alot of people would then show their true characters. Some would turn out to be like Private Upham and me. A person who cowers behind cover whenever there is fighting going on. A person who will always stand at the back of the platoon. A person who does not dare to fire his darn rifle. Most others, will be the average soldier. Just tagging along but not showing anything spectacular. They will not risk their lives but they will not hide in fear like me either. And then, there will be a group of people who were just naturally born to lead. They may be quiet and soft spoken in real life but in the face of danger, they would rise just as Captain Miller did. Thats why I found this show so interesting. Of course, every soldier would have to battle his own principles in a war. But its interesting the different perspectives soldiers use to battle their morals. Captain Miller feels incompetent as a Captain because according to him, 94 men have died under his command. He views this 94 men who could have lived but died in order to protect him and his unit and the rest of the troops. But he told himself..if one man under me dies so that I could protect 2, 3 or even 10 times that number, would it justify the death of 1 man? And of course, our Private Jackson aka superstar sniper believes that god has granted him the gift to take another man's life. Sergeant Mike believes that he is just doing his god-damned job so that he can just return home to a better world. Whatever their reasons, its very evident that war is horrible. Of course, the end of the story has Captain Miller, his whole squad (whats left of it) and another small squad of airborne soldiers (including Private Ryan) defending a bridge against German assault. Well, a story is a story. Private Upham showed how he is a major coward by hiding behind pillars and in houses just watching the enemy pass when he has a very very clear shot at them with his rifle. He was even supposed to support the various soldiers by delivering ammunition to them...a task which he failed and resulted in the deaths of many people. Of course, Mr X showed up and killed Captain Miller and another of Captain Miller's soldier in a really really disgusting knife fight. In the end, every single personal who defended the bridge that day died save for our coward and Private Ryan. The morale of the story? Showing compassion in war does not mean that people will show compassion to you too. In fact, it kills you. Well, to end this entry, I wanted to share a little dream I had earlier this year. I dreamt that for some reason, Singapore actually got into a war. The dream is super weird but it felt extremely real to me. My platoon mates and I were hiding behind this sandbag barricade and we were under barrage from massive enemy fire. I felt really really scared. All I could hear around me were the sound of bullets hitting the sandbags. I even wondered whether the sandbag would actually give way under all those bullets. But the sacriest thing was as I was hiding, my platoon mates stood up one by one to fire back at the enemy. All around me, I could see them dying. I couldn't see their faces but I could hear their screams. And then, I was the only one left alive behind the sandbag barricade. I had my M16 clutched in my hands. I was very very scared. And then, someone tapped me on my back, and I woke up. I'm not sure. But it felt extremely real to me. For the whole of that day, I really felt very very afraid of dying. Well, maybe it does sound stupid and all but hey..dreams sometimes do reflect how we feel right? Haha