The first time I saw Saving Private Ryan, I couldn't watch the whole thing. I got up in the first 15 minutes and had to leave the theater. Now don't get me wrong, I love blood and guts just as much as the next person, but this movie was unlike any Hollywood horror flick I had ever seen. This was a real movie, too real for me. It was a raw, in your face, no sugar coating kind of movie. My second attempt to watch it failed, miserably. Every time I glanced at the screen someone's appendages were being blown off. I tried to sit and watch, but my stomach would turn and I felt the popcorn literally rising in my throat. Before my third attempt to watch Saving Private Ryan, I decided to research this film a little. I have always heard of D-Day and learned about it in school, but I didn't actually know much at all. D-Day, which is also known as Operation Overload, was the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Thousands and thousands of men lost their lives in WWII; and the men who survived have the horrified memories and images branded into their heads. I had the information and gained the mindset and was ready to watch this movie. I sat and watched the whole thing, beginning to end, and at the end I was stunned, horrified, and appreciated that I was able to see a piece of history that didn't exist in my generation. In my critique, I wish to point out the uses of realism, formalism and others to express why in my eyes Saving Private Ryan is a complete masterpiece.
             In critiquing Spielberg's movie, I realized that you can not base a movie only on realism. A good movie has got to have some kind of character or formalism to carry the viewer through the realistic scenes. The film begins with the historical accuracy of the Omaha beach landing. The event begins with armed soldiers being tossed around by the ocean. They are all shaking, praying and throwing up; historically, the soldiers were given seasickness pills, but...