Given the intense discussion this thread had generated on the list, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the serious narrative flaws in the film. The most troubling of which is the structure of the flashback. While the close-up of the as yet unidentified old geezer at the beginning of the film cut to the close-up of Tom Hanks' character would lead us to believe that he is the narrator of the film, we find out at film's end that it is Private Ryan, himself, standing in the cemetery. By that time we know that Ryan was never on the Beach on June 6th, that he parachuted behind enemy lines. So who is narrating the Omaha Beach sequence and all that transpires before Ryan enters the picture? I also agree with some commentators that Ryan remains a cipher. We certainly don't know whether he has lead a good life, indeed, we find out much less about him that about our school teacher hero. Chris Horak Jan-Christopher Horak Director Archives & Collections 100 Universal City Plaza, 503-LL Universal City, Ca. 91608 1 818 777 7571 1 818 866 5120 (fax) [log in to unmask] ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite