28 Years Later, This Remains the Most Near-Perfect WWII Movie of All Time

People still can't get enough of this classic, and that's for a good reason

War movies are a genre that will never go out of style. Beyond the action they show on screen, they are also used in exploring the human condition and how it is affected by violence. War — real or fictional — is never an easy thing, especially for those involved on the frontlines. Over the years, films like Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and Oliver Stone's Platoon have touched on these very issues. War is a machine, and those it churns out suffer from its machinations.

Recently, we covered the 10 best films about WWII, but there is one film in particular that stands out thanks to director Steven Spielberg's unflinching look at the invasion of Normandy.

Largely considered one of the great war movies ever made, Saving Private Ryan has made a home in the hearts of many, where it continues to resonate even 28 years on. The film is inspired by the real-life events of Sergeant Frederick Niland and follows a group of U.S. soldiers as they work to rescue paratrooper Private Ryan (Matt Damon), the sole survivor of his brothers after three were killed in action, and send him home.

Spielberg's attention to detail provides the action, but it is his storytelling that sets Saving Private Ryan apart from the rest. Rather than focusing solely on war itself, the film chooses to focus instead on the humans who must trudge through it. Their mission, as ordered by their superiors, is to locate and bring Private Ryan home — a task that forces the squad to risk their lives within a theater of war.

Saving Private Ryan is more than just a history lesson

The film opens with a depiction of the Omaha Beach landings, a staged, roughly twenty-four-minute sequence that condenses aspects of the real multi-wave assault on June 6, 1944. Still widely considered one of the best war scenes in film history, it is a brutal but necessary look into the reality of war, and how many soldiers especially perished early on in this battle. And even nearly three decades on, it continues to be a history lesson for newer and older generations alike.

After the invasion, we are introduced to our heroes. Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) is the soldier who has been ordered to find Private James Francis Ryan and bring him home; Miller assembles a team consisting of Horvath (Tom Sizemore), Upham (Jeremy Davies), Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Reiben (Edward Burns), Jackson (Barry Pepper), Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), and Caparzo, played by a very early-in-his-career Vin Diesel.

Their journey is dangerous, but Spielberg intercuts it with moments of humanity and decency. There is a depth to Saving Private Ryan that has helped it stand out over the years, which is why it remains a near-perfect film. The way it explores loss and grief is still relevant, and probably always will be. After all, films today still focus on the difficulties of losing not just comrades but brothers in war.

We aren't treated only to hours of men shooting at each other, or artillery shells exploding in the blood-soaked sand. Saving Private Ryan expresses emotions in ways that sheer violence does not, and cannot. Every person, from Miller to Ryan, is a victim. The system they are in is designed to destroy, but still, they all find ways to be human. That is the most important takeaway from this film, and why it endures.