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Saving Private Ryan |
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Saving Private Ryan captured
$215 million in U.S. theaters in 1998. Now Steven Spielberg's World War II
epic has been honorably discharged to home
video. And while the gore factor of its
24-minute opening scene on Omaha Beach
will be less intense on the small screen,
bullet-riddled bodies, severed limbs,
disemboweled torsos, spurting arteries and
decapitations will still upset most
viewers. Should Spielberg's noble intentions
and Ryan's proclaimed "educational
value" sway families? Consider first a few of
the film's non-violent, yet troubling,
particulars.
Foul language includes over 30 f- and
s-words. On the battlefield, soldiers reminisce
about sexual exploits back home (one young
man recalls trying to have sex with an "ugly"
schoolgirl in his father's barn). As for
respecting faith and God, Ryan
wobbles on both sides of the fence. It shows
soldiers praying sincerely, but depicts one
sniper as mentally unbalanced (he prays each
time he kills a man).
As family-night entertainment, Ryan
is a casualty. But as a morality tale
underscoring the horror of armed combat, it
accomplishes its mission brilliantly. It reveres
the ultimate sacrifice made by young soldiers
who paid with their lives for our freedom. The
bottom line? Young children should
never view these atrocities. As for
teens, parents must weigh the significant
negatives—extreme violence at the
forefront—before letting adolescents enter the
killing fields of Saving Private Ryan.
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