Director Steven Spielberg’s 1998 film, Saving Private Ryan, was a great critical and commercial success. While some reviewers had issues with both the film’s sentimentality and accuracy, the movie was largely acclaimed as one of the best films dealing with World War II ever made.

The film opens with a prologue, in which an elderly man and his family visit an American cemetery in Normandy, France. The time then quickly shifts to June of 1944, and the American troops landing on Omaha Beach. The ensuing scene of battle has been hailed as one of the most realistic and gritty such scenes ever accomplished. Here, the character of Captain Miller is introduced as he leads his team to break through the German defenses.

Back in the United States, General George Marshall – an actual officer at the time –  is informed that three brothers named Ryan have all been killed in the war, and that a fourth brother is still missing in action somewhere in Normandy. Marshall issues orders that this remaining brother be located and returned home immediately, and these orders reach Captain Miller. He then assembles a team of six men from his outfit, along with a soldier fluent in French and German. With virtually no other information regarding Ryan’s location, the men set out to the town of Neuville.

This area is, not unexpectedly, in the throes of battle, and one of Miller’s men is wounded. As there is no safe way to get medical aid, the man dies, setting up the beginnings of dispute among the team. With one fatality already having occurred, the men question the mission’s goal of saving a single soldier.

At Neuville, Miller does identify a Ryan, but he is not the right one. Through further investigations and questioning, Miller finally learns that the Private Ryan they seek is involved in defending a strategically-important bridge deeper into the province. As the team follows this lead, Miller chooses to destroy a German gun site along the way, and another of his men dies as a result of the battle. With two soldiers now dead, Miller’s authority is doubted, and the team more aggressively questions the purpose of their mission. More than ever, to these men, this mass effort to rescue one soldier seems like a goal with too high a price.

When the team finally uncovers Ryan, he is informed of his brothers’ deaths and the orders from the U.S. to get him home. Ryan is, however, unwilling to go and is determined to make a stand with the “brothers” he has left, and defend the bridge. Captain Miller then assumes command of this rogue force, and the Americans face a heavy German onslaught. The battle, in fact, appears to be lost, and American casualties are mounting. Ally aid in the form of Mustang aircraft begins to save the day; not, however, before Miller himself is fatally shot. The bridge is saved and the battle is won, but only a few members of Miller’s original team remain alive.

As Miller dies, he expresses a last command to Ryan, one affirming the sacrifices that have been made on his behalf: “Earn this.” Returning to the present day, it is revealed that the elderly man at the cemetery is, in fact, Ryan. He asks his wife to reassure him that he has indeed lived up to that obligation, and she does. The film ends with Ryan’s saluting of Captain Miller’s grave, and with the audience’s speculation as to how the years of this unique history and sacrifice must have colored Ryan’s life.