Remember to breathe when watching the first 20 minutes of Private Ryan

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The second scene in Saving Private Ryan may very well be some of the most intense cinematic moments ever. I realized once that scene finally ended that I hadn't breathed for about 15 minutes. Iwas so tired from holding my breath and my stomach was so wrenched from the tension. It is so real and the way it was shot was so creative and well done that it is amazing to watch. When they are storming the beach, watch and notice how the camera goes up and down in the water line just like we would be doing if we were there live. And of course the sound editing makes it sound like you are under the water hearing everything muffled. Very intense. I also especially like the scene where the men are all sitting around in the bombed out city enjoying some personal time. The phonograph is playing a foreign record and it is echoing through the town. The visual of that destroyed city with the audio of this beautiful song playing in the background is very powerful and dark. They are all sharing the moment, enjoying the serenity of it all. Until the faint squeak of a tank's wheels and treads are heard in the distance and then the movie quickly shifts gears again. The suspense in that scene is terrific as we, the viewer, hear these squeaks and deep, deep rumbles for a good few minutes without any visual. Spielberg is just toying with us that whole time. Building in our guts, that same feeling we had in the very beginning of the film. Finally the tank comes in to view and from there a wonderful battle scene ensues. Which leads me to my next and favorite scene, which is horribly terrific. Private Mellish is having hand to hand combat with a German soldier in the room of a bombed out building. You can hear the shouts of both of them coming from outside where Private Upham is cowarding on the stairs and cannot move. The whole time, Mellish is shouting for help and screaming in face of the German in the terror of hand to hand battle. Upham is locked up on the stairs just outside the room, terrified and crying at his inability to move. Mellish seems to gain the upperhand when he pulls his bayonet out ready to finish the German. The German is able to Shift positions and pulls the blade from Mellish's hands and starts to force it down onto Mellish. In a last ditch effort, Mellish pleads for his life, like all of us would do. The realization of death is very clear on his horrified face as he yells at the German that he doesn't have to do this. As the German slowly pushes the blade into his chest life starts to fade and the German says something that sounds like he is almost empathetic of his victim. The final crush is outside on the stairs when he passes Upham without incident. Upham is left crying and one can only imagine Upham years later having to live with that moment forever. Powerful, painful cinema.