Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Saving Private Ryan is my favorite war film. Based in World War II it is the story of one group's struggle to find Private James Ryan and bring him home safely to his mother. James went into the war with his three brothers and when all of his other brothers are killed in action Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) is told to take 8 other men to find Private Ryan. His mother was going to receive the telegram of the deaths of her three sons at the same time, imagine how terrible that would make you feel.  The men did not know if James was even alive anymore, he was stationed behind enemy lines and they had no contact with his unit. The group of men risked their lives traveling through Nazi occupied territory to alert Private Ryan of his brothers deaths and tell him that he can go home.
This movie brings the reality of one of the bloodiest wars that this world has ever seen into the homes of normal people across the world. Over sixty million people were killed in World War II, that was over 2.5% of the world's population at the time. This film shows how these deaths affected families across the world; so many families left without a father, a brother, or son. James' mother had already lost three out of four of her sons to the war and the government did not want her to lose her last son.
Captain Miller and his boys had to fight many intense battles where they had the disadvantage of having a lot less manpower, but they used their wit to come up with intricate strategies that helped them succeed. Seeing people risk their lives for the well-being of others is a beautiful thing.
When James and his mother reunited I was almost in tears, they were both sad that his three brothers were now dead but his mom was ecstatic knowing that James was still alive and in her arms. James was extremely grateful for what the men who saved him had given for the well-being of his family. The end of the movie shows James as an old man at the grave of Captain Miller (who died saving him) and you can feel the emotions echoing out of your T.V. James held onto the memory of what those men did for him for the rest of his life and it completely changed who he was as a person.
Helping people even with the smallest of things can have a huge effect on their life, it can even start a chain reaction. You can make the world a better place by helping others.