Steven Spielberg won a second directing Oscar for his incendiary story of a World War Two rescue mission. After barely surviving the D-Day landings, Army captain Tom Hanks leads a small team of US soldiers to find and rescue a young private whose brothers have all been killed in action. Despite its distinctly American bias, Spielberg hits hard with an enthralling, based-on-fact war story. The hellish opening sequence is an astonishing experience in itself.
