War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding

right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its

size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. your host, James Early. Hello and welcome to another episode of key films of World War II in Europe.

This is your host, James Early, as always.

And of course, I'm joined by my good buddy, Sean McIver.

Well, we finally made it to this movie.

This week, we are going to be discussing a film that is an absolute classic,

widely beloved by war film aficionados and just film watchers in general, film buffs, a movie that really changed the way war movies are made and had a huge impact on not just war films, but films in general.

It's considered by many people to be the most or the greatest World War II film ever made and a lot of people consider it to be one

of the greatest films ever made of any genre. You know what I'm talking about folks. This is the

1998 classic Saving Private Ryan. So let's talk about the basics of the film. The length is two

hours at 49 minutes. So it's not a short movie.

It's not quite as long as the longest day, but it's lengthy.

Rotten Tomatoes, the critics absolutely loved it.

94% positive, 95% by the fans.

IMDB gave it an 8.6.

And if you've been listening to this series for long, you know that I always say that kind of eight is your standard.

If you're above eight, you're really good.

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