Great story, Rocky. Thanks for sharing.

Your experience mirrors mine somewhat. I first watched SPR at a theater in Seattle at a matinee showing. There were lots of vets in the theater (in uniform - Viet Nam/Korea/WWII) and quite a few older folks who would have been alive during WWII. At the end of the movie, nobody moved during the entire final credits and the theater was as quiet as could be. And when I got up, I noticed that there was not a dry eye in the entire crowd. I don't recall any other movie getting that kind of response. Nothing even close to that.

I don't like much of Spielberg's work. I agree that quite a few of his movies are manipulative and sappy. But you have to give the guy credit when it is due. I found the final scene of SPR to be incredibly powerful and moving. I'll admit that I wear my heart on my sleeve, but in order to call this kind of message "manipulative" one would have to be a heartless SOB.

I'm as cynical as the next guy, but I get teary just thinking of it, and looking WWII vets. Perhaps others find it manipulative, but if a movie can make me grateful for the sacrifice of others, I say, manipulate me.

Afreakingmen. I don't even like Spielberg. The guy's persona makes me sick. I was also put off by the huge publicity push on the History Channel, etc. I would have loved to play iconoclast and said the movie sucked. But I fell in love with the movie, under protest. I did, however, think Schindler's List was pretty damn good.

I like a lot of Spielberg movies and there are also some I don't like at all: The Indiana JOnes movies he's done with Lucas are great fun.

I loved Minority Report. There are a lot of "Whodunits?" in Hollywood, but it's the only..."WhosGonnaDoit?" movie I think I've ever seen. Very creative and well done.

Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List are 2 of the best movies I've ever seen. The scene in Schindler's with the girl and the red coat is still burned into my memory.

His productions of Band of Brothers with Tom Hanks are excellent.

Catch Me If You Can is a fun flick.

My neighbor who is a WWII vet hasn't seen Saving Private Ryan. When I asked him why, he told me that he is glad that others have seen it because they can get a glimpse of what it was like, but he didn't need to see it as he had lived and experienced it. In his words "Once was enough."