Abstract:It has been more than sixty years after World War Ⅱ. Human beings cannot forget it not only because it was the most cruel war since the beginning of human history, but also the sum-up and rethinking of it still continues in the world. The political and spiritual “heritage” of it is also influencing the international pattern imperceptibly. After World War Ⅱ, people express the rethinking through different ways in which movie has been the most widely used artistic form in countries of the world. The movies show us the special thoughts of Americans during the war. In just a few decades, a lot of great war movies have been produced, and they enjoy high reputation abroad. This paper takes Saving Private Ryan as an example; through the analysis of the characters and the plots in the movie, the writer wants to express pondering for war, the value of life in war and American culture.

Key Words: American war movie; Saving Private Ryan; the value of life

Table of Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 About American war movies-1

1.2 A brief introduction of Saving Private Ryan-2

2. Literature Review of Saving Private Ryan-3

2.1 Literature review of the movie in domestic research-3

2.2 Literature review of the movie in foreign research-3

3. The Value of Life Reflected in Saving Private Ryan-5

3.1 The value of life reflected in characters-5

3.1.1 General’s decision-5

3.1.2 Caparzo’s choice-5

3.1.3 Miller’s behavior-6

3.1.4 Ryan’s attitude-6

3.2 The value of life reflected in plots-7

3.2.1 The cruel war scenes-7

3.2.2 Life and the mission-7

3.2.3 Expectation and value-8

4. The Inspiration of Saving Private Ryan to Us-9

5. Conclusion-10

References-11

Acknowledgements-12