1941 and Saving Private Ryan

1941 and Saving Private Ryan are both movies about World War II. Steven Spielberg directed both these movies with different goals to reach the audience.  Though both are about the conflict of WW2, they are very different in their content. 1941 is about the following days after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. After the attack, the American people were shocked at terrified by the aggression the Japanese had taken against them, and panic soon spread through the western states fearing that another Japanese attack would happen. The movie 1941 shows the paranoia that ran rampant throughout the American people. Steven Spielberg approached this topic and turned it into a humorous and comical movie. In 1941, there is a wide variety of goofy characters who approach a not-so-threatening Japanese attack of "Hollywood". Blind fear and misunderstanding leads to the greatest threat to the American people which was themselves. Steven Spielberg wanted to show how hysterical people were about a Japanese invasion which probably would of never happened on the mainland. Saving Private Ryan is entirely different in its content. Tom Hanks plays an American Ranger Captain who storms the beach of Normandy. The first thirty minutes of the movie is a brutal and an eye opening to the reality of war, and the viewers know instantly that this movie doesn't hold anything back to show this. When news that a mother lost three sons to the war, the Captain is ordered to take his squad deep beneath enemy lines to find the fourth son and to bring him home. During the treacherous journey, viewers watch as the mission takes lives and harsh combat to the already battered team. When they finally reach Ryan, most of the original squad including the Captain, die protecting a vital bridge from German control. Ryan is able to survive and live out his life with his family, as he remembers the sacrifices that men took to save him. This movie hits the viewers hard with the reality of sacrifice and brotherly bonds. Steven Spielberg directed and told these two movies perfectly and showed the audiences the different points of war.