I'll buck the trend and say that I thought the film was supposed to evoke the personal experience of the common foot soldier on a mission in the context of a major world event.  It may not perfectly resonnate the actual experience of every single person who was there themself.  But I think it very successfully presented the experience for people two generations later who wanted to know more about what it would have been like to be there, especially if they had  ancestors who were.

I'm with Sundiszno on this one. I think it was over-rated. I've talked to people I know, among them family members, who served during World War II and they felt there were too many things in the film that were unrealistic; in some cases, even ridiculous. Speaking as someone who wasn't even a gleam in my father's eye during World War II and reacted to it as a film rather than a documentary, I felt it suffered too much from Spielberg's habitual cuteness and I thought the characters were way too simplistic and stereotypical. Not without cinematic value (Spielberg is a master craftsman when it comes to the technical parts of constructing a film), certainly, but should be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to historical authenticity.

I've rated this movie before somewhere else on RIA. I think that overall it's overrated. Great, gripping opening scene storming the beach, but I found too many flaws - implausible situations (giving the least reliable guy the ammo to ditribute under fire; waiting until just before the Germans arrive to load or check weapons, etc.), using at least one film segment twice (a scene where the guys are walking along against the skyline, which incidentally had one guy more than there were supposed to be because one had already been killed), an improbable left-handed sniper who miraculously managed to fire at least eight rounds out of an '03 without reloading or topping off, the German SP gun that managed, also miraculously, to elevate its gun enugh to blast the sniper out of the bell tower while positioned at the base of the tower - come on! There were at least a couple of other things like that which irritated me. On the positive side, for the most part the equipment was correct for the period, which is somewhat of a rarity in WWII films these days. I prefer The Longest Day to SPR.

SPR is an unforgettable film experience- but I can list several movies that are 5 stars and are better films. Not taking anything away from SPR, it's a good (but not great) film. It is an average movie with two incredible (and I mean incredible) battle scenes.

A harrowing movie, particularly the first half hour which makes me distinctly uncomfortable every time I see it. Fine performances all around, and skilled camera work and direction.

The opening is the most harrowing half-hour of war ever brought to the movie screen. Unfortunately the rest of the film, though good, never quite comes up to the level of this unbelievably intense beginning.

Terrible, angst-ridden, excessivly-violent, nihilistic war flick with no redeeming value.