"and another I rank right there with it is Band of Brothers."
I rank "Band" higher, just because it doesn't focus on the sapppy "make it count" forced Hollywood emotional ending of "SPR", which was a fantastic movie to that point.
I watched most of "Band" this past weekend and agree that it's outstanding.
There is no comparing "Band of Brothers" and "Saving Private Ryan." SPR was fiction, with D-Day as the backdrop.
"Band of Brothers" was based on real events, and the real men behind those events. The scenes at Bastogne were just as gut-wrenching as the opening in SPR.