RicOlie_2 said:

In Saving Private Ryan (which I need to finish watching some time--I started it at a friend's house and never finished), the gore is not shown just for shock value. It shows the horror of war rather than glorifying violence and making it look fun and exciting like most war shows do.

Don't bother with finishing watching it then, as elements of the second half very moch glorify war, which was a bit wierd IMO. If you've seen the shocking beach assault then you've seen the best that film has to offer.