The moment
A dying Captain Miller, slumped on a decimated bridge, leans painfully into Private Ryan, the man for whom he would soon sacrifice his own life and earlier those of his team whispers tersely: "James, earn this. Earn it." Fifty years later at Miller's grave the older, teary-eyed Ryan asks his wife one question. "Am I a good man? Tell me that I have been a good man."

Why we get choked
It's more the follow-up that tugs so tautly, for in these finals words three generations take a breath to momentarily consider the sacrifice that this generation made for our liberty.

Next: Ray plays catch with his old man in "Field of Dreams" >

Maybe it's that moment when Wind in his Hair asks Dances with Wolves if he can see that "he is his friend" and tells him that he "will always be [his] friend" that we missed.

Do you agree that this moment is one of the best?