Ironically, the same man, Robert Rodat, wrote Both SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and THE PATRIOT. This further supports the idea that the director's opinion on a topic is evident in her or his film, no matter what the screenwriter's thoughts may be. Not to mention the fact that the director usually chooses a script that suits them. Therefor, literary elements reflect the director's perspective.
The setting in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN"S opening scene is a veteran cemetery where we are immediately reminded of the result of war: death. The second scene takes place on Omaha Beach, the battlefield of the tragic D-Day. Right off, we are shown that thousands died in World War II as well as what it was like. We hear soldiers praying for their lives and others praying for an accurate shot to end the life of another. Speilberg does not hesitate to plunge into the reality that in war one is either killing or dying.
In THE PATRIOT our story begins quite differently. We are first introduced to our protagonist, Benjamin (Mel Gibson); in his home as he comically fails to build a rocking chair. Like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, we are introduced to the main focus of the film, but unlike SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the focus is a character not a war. In addition, THE PATRIOT"S main character is first presented as a father and carpenter, while we first meet Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) already involved in the war. The difference between these films is that one uses characters to tell the story of a war, while the other uses a war to tell the story of a character. Characters are major literary elements and they, alone, illustrate the intent of each film. The British "bad guys" in THE PATRIOT are either sinister or ignorant, while the Americans "good guys" are both brave and witty or braver and heroic. The definite line between good and evil encourages us to root for the spunky Americans. .
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, on the other hand, makes an effort to portray its characters as realistic as possible.