I had forgotten about the Deer Hunter. Great film. You are right, it does not get shown or talked about enough.

You do make a good point about the pro-miliarism stance of Private Ryan, but I'm not sure that is a bad thing. WWII was a different era and different circumstances. I think it is very important to remember the sacrifices soldiers have made in ALL wars. Private Ryan does show that. I did not find that it glorified the tragedy of war, but I do know that there are many militarisic "groupies" that will get their juices flowing when they see something like that. For the majority of us, I don't think the film was as much of a recruiting film as it was a reminder of the sacrifice that so many have made for the country they love.   Maybe the answer is showing a double feature - Private Ryan and Deer Hunter or M*A*S*H*!