Lets take a look at the parallels shall we faithful readers?

At the beginning of SPR the family goes to visit the graveyard, then it zooms in on old guy Ryan and flashes back to WWII era.
At the beginning of ALOTO the family convinces Geena Davis to visit the Baseball Hall Of Fame and then it zooms in on old gal Henson and flashes back to WWII era.

In the beginning of both films a suit drives up to a farm, kicking off the main storyline.

In both films there is a battle sequence (well in ALOTO the battle is the tryouts, but thats a battle of sorts, right?) that introduces us to the main cast.

In both films a woman breaks down crying when informed that someone was KIA in WWII.

Finally, the most glaringly obvious comparison is Tom Hanks managing a group of people above all odds, starting off distant and alone in both, but growing closer to his group by the end. In both films he has a physical isue (knee in ALOTO and hearing loss due to explosives and hand shaking in SPR) and he ends up dead and the end of both films.

So someones got a lot of explaining to do. Because Vin Diesel pretty much ripped off Rosie O'Donnell verbatim in Saving Private Ryan. Crazed I know, but completely true.