I found the opening walk through the graveyard in Saving Pvt. Ryan to be more moving than the beach assault

I think it's often true that what hits you hardest isn't what you expect. It's the "little" details that are most real, what's left (that we live with) rather than a detailed depiction of what actually happened.

I'll always remember the bit at the end of the film Oh What A Lovely War where a soldier lies down to sleep alongside his comrades on a grassy hill. The place where each soldier lies becomes a grave with a white cross; then the camera slowly zooms out, to reveal line after line of identical white crosses, continuing to fill the screen but steadily becoming smaller and smaller. More and more crosses appear, until your ability to comprehend what you see collapses.

Needless to say, it's a real cemetery that was shown.

That scene set me blubbing helplessly, and amongst (anti-)war films remains unique on that count.