Saving Private Ryan

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Template:Infobox Film

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 Academy Award winning film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat.

This film is particularly notable for the intensity of the scenes in its first thirty minutes or so, which depict the Omaha beachhead assault of June 6, 1944. Thereafter it takes a heavily fictionalised route built around the search for a paratrooper of the United States 101st Airborne Division.

Spielberg later pursued his interest in the liberation of Europe with the television mini-series Band of Brothers which he co-produced with Tom Hanks.

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Awards

The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and won five: for Best Director, Best Film Editing (Michael Kahn), Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing.

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Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

After living through the hellish assault of Omaha beach on D-Day, US Army Ranger captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) is given a new assignment: to find Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon). Ryan parachuted in as a member of the 101st Airborne Division, which was scattered widely across Normandy. Ryan's three brothers were recently killed in action and his mother was to be notified of all three deaths at the same time. In the movie, General George Marshall personally decides to send a squad to bring him back for her sake.

The protagonist through most of the movie is Captain Miller. Miller is a veteran soldier, having seen action in North Africa and Italy prior to D-Day. Miller conceals his civilian profession of schoolteacher and his civilian background from the men under his command. The uncovering of Miller's background becomes a sub-plot of the film in as much as the men have a monetary pool on his origins, which he steadfastly refuses to reveal. The subtext of this refusal appears to be based on Miller's belief that his civilian occupation was part of a 'different life' and has no place in combat.

The scene in which he reveals his former occupation is one where his squad members appear ready to violate the 'civilized rules' of warfare and execute a German prisoner. Miller's revelation of his civilian past injects a reminder of their lives outside the war; 'civilized' behavior reasserts itself and the prisoner set free. However, in two ironic twists, it is this same German soldier who, in the heat of battle, recognises and shoots Miller at the end of the movie and who, in turn, is vengefully shot dead at point blank range by the only man, Corporal Upham, in Miller's squad who had opposed the execution of the prisoner, underscoring the potential 'costs' of ethical behavior and demonstrating how the experience of warfare readily erodes our sense of right and wrong.

Under intensely difficult circumstances, Miller displays a decisive and courageous manner to his soldiers - his suppressed nervousness is communicated to them only by an occasional shaking of his right hand, which to his consternation he cannot control.

Eventually, at the cost of two members of their unit, Miller and his men find Ryan defending a vital bridge with a handful of men from the 101st. Miller breaks the news of his brothers' deaths to him and tells him that he has orders to take him home. Ryan is defiant, wishing to stay with his squad because they are "the only brothers I have left." In fact, he does not think he has done anything unusual to "deserve" the reprieve Miller is offering him. Miller accepts Ryan's decision and confers with his sergeant. Subsequently he and Sgt. Horvath decide their squad will remain and Miller takes command of the undermanned unit Ryan belongs to.

Because of his inspired leadership, the bridge over the Merderet River in the (fictional) village of Ramelle is saved, but only two of Miller's men survive the ferocious German assault. Ryan also survives. Miller is fatally wounded. His last words to Ryan are "earn this"; earlier on in the action, Miller had quipped to Sergeant Horvath that Ryan better be worth all the trouble they were going through to find him. Before the attack Ryan had asked rhetorically "Why me? What have I done to deserve this?", hence Miller's last words to Ryan.

The final scene shows an elderly Ryan with his family some 50 years later at Miller's grave in Normandy. Before saluting the grave, an emotional Ryan expresses his hope that Miller will regard the life Ryan has tried to lead as a "good man" as enough to repay the debt he owes Miller and his squad for their sacrifice.

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Historical background

The real "Ryan" was Sgt. Frederick (Fritz) Niland, who, with some other members of the 101st, was inadvertently dropped too far inland. They eventually made their own way back to their unit at Carentan, where the Chaplain, Lt. Col. Father Francis Sampson, told Niland about the death of his three brothers, two at Normandy and one in the Far East.

Under the US War Department's Sole Survivor Policy, brought about following the death of five Sullivan brothers serving on the same ship, Fr. Sampson arranged passage back to Britain and thereafter to his parents, Augusta and Michael Niland, in Tonawanda, New York. There was no behind-the-lines rescue mission, his mother was not a widow, although it is believed that she did receive all the telegrams at the same time (Ambrose, Stephen E. 'D-Day',Simon & Schuster, 1997). Additionally, the brother believed to be killed in the Far East turned out to have been captured and later returned home. Fr. Francis Sampson wrote about Niland and the story of the 101st, in his 1958 book, Look Out Below123 (ISBN 1877702005).

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Main cast

See Cast of Saving Private Ryan for a more comprehensive cast list.

  • Tom Hanks - Captain John H. Miller, a former school teacher from Pennsylvania who keeps his life private from his squad.
  • Edward Burns - Private Richard Reiben, from Brooklyn. BAR Gunner and a wisecracking hothead trying to understand the purpose of their mission. Survives the final battle.
  • Tom Sizemore - Technical Sergeant Michael Horvath, M1 Carbine Rifleman and Miller's number two guy.
  • Matt Damon - Private James Francis Ryan, Paratrooper Rifleman
  • Jeremy Davies - Corporal Timothy E. Upham -- not originally in Miller's company, he is attached to the squadron by Miller to function as a language translator. Also survives the final battle which is where he makes his first and only kill.
  • Adam Goldberg - Private Stanley Mellish, a Jewish Rifleman , killed in hand to hand combat.
  • Nathan Fillion - Minnesota Private Ryan, Rifleman

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Filming locations

Locations for the film include:

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2004 Broadcast controversy

The film was the focus of some controversy leading up to a Veterans Day 2004 broadcast of the film by ABC. A significant number of ABC affiliates decided to preempt the network's broadcast due to concerns of repercussions from the FCC due to the film's depiction of violence and profanity. Although the film had been broadcast by all ABC affiliates in two prior years, the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy and the subsequent FCC response led at least 66 stations to choose not to broadcast it, including:

The affiliates which chose not to broadcast the film represented over a third of the network's potential viewing audience; besides Sinclair, some ABC stations owned by Cox Television, Belo, Hearst-Argyle, McGraw-Hill, and EW Scripps all chose to preempt the film. In its stead, affiliates showed alternative films, such as Hoosiers, Far & Away, and Return to Mayberry. Other stations showed infomercials, while other affiliates showed their own tributes to Veterans Day.

Months later, the FCC released a statement that stated the affiliates would not have been fined if they presented the film.

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Influence

While researching the film, director Steven Spielberg met the military historian Stephen E. Ambrose. Spielberg subsequently adapted Ambrose's 1992 book Band of Brothers into a television miniseries for HBO, which premiered on September 9, 2001. The series was closely related to Saving Private Ryan, with a similarly mature style, a frank approach to battlefield violence, and a desaturated color scheme and cinéma vérité-style cinematography. Tom Hanks, star of Ryan, co-produced and even directed one episode.

The film's realistic approach to battlefield action influenced subsequent war films, notably Ridley Scott's 2001 Black Hawk Down and Jean-Jacques Annaud's 2001 Enemy at the Gates.

The amphibious assault and other battles shown in the movie have inspired many PC and video games, such as the WW2-themed Battlefield 1942, the Half-Life modification Day of Defeat, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Frontline, and Call of Duty 2. Several attempted to re-create the famous D-day landing. Although only Omaha Beach was portrayed in Saving Private Ryan, these games often include elements from another D-day assault point, Juno Beach, which had a higher sea wall and heavy gun batteries. The games Conker's Bad Fur Day and Conker: Live and Reloaded include a chapter called "It's War!" and a multiplayer mode, both of which parody Saving Private Ryan. The Call of Duty series copies the slow-motion action and muted audio used occasionally in the film when an explosion occurs near the player.

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Trivia

  • This is one of three Tom Hanks movies, (along with Forrest Gump and Apollo 13) where socks play a role in the plot. The G.I.s use their spare socks to hold the components of sticky bombs that they improvise in the field.
  • Noted Star Trek actor James Doohan, who served with the Royal Canadian Artillery and was wounded at Normandy on D-Day, was one of many veterans who thanked Spielberg for not holding back on the intensely violent scenes of the Normandy landing.
  • According to Paul Giamatti in an Entertainment Weekly profile, his management and agents advised him not to take the part in Saving Private Ryan since they felt the part was not big enough. But Giamatti insisted on taking the role.
  • Several of the film's younger stars including Edward Burns, Barry Pepper and Giovanni Ribisi as well as Hanks endured several days of grueling "boot camp" training and work on the film set to prepare for their roles. As a result, they all agreed to call it quits and approached Tom Hanks about participating in their stand. But Hanks refused and warned his younger co-stars that they would be making a big mistake if they were to quit the film. They subsequently followed his advice and the film became a smash hit and major awards contender. Also, actor Jeremy Davies, who plays Cpl Upham, was kept out of the "Boot Camp" training so his fellow actors would let their resentment for him shine through their performances.
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Historical Inaccuracies

  • In reality, it took weeks rather than hours for casualty news to reach headquarters.
  • US Rangers were landed on D-Day by the Royal Navy in LCA-type landing craft rather than the more famous Higgins boats shown in the film.
  • Tiger tanks of the Waffen SS did not serve in Normandy during the timeframe portrayed by this movie. The two Tiger tanks used in filming were actually converted Russian-designed T34/85s formerly in Yugoslavian service. This is made clear by their wheels. Real Tigers had interleaved wheels. These Tigers clearly had the T-34 suspension. Obviously, Tigers were so rare that another tank had to be substituted.
  • Tiger tanks in reality had a MG34 mounted in front to defend against infantry
  • The fictional battle scenario in the end of the movie depicts SS-Panzergrenadiers from the elite 2nd SS Das Reich which were historically not engaged in the front lines until July. The SS soldiers also have an incorrect mixture of weapons and are depicted in a militarily unsound fashion, both done in the name of dramatic license.
  • At the end of the film, a German Tiger tank is seen being destroyed by American P-51 Mustang fighters. In reality these were high altitude fighters, little suited to the close air support role. On and around D-Day allied air to ground support would have been carried out by American P-47 Thunderbolts or more likely R.A.F. rocket firing Hawker Typhoons.
  • German soldiers of both the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS are depicted in the film with shaved heads, not a style popular at the time.
  • In the Ryan farmhouse scene, the camera pans across the room. A telephone is visible, hanging on the wall. That type of phone did not appear until at least the 1950s.
  • In the Belltower in Ramelle where Jackson and Parker are shooting away, there is one scene where you see Parker running out of .30 caliber ammunition. One second the MG uses a belt with ammunition; in the close up, you see the more modern disintegrating link.
  • On Omaha Beach, the anti-tank obstacles made of wood are facing the water, when in reality they were facing the beachhead.
  • The head-on assault of the machine gun position required such fast manuevers that the squad dropped their gear to lose excess weight. Medic Wade is also seen dropping most of his gear. Given the fact that Wade was an extremely valuable asset to the squad, and even if he did not drop his gear, the speed of the assault would not allow him time to treat a fallen soldier, why didn't he remain behind with Upham? It is illogical that he would participate in the assault completely unarmed.
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See also

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External links and references

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de:Der Soldat James Ryan es:Salvar al soldado Ryan fr:Il faut sauver le soldat Ryan it:Salvate il soldato Ryan he:להציל את טוראי ריאן nl:Saving Private Ryan ja:プライベート・ライアン no:Redd menig Ryan pl:Szeregowiec Ryan pt:Saving Private Ryan sl:Reševanje vojaka Ryana fi:Pelastakaa sotamies Ryan sv:Rädda menige Ryan

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