Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 Academy-Award-winning film set in World War II, directed by
Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat.
This film is particularly notable for the intensity of its opening 24 minutes, which depict the Omaha beachhead assault of June 6, 1944.
Thereafter it presents a fictional search for a paratrooper of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division. While this part of the plot is a work of fiction, the premise is very
loosely based on the real-life case of the Niland Brothers. Saving Private Ryan
was well received by audiences and garnered considerable critical acclaim, winning several awards for film, cast and crew as well
as earning significant returns at the box office.
Plot
An elderly veteran (Harrison Young) and his family visits the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Normandy, France, where he collapses
to one knee in front of a gravestone, overcome with emotion. Gradually, he recalls the beginning of the invasion of Normandy, with waves of American landing craft deploying soldiers onto Omaha Beach against hordes of German gun infantry and machine gun nests. Of the soldiers who survive the
initial landing, Captain John H. Miller of the 2nd Ranger Battalion patches together a makeshift squad of soldiers and slowly
penetrates the staunch German positions, opening a small foothold on Omaha Beach and slowly overwhelming their defenses.
In the United States, a secretary typing death notification letters in the U.S. War Department discovers that three of the four brothers of the Ryan family have
all died within days of each other and that their mother will receive all three notices on the same day. She relays this
information up the chain of command before it reaches the desk of Gen. George C. Marshall, who discovers that
the fourth son, Pfc. James Francis Ryan of the 1st Battalion 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a paratrooper, missing in action somewhere in
France. He immediately orders that he be found and sent home immediately.
In France, Miller receives orders from Lieutenant Colonel Walter Anderson regarding Private Ryan, and assembles an eight-man
squad to lead behind enemy lines, tasked with finding Ryan and returning him alive to Allied forces. With no information about
Ryan's whereabouts, Miller and his men move from town to town, rendezvousing with other American units and trading information
while venturing deeper into enemy territory. Following several false leads and the loss of several soldiers in his squad, Miller
locates a friend of Ryan’s, who reveals that Ryan is defending a strategically-important bridge over the Merderet River in the
town of Ramelle.
The unit suffers more casualties on their journey, finally arriving on the outskirts of Ramelle where they destroy a German
reconnaissance unit with the help of several American soldiers, one of them Private James Ryan. The unit regroups in Ramelle,
filled with scattered American paratroopers, where Captain Miller informs Ryan of his brothers' deaths and of their mission to
bring him home. Ryan adamantly refuses to leave his makeshift unit, demanding that he remain to help defend the bridge against an
impending German counter-attack. Miller reluctantly agrees and merges his orders his unit to help defend the bridge in the
upcoming battle, setting up reinforcements with what little manpower they have and digging in for the impending assault.
The Germans arrive with hordes of infantry and several tank and armored vehicles. Miller leads the spirited defense but
despite inflicting significant casualties, the American unit slowly begins folding, pushed back by the superior firepower and
numbers of the Germans. The team retreats across the bridge, suffering further casualties and wounds, pursued by gunfire and an
advancing German tank across the bridge. Just as it finishes crossing, an overhead Allied P-51
Mustang destroys the tank, followed by more Mustangs who assault the town and rout the remaining German forces, narrowly
ahead of the Allied soldiers flooding the streets. James Ryan kneels next to Miller just as he dies.
Back in the present, James Ryan, now the elderly veteran with his family, stands before Captain Miller's grave, and
salutes.
Development
In 1994, Robert Rodat saw a monument in Putney Corners,
New Hampshire, dedicated to eight brothers who died during the American Civil War. Inspired by the story, Rodat did some research and decided to write a similar
story set in World War II. Rodat's script was submitted to producer Mark Gordon, who liked
the story but only accepted the text after 11 redrafts. After Spielberg and Tom Hanks joined the project, a shooting date was set
for June 27, 1997.[1] Before filming began, several of the film’s stars, including Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin
Diesel and Giovanni Ribisi as well as Tom Hanks, endured several days of “boot
camp” training and work on the film set to prepare for their roles.[2]
Spielberg had already demonstrated his interest in World War II themes with the films 1941, Empire of the Sun, Schindler's List, and the Indiana Jones series. Spielberg
later co-produced the World War II themed television mini-series Band of Brothers with Tom Hanks. When asked about this by American Cinematographer, Spielberg said, “I think that World War
II is the most significant event of the last 100 years; the fate of the Baby Boomers and even Generation X was linked to the
outcome. Beyond that, I’ve just always been interested in World War II. My earliest films, which I made when I was about 14 years
old, were combat pictures that were set both on the ground and in the air. For years now, I’ve been looking for the right World
War II story to shoot, and when Robert Rodat wrote Saving Private Ryan, I found it.”[3]
Although the D-Day scenes were shot in Curracloe, Wexford, Ireland, some shooting was done in Normandy, for the
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer and Calvados. Other scenes were filmed in
English locations such as a former British Aerospace factory in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, London, Thame Park, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.
Production was due to also take place in Seaham, County
Durham, but Government restrictions disallowed this.[4]
Historical inspiration
While researching the screenplay, Rodat came across the story of Sgt. Frederick (Fritz)
Niland, who, with some other members of the 101st Airborne, was inadvertently dropped too far inland. They eventually made
their way back to their unit at Carentan, where the chaplain, Lieutenant Colonel Father Francis Sampson, apocryphally told Niland about the deaths of his
three brothers, two at Normandy and one in the Far
East. (Other versions have Niland traveling to Sainte Mere Eglise and Utah beach to visit his brothers and discovering their
deaths himself). Also, Niland, a member of Company H, 501st PIR, was a member of a paratroop stick dropped south of Carentan, one
of the worst mis-drops during the American airborne landings in
Normandy.
Under the War Department’s Sole Survivor Policy, brought about after the deaths of the five Sullivan brothers serving on the USS Juneau, Fr.
Sampson arranged passage for Sgt. Niland back to Britain and thereafter to his parents, Augusta and Michael Niland, in
Tonawanda, New York. There was no behind-the-lines rescue mission, and his mother
was not a widow, and she did not receive all three telegrams on the same day. Niland himself remained with the 101st during its
entire time in Normandy, returned with it to England, and did not return to the United States until September 1944. Later it was
determined that the brother believed to have been killed in the Far East had actually been captured and was later returned home
after his liberation.[5]
In the film, the decision to order the safe return of Private Ryan is inspired in part by the General’s reading of the
Letter to Mrs. Bixby, written by Abraham
Lincoln to console the mother of five sons then believed to have been killed in the American Civil War, thus tying the film back to Rodat's Civil War inspiration.
Battle scenes
Saving Private Ryan has been critically noted for its realistic portrayal of WWII combat. [6] In particular, the initial 24-minute sequence depicting the Omaha landings was voted the "best battle scene of all time" by Empire
magazine, and was ranked number one on TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest movie moments.[7] Filmed in Ireland, the Omaha Beach scene cost $11 million and involved up to
1,000 extras, some of whom were members of the Irish Army Reserve. In addition,
20-30 actual amputees were used to portray US soldiers maimed during the landing.
The landing craft used included two actual WWII examples. The film-makers even used underwater cameras to better depict
soldiers being hit by bullets in the water. Forty barrels of fake blood were used to simulate the effect of blood in the
seawater.[8]
This degree of verisimilitude was more difficult to achieve when depicting World War
II German armored vehicles, as few examples survive in operating condition. The Tiger tanks in
the film were copies built on the chassis of old, but functional Soviet T-34 tanks.[9] The two vehicles described in
the film as 'Panzers' were built on the chassis of Czech-built Panzer 38(t) tanks.[10] Local re-enactment groups such as the Second Battle Group[11] were
used as extras to play German and American soldiers.
Inevitably, some historical license was taken by the filmmakers for the sake of drama. One of the most notable is the
depiction of the 2nd SS Division “Das Reich,” as the adversary during
the fictional Battle of Ramelle. The 2nd SS was not engaged in Normandy until July, and then at Caen against the British, a
hundred miles east.[12] Further, the Merderet River bridges
were not an objective of the 101st Airborne Division but of the 82nd Airborne Division.[13]
Towards the end of the film, there is a scene where trooper Mellish is locked in hand-to-hand combat with a German soldier.
The two of them are on the ground face-to-face, and the enemy soldier's dialog is extremely intense, but delivered completely in
German, without subtitles: "Gib' auf, du hast keine Chance! Lass' es uns beenden! Es ist einfacher für dich, viel einfacher.
Du wirst sehen, es ist gleich vorbei." Many movie-goers have wondered what the English translation is, and it appears here:
"Give up, you don't stand a chance! Let's end this here! It will be easier for you, much easier. You'll see it will be over
quickly." So as not to spoil the plot for those who haven't seen this, the outcome of the scene will not be printed here.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120815/trivia
Much has been said about various 'tactical errors' made by both the German and American forces in the movie's climactic
battle. Steven Spielberg responded, saying that in many scenes he opted to replace sound military tactics for dramatic
effect.[14]
The US/Canada Special Limited Edition DVD excluded at least one scene included in the UK release and shot on the landing craft
where a soldier puts his hand on the bulk head only to see the bulkhead pummelled with German shot. This shot was made using
paint ball shots against aluminium.
Cast and characters
Main cast
Supporting cast
Reception
Saving Private Ryan was a critical and commercial success, and is credited with contributing to a resurgence in
America’s interest in World War II. Old and new films, video games, and novels about the War enjoyed renewed popularity after its
release. The film's use of desaturated colors, hand-held cameras and tight angles has profoundly influenced subsequent films as
well as computer and video games; many of the latter display the same style of action and often use the same battlegrounds as the
movie itself.
Saving Private Ryan was released in 2,463 theatres on July 28, 1998, and grossed $30.5 million on its opening weekend.
Domestically the film grossed $216.5 million and $265 million at the foreign box office, bringing its world wide total to about
$482 million,[15] being the third highest
grossing movie of 1998, behind Titanic and Armageddon.[16]
Critical reception was also positive, with much praise for the realistic battle scenes[17] and the actor performances,[18] but earning criticism for the script and for ignoring British contributions to the D-Day
landings in general and at Omaha Beach specifically.[19]
The most direct example of the latter is that in reality the 2nd Rangers disembarked from British ships and were taken to Omaha
Beach by Royal Navy landing craft. The film depicts them as being US Coastguard-crewed craft from an American ship.[20][21] The
film wasn't released in Malaysia after Spielberg refused to cut the violent scenes.[22]It currently scores 94% on Rotten
Tomatoes[23] and 90% on Metacritic,[24] two movie reviews
aggregate sites. Many critics associations, such as New York Critics
Circle and Los Angeles Film Critics Association, chose
Saving Private Ryan as Film of the Year.[25]
The film was later nominated for eleven Academy Awards, with wins for Best Cinematography, Best Sound,
Best Sound Editing, Best Editing and Best Director
for Spielberg, but lost the Best Picture award to Shakespeare in Love, being one of a few that have won the Best Director award without also
winning Best Picture.[26] The film also won the
Golden Globes for Best Picture - Drama and Director, the BAFTA for Special Effects and Sound, the DGA Award, a Grammy Award for Best Film
Soundtrack, the PGA Golden Laurel Award, and the Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film.[25]
Home video
The film debuted on home video in May 1999, with a VHS
release that earned over $44 million. A later special edition was released featuring an extra tape with documentary footage of
the actual D-Day landings as well as the making of the film.[27] The DVD was released in November of the same year,[28] and was one of the best-selling titles of the year, with over 1.5 million units sold.[29] The original DVD was released in two separate versions: one
with Dolby Digital and the other with DTS 5.1 surround sound.
Besides the different 5.1 tracks, the two DVD's are identical.
In 2004, a Saving Private Ryan special edition DVD was released to celebrate the 60th anniversary of D-Day.[30] This two-disc edition was also included in a
box set titled World War II Collection, along with two documentaries produced by
Spielberg, Price For Peace (about the Pacific War) and Shooting War (about
war photographers, narrated by Tom Hanks).
References
- ^ Message in a Battle. Entertainment Weekly
(1998-07-24).
- ^ http://www.rzm.com/pvt.ryan/production/scenes/bootcamp.html
- ^ Five Star General. American Cinematographer Online Magazine (August, 1998).
- ^ Sunderland Echo, 11/02/1999
- ^ Look Out Below by Fr. Francis Sampson, 1958 (ISBN
1-877702-00-5).
- ^ name="bootcamp"
- ^ {{{author}}}, TV Guide
Moments, [[{{{publisher}}}]], [[{{{date}}}]].
- ^ {{{author}}}, How we
made the best movie battle scene ever, [[{{{publisher}}}]], [[{{{date}}}]].
- ^ http://www.sbg1.mistral.co.uk/spr1.htm
- ^ http://www.sbg1.mistral.co.uk/spr2.htm
- ^ The Daily
Telegraph, 25/08/2007
- ^ http://www.dasreich.ca/normandy.html
- ^ http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_index.php
- ^ Saving Private Ryan, The Men, The Mission, The Movie : A Steven
Spielberg Movie by Steven Spielberg. Newmarket Press 1998
- ^ Saving Private Ryan
at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Movie Market Summary for Year 1998. the-numbers.com.
- ^ Turan, Kenneth (1998-07-24).
Saving
Private Ryan review. Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (1998-07-24). Saving Private Ryan review. Chicago
Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
- ^ http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/saving_private_ryan
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/the_oscars_1999/299784.stm
- ^ http://www.sproe.com/l/lcm.html
- ^ Malaysia bans Spielberg's Prince. BBC (1999-01-27).
- ^ Saving Private Ryan at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Saving Private Ryan reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on
2007-05-06.
- ^ a b
- ^ Academy Awards 1999
- ^ 'Ryan's' next
attack: sell-through market. Variety (1999-07-29). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ [http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ryanpress.html DreamWorks' Saving Private Ryan DVD
press release] (1999-09-13). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ The Matrix disc soars beyond 3 million mark (2000-01-08). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ Saving Private Ryan: D-Day 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition review. IGN (2004-05-26). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- Alex Kershaw. The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice. Da Capo Press, 2003. ISBN
0-306-81355-6.
External links
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