Essay On Saving Private Ryan

980 Words2 Pages

It’s June 6th, 1944 and the beaches of Normandy, France are a chaotic mess of dead bodies, gallons of fresh dark red blood and loud cries of pain, accompanying the endless rounds of gunfire and bullets that tear through air, water and flesh. This is D-Day. Over 150,000 allied troops are storming the 50-mile coastline of Normandy in an attempt to liberate Western Europe from Nazi Germany. Almost half a century later in 1998, Oscar winning director, Steven Spielberg set out to create, Saving Private Ryan, his goal being to portray the most realistic terrors and triumphs of D-Day and the days following. The film, although featuring fictional characters but realistic events, is inspired by the true story of the Niland family, who lost three of …show more content…

With the 50th anniversary of D-Day around the corner, Hollywood screenwriter, Robert Rodat began writing the screenplay for Saving Private Ryan. Robert Rodat's script fictionalizes the particulars of war, but draws upon real history to tell the story of the soldiers who land at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. The actual landing at Normandy was a complete slaughter. The bombardment of the beaches was a failure in knocking out the German guns and heavily entrenched soldiers upon the hills of the beach, slaughtering the first wave of American soldiers. Spielberg transformed the actual scene; acknowledging World War II as the most significant event of the last 100 years, leaving audiences to reflect on Captain Miller’s final words, "earn this,” just as the older Private Ryan does at the end of the …show more content…

Presented with realistic and brutal carnage, conveyed through sympathetic and recognizable characters, Saving Private Ryan reminds modern audiences that war is something that should never be forgotten and how drastically it can change lives, on and off the battlefield. Like Private Ryan, Americans are expected to live their lives the best that they can, remembering that they earned the freedom to live thanks to the bravery and courage of thousands of combat soldiers who fought on the front

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