Opening Battle Scenes in "Saving Private Ryan," Directed by Steven Spielberg

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Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg in 1998. It was written by Robert Rodat, who was inspired to write a script based on a monument he had visited which was dedicated to four brothers from the American Civil War. Some famous actors star in the film including Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel and Tom Sizemore. I think Saving Private Ryan is very emotional and has a great effect on the audience. This is because of all the action and emotions that the soldiers are going through in the battle, and it also shows what really happened in the . In this essay I am going to write about the four sections in the opening battle scene.

Present To Past

The first section of the film is opened with an extreme close up of a faded American flag flying, and sad music is playing in the background. You then see an elderly man who has travelled all the way to France with his family, and you see the look in his eye that he is determined to reach something. His family are close behind the man, worried about him. One member of his family is actually taking pictures of the elderly mans journey, which suggests this trip is important to him. You find out what he is looking for is actually a grave, and when he finds the particular one he stumbles to it and is overcome with emotion. He collapses next to the grave and his family rush to his side to help him up. There is a long shot of all the graves next, showing you just how many people died. The camera then sets on the elderly man’s eyes, making them look glassy, and as he is recalling the past the sad music fades, and the sound of crashing waves gets louder and louder. This gives you a sense of what is coming next, and what the scene will look like. It also gets you interested to se...

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...ed at the trouble they went to. The noise has quietened down now, and what seemed to be a gloomy sky has brightened up now the battle has ended. Captain Miller then says “great view”. It is a terrible view, as there are fallen soldiers scattered all over the beach and also floating in the water. The water is dyed a bloody colour, which shows how many lives had been lost to create that much blood. You feel happy for them at this point, because even though it was a tragedy they still managed to get through it all.

Conclusion

My conclusion of the opening battle scene is that the scene is very graphic, and is showing that the violence of that battle and how many lives were lost was also happening in real life back in World War II. I enjoyed watching the opening scene and would recommend it to people my own age so they can see for themselves what war was like.

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