Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan is a film showing us the realities of war. Winner

of five Academy Awards including Steven Spielberg's Best Director

(1999), it is an unforgettable experience. The film follows Captain

John Miller (Tom Hanks) who, in the brutally real opening sequence,

survives the landing at Omaha Beach. He is then given a new mission:

to find and save Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), one of four

brothers, the other three of whom have been killed in action within

days of each other.

The plot was inspired in part by the true story of Fritz Niland, one

of four brothers from New York who fought during World War 2. Two of

Fritz’s brothers were killed on D-Day, while another was missing in

action in Burma and was presumed dead, although he actually survived.

Fritz was located in Normandy by an Army chaplain, Reverend Francis

Sampson, and taken out of the combat to be returned to his family and

friends.

The opening scene of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan finds us

in an American military Cemetery in present-day Normandy, France. An

older Ryan, accompanied by his family, searches for one particular

grave, Captain John Miller. When he finds it he's overcome with

emotion. The camera focuses in on his eyes and we travel through them,

into his mind and we relive his memories. We hear gunfire and planes

flying overhead. It is D-Day, 6th June 1944. We have found ourselves

in a Higgins boat, packed with American soldiers- wet, cold, sea sick

and afraid. The noise from the motor increases as it dawns on the

soldiers that they are about to go into combat. The noise of German

gunfire is heard as the bullets ricochet off the raised ramp and

splash the water around the boat. Finally, the ramp goes down and a

German machine gunner takes down the packed in rangers row-by-row.

Those at the back of the boat bail out the sides landing in the ocean

before the German’s have a chance to shoot them.