Saving Private Ryan

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Saving Private Ryan
Image:Saving Private Ryan poster.jpg
Poster of Saving Private Ryan
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Produced by Steven Spielberg
Ian Bryce
Mark Gordon
Gary Levinsohn
Production Companies
DreamWorks SKG
Paramount Pictures
Amblin Entertainment
Mutual Film Corporation
Mark Gordon Productions
Written by Robert Rodat
Starring Tom Hanks
Edward Burns
Tom Sizemore
Barry Pepper
Adam Goldberg
Giovanni Ribisi
Matt Damon
Vin Diesel
Paul Giamatti
Music by John Williams
Cinematography Janusz Kaminski
Editing by Michael Kahn
Distributed by DreamWorks (US and Canada)
Paramount Pictures (elsewhere)
Release date(s) Image:Flag of the United States.svg July 24, 1998
Running time 170 min.
Language English
Budget $70,000,000 US (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 Academy-Award-winning film set during the D-day invasion of 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.

Contents

[edit] 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.

The scene changes to the beginning of the invasion of Normandy, with American soldiers landing on Omaha Beach and struggling against dug-in German infantry and machine gun nests. One of the soldiers who survives the initial landing, Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, patches together a makeshift squad of soldiers and slowly penetrates the German defenses leading to a breakout from the beach.

In the United States, Gen. George C. Marshall, 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. He learns that the fourth son, Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) of the 1st Battalion 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment is missing in action somewhere in France. He orders that he be found and sent home immediately.

Back in France, Miller receives orders from Lieutenant Colonel Walter Anderson (Dennis Farina) to find Private Ryan, and assembles an eight-man squad (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, and Adam Goldberg) to accomplish this task. 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 one soldier 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 another casualty on their journey, finally arriving on the outskirts of Ramelle where they destroy a German reconnaissance unit with the help of some American soldiers, one of them Private James Ryan. The unit regroups in Ramelle, joining with the American paratroopers defending the town, 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 orders his unit to help defend the bridge in the upcoming battle, taking command and setting up the defense with what little manpower they have.

The Germans arrive in force supported by tanks and armored vehicles. Miller leads the defense but in spite of inflicting significant German casualties the American unit is slowly pushed back by superior numbers and firepower. The defenders retreat across the bridge, suffering further casualties, pursued by gunfire and an advancing German Tiger Tank. Just before it reaches the bridge, an American P-51 Mustang swoops down and destroys the tank, followed by more Mustang fighters and advancing American infantry who assault the town and rout the remaining German forces. Ryan is with Miller as he dies and hears his last words, "James... earn this. Earn it."

Back in the present, the elderly veteran is revealed to be Ryan and the grave Miller's. Ryan asks his wife to confirm that he has been a 'good man' and thus worthy of Miller's and the other's sacrifice as the camera pans down the gravestones to the American flag and fades out.

[edit] 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]

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 and Canadians, 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]

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]

[edit] Cast and characters

[edit] Main cast

[edit] Supporting cast

[edit] 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.[citation needed]

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 $480 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 actors' performances,[18] but earning some 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 during the actual landing 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] This criticism was far from universal with other critics recognizing the director's intent to make an 'American' film.[22] The film wasn't released in Malaysia after Spielberg refused to cut the violent scenes.[23] It currently scores 94% on Rotten Tomatoes[24] and 90% on Metacritic,[25] 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.[26]

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.[27] 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.[26]

[edit] Home video and television

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.[28] The DVD was released in November of the same year,[29] and was one of the best-selling titles of the year, with over 1.5 million units sold.[30] 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. The film was also issued in a very limited 2-disc Laserdisc release in November of 1999, making it one of the very last feature films to ever be issued in this format, as Laserdiscs ceased manufacturing and distribution by the year's end, due in part to the growing popularity of DVDs.

In 2004, a Saving Private Ryan special edition DVD was released to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day.[31] 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).

On Veteran's Day from 2001 through 2004, ABC aired the film uncut and with limited commercial interruption. The network airings were given a TV-MA rating, as the violent battle scenes and the profanity was left intact. In 2005, TNT acquired the rights to broadcast the film uncut and with limited commercial interruption.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Message in a Battle. Entertainment Weekly (1998-07-24).
  2. ^ http://www.rzm.com/pvt.ryan/production/scenes/bootcamp.html
  3. ^ Five Star General. American Cinematographer Online Magazine (August, 1998).
  4. ^ Sunderland Echo, 11/02/1999
  5. ^ Look Out Below by Fr. Francis Sampson, 1958 (ISBN 1-877702-00-5).
  6. ^ name="bootcamp"
  7. ^ {{{author}}}, TV Guide Moments, [[{{{publisher}}}]], [[{{{date}}}]].
  8. ^ {{{author}}}, How we made the best movie battle scene ever, [[{{{publisher}}}]], [[{{{date}}}]].
  9. ^ http://www.sbg1.mistral.co.uk/spr1.htm
  10. ^ http://www.sbg1.mistral.co.uk/spr2.htm
  11. ^ The Daily Telegraph, 25/08/2007
  12. ^ http://www.dasreich.ca/normandy.html
  13. ^ http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_index.php
  14. ^ Saving Private Ryan, The Men, The Mission, The Movie : A Steven Spielberg Movie by Steven Spielberg. Newmarket Press 1998
  15. ^ Saving Private Ryan at Box Office Mojo
  16. ^ Movie Market Summary for Year 1998. the-numbers.com.
  17. ^ Turan, Kenneth (1998-07-24). Saving Private Ryan review. Los Angeles Times.
  18. ^ Ebert, Roger (1998-07-24). Saving Private Ryan review. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
  19. ^ http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/saving_private_ryan
  20. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/the_oscars_1999/299784.stm
  21. ^ http://www.sproe.com/l/lcm.html
  22. ^ Matthew Reynolds. "Saving Private Ryan", Channel 4. Retrieved on 2007-12-20. 
  23. ^ Malaysia bans Spielberg's Prince. BBC (1999-01-27).
  24. ^ Saving Private Ryan at Rotten Tomatoes
  25. ^ Saving Private Ryan reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
  26. ^ a b Awards for Saving Private Ryan. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
  27. ^ Academy Awards 1999
  28. ^ 'Ryan's' next attack: sell-through market. Variety (1999-07-29). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
  29. ^ [http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ryanpress.html DreamWorks' Saving Private Ryan DVD press release] (1999-09-13). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
  30. ^ The Matrix disc soars beyond 3 million mark (2000-01-08). Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
  31. ^ 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.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Steven Spielberg

Duel (1971) · The Sugarland Express (1974) · Jaws (1975) · Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) · 1941 (1979) · Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) · E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) · Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) · Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) · The Color Purple (1985) · Empire of the Sun (1987) · Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) · Always (1989) · Hook (1991) · Jurassic Park (1993) · Schindler's List (1993) · The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) · Amistad (1997) · Saving Private Ryan (1998) · Artificial Intelligence: A.I. (2001) · Minority Report (2002) · Catch Me if You Can (2002) · The Terminal (2004) · War of the Worlds (2005) · Munich (2005) · Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) · Untitled Abraham Lincoln biopic (TBA) · Interstellar (TBA) · Tintin (TBA) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (TBA)

Preceded by
Titanic 		Golden Globe for Best Picture - Drama
1999 		Succeeded by
American Beauty
ar:إنقاذ الجندي رايان

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