Film Review: Saving Private Ryan By Steven Spielberg

Name Team Name Tutor Course Date HIST 12 / Spring 2018 / Film Review: Saving Private Ryan Review Summary of the film Directed by Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan is an outstanding Second World War film that depicts an objective storyline of Captain John Miller as the main protagonist which was played by Tom Hanks. The movie was released in 1998. However, like the eight Americans soldiers under Captain Miller’s command, the audience was not allowed to entirely become emotionally invested even though the main character was already shown (Basinger 1). The audience was shown numerous attempts towards controlling his anguish that manifested in shaking his hands and also, the film highlights the depiction of gut-wrenching scenes through numerous scenes of Captain Miller. The film had battle scenes which were stunning and metallic in color. Numerous enactments of deliberate mutilation and random dismemberment were depicted in the film too as numerous lives were tragically lost in the war. Basinger (4) indicated that from the film, it is clear that the audience is questioned concerning the benefits of war. Steven Spielberg succeeds completely on a cinematic level as the entire premise of the film is profound. This film emphasizes to the audience with images of brutality and also the American Flag. In the film, the story begins on 1944 in Normandy at Omaha Beach. Captain John Miller and his men landed on a beach whereby the battle was ongoing. Most American soldiers had already been massacred on the Norman beaches and only the remaining survivors could take shelter of a dune within that area. However, these soldiers had been trapped in this area and could not progress further. With the assistance of Bangalore torpedoes, most of the American units succeeded in crossing numerous obstacles and finally eliminate the last German soldiers. However, the losses from this war were significant. In England, three of the four brothers of the Ryan family had already become casualties of the war. One of them had died in New Guinea, the other at Omaha Beach while the third brother, passed away at Utah beach. A rescue mission was created to locate the surviving brother, James Ryan played by Matt Damon (Bodnar 805-817). This rescue mission included soldiers from various units parachuting behind enemy lines before the allied forces assisted them with airborne forces. Captain Miller was accompanied during this mission by a contingent of elite soldiers in their search of Ryan. However, the soldier accompanying Captain Miller stated having doubts concerning the mission and began brooding over this issue. However, their doubts eventually faded away as they arrived at a Norman village when one of the rank and file soldiers as then killed by a German sniper. Bodnar (805-817) stated that the search for Ryan after this occurrence only intensified which, however, did not include mistakes concerning the identity of other soldiers parachuting around this soldier that they encounter. Later on by chance, Captain Miller finds Ryan who was in charge of surveillance over an essential bridge over the Merderet. Captain Miller then breaks the news to Private Ryan concerning the loss of his three brothers and he has to go home immediately. However, Ryan did not intend on abandoning his friends and was adamant on staying behind with his friends that defended the bridge as much as he did (Bodnar 805-817). He questioned the validity of why he deserved more to return home than other soldiers. Miller makes the choice of staying behind with Ryan and be patient for the reinforcements from the American Army. Miller had the knowledge that the Germans will attack them before the Allied reinforcements arrived. This individual then made the choice of creating fortifications in the city in the anticipation of the enemy ambush. The ambush eventually occurred and this war continued between the SS regiment that had armored units of soldiers. However, captain Miller and is men eventually started retreating and the Germans crossed the bridge with heavy artillery such as tanks. However, allied planes came to the rescue and made these assailants retreat completely. Of the eight soldiers that took part in the search of Ryan, only two of them managed to escape. Captain Miller was eventually shot as he defended the bridge and dies (May 69-74). In the end, the viewer is taken back to the present day and the older veteran was Private Ryan all grown up. He was depicted in front of Miller’s grave as he pays tribute to him. The historical accuracy of the film The movie portrayed the Invasion of Normandy and this is related to the actual event. As the battle ravaged on, the mission of the soldiers was for the Ranger unit to be part of the first wave of attacks. This was intended to secure the higher ground during the war. These soldiers stormed Omaha Beach were numerous tragedies befell them. Similarly, the film highlights men arriving in parachutes and stormed the beach. This includes Captain Miller and numerous groups of soldiers suffered heavy casualties simultaneously (Basinger 2-5). The depicted scene from the initial invasion of Normandy was accurate as the shores were muddled with slain bodies, the sand was completely blood-soaked and the crimson tide of the ocean brought this specific scene in the movie to life. The latter half of Saving Private Ryan depicts most of the occurrences of the Battle of Normandy and adequately delivers the entire plot. This is inspired by the environment of fighting for ninety days by the American soldiers. As the war started, four Niland brothers that were part of a unit became casualties of war when their boat was sunk by a Japanese attack in the Pacific. The significant loss of the Niland family elicited a negative public reaction from the American people (Bodnar 805-817).This led to these brothers that served along the Niland brothers to be separated and transferred into other units to prevent another disaster. Saving Private Ryan is mainly inspired by this fact and adapts it effectively. Sound is a critical component of Saving Private Ryan. This element highlights historical accuracies to the point of perfection as the movie shows the sound of bullets entering the flesh that specialist fired live ammunition ...