#22 Saving Private Ryan

In Summary

With one of the most iconic openings in film history, Saving Private Ryan is a brutal portrayal of the realities of war.

The Omaha Beach landing sequence immediately places the audience into the middle of the action. Soldiers' faces drip with sweat, the sea swells, there are nervous jitters, vomiting, then the bullets start to rain down.

What appears to be pure chaos unfolds. Soldiers step into the middle of this hailfire, tripping over one another, weighed down by their equipment, stumbling past fallen colleagues, knowing their only option is to continue going forward.

This sequence sets up the key theme of the Saving Private Ryan, that in war, life is cheap. Individually, they may not survive, but if they stick to their orders, they will succeed through their numbers.

It is truly a heroic sacrifice to have made. However, what Saving Private Ryan is careful to depict is that the war wasn't fought by heroes on one side and villains on the other, both sides were populated by ordinary men.

The soldiers are constantly faced with tough decisions under incredible stress. What do you do with an enemy who has surrendered? How much do you put yourself in danger to help out a fellow soldier? This all feeds into the film's wider plot - the mission to find one soldier in order to send him home.

The mission seems a foolish waste of physical and human resources, but in the chaotic, murky world of war, it is perhaps the one verifiably good deed that these men can achieve

A Memorable Quote

Someday we might look back on this and decide that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful, shitty mess.

Things You May Not Know

• Matt Damon was cast in the role of Private Ryan as Steven Spielberg wanted an unknown actor in the role, only for Damon to win an Oscar for Good Will Hunting between the production and release of the film.
• The two German soldiers at the start of the film that are shot were speaking Czech. This was a depiction of the Ost Battalions that were made up largely of Czech and Polish prisoners of war.
• The Omaha Beach landing cost $11 million alone to shoot and involved around 1,000 extras - many of whom were Irish Army reservists.

One of the Greatest of All Time?
While Saving Private Ryan features is a very interesting reflection on the both the physical and psychological impact of war, the film suffers from starting off so incredibly intensely. What most people will remember about this film is the Omaha Beach landing and not the later exploration of the film's key themes.

Furthermore, although Saving Private Ryan feels a brutally realistic depiction of World War II combat, there are a few sections that veer a little too closely towards video game levels of gratuitousness.

Overall, Saving Private Ryan should be considered a film everyone should watch once. It is violent, sickening and chaotic, placing you directly into the boots of these soldiers.