“SAVING PRIVATE RYAN” (1998): A GREAT FILM FROM SPIELBERG-HANKS AND DAMON ABOUT WORLD WAR II

It is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg (he has a post in my blog) and written by Robert Rodat. 

Set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II, the film is notable for its graphic portrayal of war, and for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which includes a depiction of the Omaha Beach assault during the Normandy landings. It follows United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) (he has a post in my blog) and a squad (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies) as they search for a paratrooper, Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is the last-surviving brother of four servicemen.

The film received widespread critical acclaim, winning several awards for film, cast, and crew, as well as earning significant returns at the box office. The film grossed $216.8 million domestically, making it the highest-grossing film of 1998 in the United States, and $481.8 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 1998 worldwide. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture; Spielberg's direction won his second Academy Award for Best Director, with four more awards going to the film. Saving Private Ryan was released on home video in May 1999, earning another $44 million from sales.

In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

 Plot

An elderly veteran visits the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial with his family. Upon seeing one particular grave, he falls to his knees overcome with emotion. The scene then shifts to the morning of June 6, 1944, as American soldiers land on . Omaha Beach as part of the Normandy Invasion They suffer heavy losses in assaulting German defensive positions of artillery and machine guns raining down intense fire on the American forces. Captain John H. Miller of the 2nd Ranger Battalion assembles a group to penetrate the German defenses, leading to a breakout from the beach. Elsewhere on the beach, a dead soldier lies face-down in the bloody surf; his pack is stenciled Ryan, S.

In Washington, D.C., at the U.S. War Department, General George Marshall learns that three of the four brothers of the Ryan family were killed in action and that the fourth son, James, has been parachuted somewhere over Normandy but is currently unable to be located. He is also informed that their mother will receive all three telegrams notifying her of her three sons' deaths on the same day. After reading Abraham Lincoln's Bixby letter aloud for his staff, he orders that James Ryan be found and returned home immediately.

Three days after D-Day, Miller receives orders to find Ryan and bring him back from the front. He assembles six men from his company—T/Sgt. Mike Horvath, Privates First Class Richard Reiben and Adrian Caparzo, Privates Stanley Mellish and Danny Jackson, medic Irwin Wade—plus T/5 Timothy Upham, a cartographer and interpreter borrowed from another unit. They move out to Neuville, where they meet a squad from the 101st Airborne Division, where Caparzo is killed by a German sniper, quickly taken out by Jackson. They locate a Private James Ryan but quickly learn he is not their man. They eventually encounter a friend of James Ryan, who tells them that he is defending an important bridge in the town of Ramelle.

On the way to Ramelle, Miller decides to neutralize a German machine gun position at a derelict radar station, despite his men's misgivings; Wade is killed in the skirmish. Miller, at Upham's urging, declines to execute a surviving German soldier (nicknamed "Steamboat Willie") and sets him free on the condition that he surrender to the first Allied unit he encounters. Losing confidence in Miller's leadership, Reiben declares his intention to desert, prompting a confrontation with Horvath, which Miller defuses by disclosing his civilian background as a teacher, about which his men had set up a betting pool. Reiben reluctantly decides to stay.

Outside Ramelle, Miller and the squad encounters a German half-track with troops and ambush them together with three paratroopers, one of whom is Ryan. In the town, Miller's squad find a small group of paratroopers preparing to defend the key bridge, and where Miller tells Ryan about his brothers and their orders to bring him home, with two of his men having been lost in finding him. He is distressed at the loss of his brothers, but asks Miller to tell his mother that he intends to stay "with the only brothers [he has] left." Miller decides to join his unit with the paratroopers in defense of the bridge against the imminent German attack. Miller forms ambush positions throughout the ruined town, preparing to attack arriving tanks and infantry with mines, Molotov cocktails, detonation cords and "sticky bombs" made from socks filled with Composition

B smeared with thick grease.

Elements of the 2nd SS Panzer Division arrive with infantry and armor, comprising two Tiger I tanks and two Marder tank destroyers/light assault guns. Although they managed to inflict heavy casualties on the Germans, including destroying one Tiger tank and both Marders, most of the paratroopers, along with Jackson, Mellish and Horvath are killed, while Upham avoids fighting due to his jittery nerves and hides himself from his German foes. Miller attempts to blow up the bridge, but is shot and mortally wounded by Steamboat Willie, who had somehow rejoined the Germans. In confusion and supposed desperation after suffering intense German fire, Miller crawls to the middle of the bridge and attempts to open fire on the oncoming German tank and accompanying troops with his pistol. Just before the last Tiger tank reaches the bridge, an American P-51 Mustang flies overhead and destroys the tank, followed by American armored units which rout the remaining Germans. Witnessing Miller's shooting, Upham leaps out from his hiding and confronts Steamboat Willie and his group as they attempt to retreat. Steamboat Willie raises his hands in surrender and smiles, believing that Upham will accept because of their earlier encounter. Instead, Upham kills him, but lets the other Germans flee.

Reiben and Ryan are with Miller as he dies and utters his last words, "James...earn this. Earn it."

The elderly veteran is revealed to be Ryan, he standing at Miller’s grave. Ryan expresses his appreciation for what Miller and the others did for him. He then asks his wife if he is a "good man" worthy of their sacrifices; she tells him he is. Ryan comes to attention and salutes Miller's grave.