Saving Private Ryan (1998) 🪖 ✦ Reaction & Review ✦ The intensity and emotions are unreal... 

My makeup got DESTROYED during this movie LOL 😅 But what an experience. Thank you so much for watching and thank you again to everyone who has served! Here in Canada, In Flanders Fields is a poem that I think everyone knows some, or all of, as it is a symbol for soldiers who have died. ❤ In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. Suggest more war movies for me here: forms.gle/XZVvZhfhwFzsDpRU9 All my other links you can find in the video description. ❤

The line “tell me I’m a good man” always makes me cry without fail. Every time.

My father fought in this war! It is historically accurate! Private Ryan is a fictional character but it's based on the Sullivan Brothers who were all killed on their ship they served on! So this movie is spot on! I saw this back when it came out with my father and it really made him cry wich made me cry! My father passed away not to long after this movie came out love you dad and miss you!😢

I saw his in the cinema, when it finished nobody moved, we all just sat there, there was silence, silence and some sobbing, thank you for your reaction, I cry every time

The D-Day scene was so realistic that it triggered PTSD in many veterans. The Veterans Administration set up hotlines to help them.

Just want to add in case you weren't aware, the German soldier who fired the shot that mortally wounded Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) was the same person who was on the hill where Wade (Giovanni Ribisi) died that they let go before. His character name is never said in the movie afaik, but in the credits I've heard is listed as Steamboat Willie from the reference he made to Upham (Jeremy Davies). It's why he mentioned Upham's name just before getting executed as a pathetic means to appeal to him again.

The guy Tom Hanks tells to grab weapons wasn’t a medic but a typist/clerk for the 104th medical battalion. That’s why he had the typewriter. The actual medics and doctors have Red Cross armbands and insignias on their helmets. It’s cool that they included them in the movie since they were really there on Omaha beach as part of the 29th infantry division.

This is one of the greatest movies ever made. Spielberg won a well deserved Oscar for Best Director. Great reaction!!

1. Many WWII vets left the theaters because the D-Day battle scenes were so realistic. 2. The German Captain Miller was talked into letting go is the same one that killed him. Upham finally put him down. 3. The story Ryan tells Miller about the last time he saw his brothers was made up by Matt Damon. He was told to say something interesting, so he did, and it was kept in the movie. 4. There really was a USS Sullivans(DD- 68) dedicated to the brothers lost on one ship. That's why all brother soldiers/sailors from one family can't be assigned to the same command. 5. I did 24 years in the US Navy. My favorite character is Private Jackson/sniper and my second favorite is Sargent Horvath. RIP Tom Sizemore😇 6. Sizemore also played Boxman in "Flight of the Intruder", a movie I'm in briefly.

One note about Tom Hanks's character: the army often put teachers into command positions simply because they are used to keeping groups of individuals in order.

Now that you have watched Saving Private Ryan, you must review Band of Brothers, considered one of the best, if not the best, miniseries ever made. It is based on the book by Stephen Ambrose’s, Band of Brothers, which follows actual paratroopers from Easy Company, 101 Airborne Division, from training camp, to D-Day, an on to the end of the war. If you are like most viewers, you will laugh with them, cry for them, but most importantly, you will be affected by them, for the rest of your life. I enjoyed your review of Saving Private Ryan.

FUN FACT: The story Ryan tells about his brothers was completely improvised by Matt Damon. :)

Thanks for watching this with us old veterans

I am a combat veteran ( Vietnam ) You can not possibly know the good you have just done. thank you for this and God bless you

Nominated for 11 Oscars including Best Picture but won for Best Director Best Sound Editing Best Film Editing Best Sound Mixing Best Cinematography.

Spielberg's message... We all need to earn it, what they did for us.

The appeal of watching reactions is the re-experiencing of watching these movies for the first time through the eyes of another. The emotions can hit just as hard or harder. Thank you for allowing us to experience this movie again.

My grandfather served in ww2 and stormed the beaches of Normandy, my dad served in Vietnam and I served in Afghanistan. I didn’t come back the same and even with my service I still couldn’t imagine what they dealt with over there.

The opening scene is D-Day, the beginning of the Allied forces kicking the Nazis out of France, whom they'd invaded and occupied a few years earlier. When it was in the theater, WW2 vets who had been in the D-Day invasion would break down crying as it was the first real depiction of what D-Day was actually like. By the way, the sniper who shoots the Vin Diesel character is played by Kevin Costner.

I'm sure you'll get this a hundred times over, but I'll add to the chorus: 'Band of Brothers' is probably the best, and one of the most accurate pieces of media made about the second world war. It''s a limited series, and is based on a book written about the actual people and events involving one airborne company and their experiences in the war. It's the spiritual successor to SPR in that it was produced by Hanks and Spielberg following the popularity of the movie. 'A Bridge Too Far' is another movie worth watching, a bit older (70s vintage), but is once again about real events - namely Operation Market Garden (which also features in Band of Brothers). Kinda the SPR of its day in that it had a cavalcade of contemporary stars, a long run time, and high production values (for the era). As a fellow Canuck, I'll add 'The Devil's Brigade' as a recommendation. An even older movie (60s vintage), but it's one of the few Hollywood movies that prominently features Canadians. It's about the 1st Special Service Force, a joint US-Canadian commando regiment that was the ancestor of modern special forces in both countries. Again, based on real people, and real events... but it takes more liberties with the facts than the above movies, and is definitely a product of its time (dated effects), but it's fun and some CanCon. And finally, a completely fictional, but very fun action-heist-comedy-war movie - 'Kelly's Heroes'. 70s vintage, not remotely historical beyond the setting, but tons of fun.

This is always a hard watch, but always fantastic. When this opened, many theaters had to have medics on hand. In places with few older people, some medics or their company leadership would station medics. Just in case veterans wanted to see the film. Many would come out in distress, but they wanted to see for themselves, that someone had finally made a movie. That did justice to what they had experienced.

Thank you for the little "disclaimer" after your intro. It means alot to me and I'm sure it means just the same if not more to all the other vets warching this.

My grandfather served as a sonar operator on the USS Niblack DD-424, a Gleaves class destroyer. They were tasked with convoy escort duty across the North Atlantic to ensure supplies reached the UK, and during one of their runs, another destroyer in their escort group was sunk by German U-boats, and they moved to rescue the surviving sailors as they abandoned ship. My family has recordings of the radio transmissions from that event and it is harrowing; explosions, screams, cries for help, the sound of tearing metal as the ship ripped apart whilst going down, and the terror that you could feel knowing that out there was a hunting wolf pack just waiting for another chance to leap in on another kill. After his service was done, he went on to build F6F Hellcats at the Ironworks, and then became the Fire Chief of his hometown fire station until he retired. Very proud of that man and what he accomplished, and I'm sad I didn't get to spend more meaningful time with him (he passed when I was 11, in 1991). The Greatest Generation, indeed.

This movie is great it gives you a good understanding of the horrors of war and what our servicemen went through so we can sleep soundly in our beds at night.

1:35...it's less "unrealistic" than "allegorical." The real story it's based on is that of the Sullivan Brothers, a group of siblings who served on the USS Phoenix and all died when it was torpedoed. They're from Iowa, as am I...it's taught in schools here as a part of state history. There's a nod to it when Ryan mentions he's from "Peyton, Iowa." Thanks for sharing your reaction!

This is such a classic. When the sniper dude is talking about his mom and how he used to try to stay awake for her yet when he was awake and she would come home early and he would just lay there pretending to be asleep...and he knew all she wanted was to see if he was awake to talk to him...that always hits me. Also at the end, private Ryan asking his wife if he's lived a good life with tears in his eyes knowing all the lives that were lost and he survived.. Very emotional movie. I'm not really a war movie person but this movie is so heartfelt and and you don't necessarily have to be a soldier to relate to it. I just got home from work and saw that you uploaded this so it's time to relax with KL and enjoy another great reaction. Hopefully you don't tear up too much because then I will probably tear up a little lol.... Edit: ya I commented before watching your reaction. OK so it was the medic not the sniper that told that story, and the medic saying mama mama ma...and dying got me again...and just watching your reaction through out this...very emotional and realistic portrayal of war.

Hi. Hands down the most emotional reaction I've seen to this movie, which ironically was on AMC last night. Such a hard but important movie to watch. I use to own this movie on VHS way back. As a Canadian I am grateful for all those who served and serve. Thank you s aren't enough.

There have been plenty of war movies that show the brutality of war. But this one has moments that show some of the true damage to bodies. In one scene the utter obliteration of a body. This one shows how and why “war is hell”. Unforgettable. For a more introspective war movie consider watching The Thin Red Line. Others: Platoon Hamburger Hill Full Metal Jacket I served in the US Marines and fought in Desert Storm. 🇺🇸

great reaction Kaiiele. I appreciated it. Sorry you don't remember this in history books, but in my scholastic career, they taught us all about this war and what led up to it. thanks for your candor in watching this awesome movie that honors our great veterans. Thank you.

This will always be a special movie to me because it reminds me of my tutu who was a captain and served during WWII. He would never talk about it so this film is a crash course in the hell they had to endure. Glad you watched this one, never forget.

This is one of the few movies where they went the extra mile to record the actual weapons firing live ammunition and used those sound effects in post production. And as someone who has fired all of the American and German small arms in this film, I can say the sounds are spot on accurate.

I watched an interview of a german soldier who was one of the gunners at the beach. He said he was forced in that position. He explained how he was filled with fear seeing all the boats from the shoreline. He wanted to leave the beach before they arrived but was forced to stay. He said something like “they just kept coming and i kept killing them. I wanted them to stop coming so wouldn’t have to kill anymore but their bravery i hated it. All the people i killed that day, still haunts me.” I remember the man weeping as he shared that story. He was just another man whose life was ruined by Hitler.

Hacksaw Ridge is another WWII movie more than worth watching. It is based on true events. The story of Desmond Doss. He was amazing!

I definitely have a complicated relationship with this movie just based on how a lot of western war films are, but regardless i still watch it over and over. The score is so powerful as well. Surprised you didnt see Schindler's List until 11th grade! Over here in New Brunswick we were given it in grade 8

I think you might be the first reactor I’ve seen mention the sound design in the D-Day scene! It’s brilliant!!

Platoon is an amazing vietnsm war movie written and directed by Oliver Stone who actually served in Vietnam. Won best picture too with a stacked young cast.

My wife's uncle was captured storming the beach at Anzio in Italy. Never talked about it. My uncle was wounded parachuting into New Guinea. My dad served on a submarine. His cousin was shot down over Germany, captured and then escaped from a POW camp.

For a lot of people this is THE war movie. And the opening sequence is legendary. So realistic in its portrayal of D-Day that old vets watching it had to leave the theater because the memories it elicited were too much. It's a tragedy that this lost the Best Picture Oscar to Shakespeare In Love. I saw one of the Mel Gibson war movies on your list, We Were Soldiers (Viet Nam). It's excellent, and for a movie very true to history, but I also recommend his two others, plus the one he directed but did not act in, as they are all excellent in one way or another. The other two are Braveheart (Scottish Revolution) and The Patriot (American Revolution), and the one he directed was Hacksaw Ridge (WWII, Pacific Theater).

Sorry if anybody already said any of this... Saving Private Ryan is incredibly realistic in most every way, with a very few exceptions...such as bullets not being able to kill you more than a few inches underwater. One thing to know, pay no mind at all to that man who took off his helmet at 6:03 and then got shot in the head...that next shot would have killed him even if he had kept his helmet on. The helmets of WW2 would almost never stop a bullet, except under very very rare circumstances. The movie is not a true story, and it differs from the actual history of D-Day in many ways...but the basic plot is loosely based on the 4 Niland Brothers, one of whom served with the 101st Airborne Division. However, when 3 Nilands were reported dead, no mission was sent to get the last brother, and it turned out that one brother that had been thought dead had actually only been captured. There really was a Company C of the 2nd Rangers that landed on Omaha Beach, but they were commanded by Captain Ralph Goranson, and they did not land quite where it was shown in the film. Probably the most important historical thing that Spielberg got wrong is that he had the boats that carried the Rangers to the beach being driven by Americans...they were not. On D-Day, the boats that carried the US Rangers to the beach were driven by UK sailors of the Royal Navy. There are many other things in the film that are not accurate to the real history of D-Day, but that one really fails to honor some of the men that fought and died at Omaha Beach, so it is definitely the one most worth noting.✌

When I have a bad day, I think of what these soldiers/airmen/sailors went through. Maybe my day wasn't that bad after all.

K im very proud of you. Just so impactful. You cried i cried. You are amazing

Your face after the guy blew up with the sticky bomb lmao

I remember seeing this in the cinema when it came out. After the opening beach scene you could hear a pin drop. The only sound was sniffles and people tried to stifle their crying. This movie was nd continues to be a shocking reminder of the only certainty in warfare - you're either lucky or you're not.

Not on purpose, but I just realized, most of the reactor channels I frequent are Candian. Cinebinge, Octkrool, Botch Guy(wrestling), Jen Murray, Inika Chung, You, Popcorn in Bed(Canadian, lives in the US)and for good measure, while he doesn't do movie/tv reactions, Dr Chris Raynor. Glad to see you react to this one. I think this is the movie that started my reactor channel rabbit hole a few years ago. While I don't know if you've seen it, NO TIME SOON after this movie, so save some tears for Schindlers List.

R.I.P Treat Williams he died on Monday from a motorcycle crash he was 71 he starred in my favourite creature feature DEEP RISING a forgotten gem Jerry goldsmith did the musical score he's done everything star trek movies Rambo planet of the apes Tora Tora Tora total recall and the mummy. Stephen sommers directed DEEP RISING and the mummy it's got loads of actor's people will recognise plus at the end of the movie they wash up on skull island it's a pity they didn't do a sequel. Treat Williams also played the bad guy in the phantom movie

I’d suggest you watch Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Both awesome series done by Hanks and Spielberg. Both accurate down to soldiers real names. Both very informative about both theaters of American involvement in WW2.

Excellent reaction to the greatest War Movie ever made (and one of the greatest movies in general, in my not-so-humble opinion). 19:50 Noice! You might be the first young Reactor I've watched who knew this bit. Also, I see lots of other cool stuff on this channel so...Subscribed. 👍✌❤

Wow.. I've watched a great many of your reactions now and have never seen you so upset. Tugged at the old heart strings. Quality film, even better reaction. X

Great reaction and the editing was one of the best I've seen.

Great reaction 😊 you even got me with your reaction to the sniper being taken out by tank

I love the fact you already knew what FUBAR means. We said it often in the 80s too.

Lol @ the meme reveal at the end. :) Great reaction.

The Bixby letter the General cites from memory is considered President Lincoln's greatest writing. They also talk about the five Sullivan Brothers who were killed on the USS Juneau during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942.

There is a running joke asking how much money has been spent trying to rescue Matt Damon.

I love this movie; arguably the best war movie ever made. The beach landings at the beginning of the film is based on actual events, known as "D-day." It is also factual that the airborne paratroopers had miss drops all over Normandy and many of the paratroopers were scattered behind enemy lines.

I highly recommend a reaction to an HBO series that Tom Banks and Steven Spielberg teamed up to produce immediately after this film. It's1 season, 10 episodes and is called 'Band of Brothers', which tells the story of Ryan's unit throughout the war.

Great reaction! Intense movie. Lots to discuss and think on after. Brilliant everything. I watch before bed and then have oatmeal for brainwords trying to leave a comment. 😆

10:15 Kai............I loved this response. It was made me tear up a little bit. =) Everyone should know the sacrifice and to as why we have what we have today.

This is one of the few reactions that gives a very empathetic reaction to Upham when he's on the stairs, and that to me is quite refreshing! For some reason I have this theory that you can tell a lot about someone's personality about their reaction to THAT scene (of course you need the buildup). People will either look at him with abject disgust and loathing, or a deep empathy and understanding for that man. And for me it's a shame that there's not enough of the latter.

The only thing that I wish I knew about this movie is, did private Ryan ever invent the longer lasting light bulb? The world May never know.😅

Wanna give you a hug. This movie is a tough one. Destroys me as well every time.

The scene didn't make your RU-vid cut & I'm sure somebody else has already pointed this out, but in case they haven't...the two "Germans" who were shot while trying to surrender at the end of the beach landing sequence were actually speaking in Czech, saying "We are Czechs, we did not shoot anybody!". The Germans pressed many men from occupied territories into military service during the war, particularly near the end. It's a sad little Easter Egg that Spielberg put into the film. The only aspect of this film which was inaccurate from an historic perspective is the plot of the movie itself: for exactly the reasons pointed out at the beginning, the US Army would never have dispatched a squad of soldiers to wander around the countryside during a huge invasion with the entire war hanging in the balance just to find one other soldier, no matter how noble the cause. There were indeed some instances of multiple brothers dying close together during the war, but in no case was a mission even close to this one seriously considered. There isn't a proper poppy emoji, but this Hibiscus is close enough: 🌺 That's about as close to military emojis as this ex-Army guy wants to get. 😁

To really get the total scope of WW2, if that is what you are after, you cannot ignore the movies about battles in the Pacific. Midway, In Harms Way, Iwo Jima, Flags of our fathers, Tora Tora Tora, Operation Pacific, and the John Ford documentary he filmed on Midway, during the actual attack, and With The Marines at Tarawa, where a Hollywood film crew landed with the Marines for the battle there. Using color 35mm film. These last two documentary movies Are 100% accurate. Ford was wounded as he was filming the attack, the film crew on Tarawa were wounded too. The film- With The Marines at Tarawa was not going to be shown to the Public. It was horrific, but showed how brutal the battles were against Japan. The director flew back to Washington DC and told President Roosevelt that the Marines who made those landings wanted the public to know why so many of their sons were dying in the Pacific. Roosevelt ordered that movie theaters show it. The Public was horrified in the US, but they also reacted by buying millions of war bonds to support the war in the Pacific. Both of these short documentaries, Midway and Tarawa won Oscars. Due to the shortage of metals during WWII their Oscars were made of plaster. Only receiving actual metal Oscars after the war. Ford (who was in the USA armed forces) was awarded the Medal of Honor too. The highest award you can receive in USA armed forces. The Longest Day is a must to see the entirety of D-Day.

Excellent reaction. You are right. It is not an easy movie to watch, and it leaves you emotionally drained. I needed several hours of recovery after the first time I watched it.

I watched this during a re-release. I went alone, after getting back, knowing what would come. I cried like a 9yr old girl with a skinned knee.

"Let me get this Goddamn hitchhiker out of my boot." One of my favorite lines. 😂

This. This is why we remember.

From the perspective of a veteran the best war movies are: Danger Close (Australian) The Out Post (American) They are both highly accurate historically but more importantly for me, they get the bond between warriors right. There is no closer bond between humans than brothers in arms (or sisters). “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”.

I dont understand how you dont have atleast 100k subscribers now. Ive enjoyed your reactions. We all have to start somewhere. Keep doing what you do.

Have only seen my dad break down in tears for a movie once, yep-this one.

We Were Soldiers and this movie are suppose to be the best representation of what war was really like. Band of Brothers is an amazing series to watch.

Great reaction KL, such an amazingly powerful movie.

I remember first seeing Giovanni Ribisi ( I think he was like 13-15 years old maybe and I think he went by Vonny Ribisi or something) he was a friend of Bud Bundy's on an early episdoe of Married With Children. I remember thinking this kid isn't gonna go to far in the biz, I know I saw him in other things after that too. but seeing him in here his last scene I was like wow that was a good performance. One of my fav scenes as far as performance in this movie

Things I've learned about this movie: Bullets dont go that far in water. Not enough to kill. The speed at which the German MG-42s are shooting would melt their barrels. Those who lose an arm or leg are real amputees. The 2 soldiers who were surrendering were conscripted Czechs. The Germans in the last battle were extras from the Irish Army Reserves. Sniper Jackson is quoting Psalm 144:1-2 from the Bible. And, yes, I saw this movie when I was 10. ;)

I actually got to watch this for free when it was first released. I was in the army jungle training in Panama, and we got to watch it in a theater there.

One of my favorite movies of all time. The way they did the beach scenes was really impressive, in terms of how it was shot specifically to create the intensity and grit they wanted to represent the experience. Playing with frame rates and shooting at angles that match what documentary filmmakers shot while on the beach during the invasion. Just wild, but really cool to look into. Glad to see you got to watch this, despite the intensity! Can't recommend Band of Brothers enough if you want to dive deeper into this, so good! The Pacific is similar in quality, but focused on the eastern front. It has a very different feel, but that side of the war is much lesser known. Unrelated to WW2, Blackhawk Down and We Were Soldiers are also an experience.

🪖Thanks for watching this. Spielberg is a master. The invasion of France to liberate them, and bring the battle towards Germany has been studied ad nauseum. And for a couple generations, everyone knew someone who was there...

One of my favorite Spielberg and war movies. Loved your reaction

Anyone who says this movie is not accurate is full of it and have obviously never watched every other movie about WWII. When this movie came out it was hailed as the MOST accurate depiction of that day ever put to film.

Great movie I at one time was in the military out of high school for 10 years. I never was in combat but I did go to Saudi Arabia for a rotation. I was a sergeant in the Army running an operation center watching for studs so my favorite line thr sergeant says I'm wearing my pistol to work captain. Mine was be vigilant. When Upham froze I did not like him after, as I have been in the service and a police officer having the next man's back is your duty. I have always liked Tom Hanks.

"Did you know that during the screening of 'Saving Private Ryan,' actual World War II veterans attended the movie? The film's depiction of the D-Day invasion was so realistic that it brought back vivid memories for these veterans. In fact, some of them had to leave the theater because the scenes were so powerful that they could almost smell the blood, gunfire, and oil, just like they did during the war."

The opening scene on Omaha beach on D-Day 1944 , 6thJune was one part of the movie they tried to get a real portrayal of.

Great reactions. Heartfelt. Masterpiece of a film but very sad. Saw it in the cinema when first released.

S. L. A. Marshall's article "First Wave at Omaha Beach" was published in The Atlantic, in 1960, and is available online, if you search for it.

This movie is filled with young actors whose careers were catapulted by this performance. Vin Diesel, Barry pepper, Giovanni Ribisi… They are surrounded by some very well-established actors like Tom Hanks, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, Matt Damon, Tom Sizmore and Douglas farina.

This one was never going to be an easy watch! A Stella War movie! A couple of hugs!..❤❤✌️

At around 21:35 you make a really astute observation...you talk about Miller and his group being on a "mini objective." Since Miller had been assigned a special mission from so high up in the chain of command...George Marshall was second in line to only the President in military matters, effectively...Miller's standard order would have been to specifically AVOID anything that might jeopardize the completion of his assignment. Attacking the machine gun was a bad mistake, and a violation of Miller's orders...and if he had lived and Ryan had not, he would likely have been court martialed. But it is clear why Spielberg chose to have the attack take place...Wade's death is one of the central dramatic points of the whole plot.

Fantastic reaction to one of the greatest movies ever made 👍

The ending always kills me

I seen this in the theater I was doing a review/report for arts/literature class it was my first proper movie review ever my senior year in high-school

Ok, you’ve hooked me. Sun and liked. Good reaction. Probably need a comedy or 2 to regroup.

8:34 This actor speaking is retired Marine Corps Captain Dale Dye Jr. He is the military consultant for this film and many other war films like Platoon. Captain Dye is a highly decorated Vietnam War vet. His company trained the actors in this film so that they would look and move like real soldiers of that period would. If you ever see him in a war film he is usually portraying an officer who is a supporting character. But you can also know that the producers are trying to show soldiers in a realistic and grounded manner.

The shakes Miller has….I always figured early Parkinson’s or to many concussions. Believe me, if you’ve ever had a loud noise or in this case explosion go off close….temporary hearing loss like he had at time is real.

Got screwed over for Best Picture to a movie no one hardly remembers, Shakespeare in Love. You can thank Harvey Weinstein for that BS! Have seen lots of reactions to SPR but none on Shakespeare in Love. A testimony to how good and timeless SPR is.

One thing that always struck me is how incongruous the Lincoln Letter speech after seeing the previous horrific scene. “Died gloriously on the field of battle” doesn’t at all describe the way people were slaughtering each other like animals. It’s beyond bizarre.

5:02 No. That wasn’t a medic. He was a clerk with the battalion, attached to a medi unit. He had a typewriter. One much bigger than what would actually be carried into the field.

easily the greatest most realistic war film ever produced.

First 20 minutes of this movie scares the hell out of me. Worse than any horror movie ever has. It really made me wonder how the hell we won that day

If you're interested in some great WWII battle tactics/strategy history, Battle 360 and Dogfights are two great shows from the History channel that break down a lot of the epic battles of the war in both the Pacific and European theaters. Very highly recommend.

The opening scene Ryan goes to the grave of his brother, at the end he's at the grave of Capt. Miller's grave. His family is directly behind him at the first grave site, at the end, his family remains at a respectful distance, except for his wife who has no idea who Miller is. Ryan went home and never told anyone about that day in Ramell. The opening scene Ryan goes to the grave of his brother, at the end he's at the grave of Capt. Miller's grave. His family is directly behind him at the first grave site, at the end, his family remains at a respectful distance, except for his wife who has no idea who Miller is. Ryan went home and never told anyone about that day in Ramell. Spielberg researched small details, for instance, Pvt Jackson's right thumb has a black mark on it. That's actually a bruise that many U. S. riflemen had caused from getting their thumb caught in the loading mechanism from not locking the bolt back properly when loading/reloading the M1 Garand rifle. It was called "Garand thumb". The Hitler Youth Knife is more literary liberty than fact. That knife is a hiking knife given to members of the Hitler Youth Corps, which was much like the Boy Scouts in training while being indoctrinated with the ideology of National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi). The only other group they were issued to were members of the SA. This knife was never part of a soldier of the Wehrmacht. As for the reaction of Carparzo and Mellish, it is highly unlikely an average G.I. would have known what that knife was and its symbolism. The matter of Mellish crying is also not likely as the Allies didn't find out about the fate of Jews in Europe until the first concentration camp was liberated April 4, 1945. The war in Europe ended May 7, 1945. So, following the real timeline, Mellish dies before the Allies knew anything about concentration and death camps. But, after-all, it is Hollywood. Saving Private Ryan is not based on the Sullivan brothers. Fritz Niland became the basis for Private Ryan. He was dropped behind enemy lines on D-Day and spent five days in the French countryside, eventually earning a Bronze star in combat for taking a French. Robert Rodat first came up with the plot in 1994 when he saw a monument in a cemetery in Tonawanda, New York. The monument was to the Niland Brothers - 4 young American men who fought in the Second World War. When three of the Nilands were reported killed, the surviving brother - Fritz - was sent home. This inspired Rodat to write his movie. The average age of a U. S. troops armed forces personnel during WW II was 26 years old. Selective Service draft age range was 18 years of age to 45 years. The average age in Vietnam War was 22, not 19 as any think. There are 26 military cemeteries across Normandy, but the most famous and visited site is the poignant Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France is located in Colleville-sur-Mer, on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 as the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site, at the north end of its half mile access road, covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. In real life with the Nilands, it actually turned out later that another of the brothers was alive - he’d been held captive in a Burmese POW camp. Attempts to point out the "discrepancies" between the stories of Fritz Niland and James Ryan are often misguided, as Ryan is only based on Niland, and is not meant to be (or claimed to be) a completely accurate representation of him. The differences in the two stories seem to stem in part from the fact that the true story of Sergeant Niland and his brothers is often reported inaccurately. The character of Private James Ryan is a mixture of fact and fiction, with some of the fictional elements coming from the erroneous stories about the Niland brothers. The German credited as "Steamboat Willie" who was released by Capt. Miller is not the German who engaged and killed Pvt Stanley "Fish Mellish during hand-to-hand combat. "Steamboat Willie" was in the Heer (Army) of the Wehrmacht and the other was in the Waffen SS which was a paramilitary organization and not part of the Wehrmacht. Originally, the SS uniform differed from the Wehrmacht uniform-whereas the regular army wore field grey, the SS wore black, head to toe (although later the SS did adopt field grey and often wore camouflage pattern uniform. American troops were brown and they didn't wear jackboots. The lightning bolt SS insignia can be seen on the right collar lapel of the German as he passes Upham and reaches the bottom of the staircase. During the Battle at Ramelle, Upham became shell shocked and was unable to save a .30 cal team from a German soldier because he was too frozen with fear to do anything about it. He carried all the .30 caliber ammo at the battle of Ramelle, but was unable to do his job because he was always either pinned down or too afraid to move. He signified the loss of innocence in war and thought that soldiers could be civil, but he later succumbed to the evils of war and made up for his cowardice when he shot Steamboat Willie for killing Miller even after the latter had shown Willie mercy earlier. Not only did Upham represent the loss of innocence of war but he also symbolized the "Every-man". His illusion of neutrality faded when he finally had to pick and side and kill Steamboat Willie, his character revelation being how he finally understood the horrors of war. It became clear that Upham had turned into a hardened and true soldier because of the whole experience. Upham's rank was Tech 5 Corporal (E-5), that meant he was technician in a specialty area. His was maps and translator, he was not a combat infantryman and was never trained for front-line duty. Gunnery Sergent Hartman explained it this way in the movie Full Metal Jacket: "It is your killer instinct which must be harnessed if you expect to survive in combat. Your rifle is only a tool. It is a hard heart that kills. If your killer instincts are not clean and strong you will hesitate at the moment of truth. You will not kill. "The way the next of kin was notified of their loved one was killed in action during WW II was by Western Union telegram delivered by a bicycle riding messenger. If you were being notified of multiple deaths as was the case in this film, notification was done in-person by a military officer, usually from the same branch of service as the deceased when possible. That's why the mother upon seeing the officer exit the car momentarily froze knowing that meant at least 2 of her boys were either KIA or MIA, as the priest exits the car, she staggers and completely collapsed. Unfortunately, you didn't include that in your video presentation. That is one of the most important scenes in the movie. The mother speaks no lines in the movie, yet her breakdown brought a flood of tears form movie goers in theaters across the nation. Another important scene is it is clear from the few lines Ryan's wife speaks that she has never heard the name of Capt. John Miller, this means John has never spoken to her about what happened that day in Ramelle. What many missed is listening to Ryan speaking at the Miller's grave of how he thought about what those 8 men did for him every day was not guilt, but commitment. There are units assigned to recover, bury and mark graves. Usually these were temporary battlefield cemeteries. As hostilities moved farther away, a more permanent site would be selected, at the family's request, whenever possible, the remains would be returned to the United States. At the Normandy Cemetery Visitors Center, you'll find the following inscription: IF EVER PROOF WERE NEEDED THAT WE FOUGHT FOR A CAUSE AND NOT FOR CONQUEST, IT COULD BE FOUND IN THESE CEMETERIES. HERE WAS OUR ONLY CONQUEST: ALL WE ASKED … WAS ENOUGH … SOIL IN WHICH TO BURY OUR GALLANT DEAD.General Mark W. ClarkChairman, American Battle Monuments Commission, 1969-1984