124.
Saving Private Ryan
9/10
A war film which I am embarrassed to say that I have never had the time to watch, until now. This epic film was won plenty of awards and is considered one of Stephen Spielberg's greatest and one of the greatest war films ever made. Going through a World War II set of films at the moment meant that this was a must. The film is loosely based on a true story about brothers of a different name. Time to storm the beaches and see if this soldier makes it home.
A film takes a softer start with an American flag blowing in the wind and the camera pulls back to reveal a veteran and his family walking through the American Normandy cemetery and memorial. The man walks towards a certain gravestone as he drops down to his knees distraught. His family rush over to him and the camera zooms into his face until we are directly into his eyes, maybe symbolising that we are about to see him account of things that he seen. We are transported to the beach in Omaha, on June 6, 1944. On bad conditions, American soldiers are crossing the English Channel in landing vehicles. We see how nervous each man is and the Captain, Miller, is played by Tom Hanks. Commanding his men to clear the holes and check their rifles as they get onto the beach, we are about to see a scene lasting 27 minutes, which depicts the conditions that landing onto the beaches often meant. As soon as the doors were lowered on the vehicles, many men didn't take a step before getting mowed down. Bullets spraying, into the water as well as the land and vehicles meant that many men didn't stand a chance and were literally lambs to the slaughter. The way this was filmed was so emotionally triggering that I sat there in silence watching on. Some drown under the weight of the gear, others hid behind obstacles meant to stop tanks landing. In tears, men were looking for their lost limbs and holding their stomachs together, begging for a medic. Miller crawls up the sand and a motor hits nearby, making the man lose his hearing for a brief time. We are in the zone with him, as all we can is ringing and action without sound to accompany it. He sits and watches as men are shot around him, until his Sergeant asking what the next move is. Many of the soldiers don't make it to the sandbank and the ones that are injured, seemingly bleed out, even with the help of the medics. Whoever made it to the sandbanks below the turrets, Miller commands to use explosives and break through the barbed wire and mines so that they may advance. After reaching and dealing with a nest of machine guns, the sniper takes centre stage and the men can advance, finally blowing up and sending in a flamethrower to deal with the main bunker. One soldier requests letting them burn instead of shooting them, showing the brutality of both sides. The men also encounter more Germans who are running for escape. Miller watches on, as they are ruthlessly gunned down by his men and the face on him states that he isn't too happy about it. Pvt Caparzo, played by Vin Diesel, finds a Hitler youth knife on a body and chucks it to Pvt Melish, who begins to cry, knowing that some of these were simply kids. He doesn't show this weak moment in front of the other men. Horvarth, the Sergeant, puts some soil into a can labelled France and puts it into his bag along with Africa and Italy, showing were he has already fought. He tells Miller that the beach is quite a sight, as the camera pans out and shows the many bodies of the soldiers lying dead. The water and sea is running read like a scene from the bible but the most significant part would be one certain soldier. On his backpack is, 'S. Ryan' and he didn't make it off the beach.
Back on America soil, we are in the War Department, where a load of secretaries are writing death notes to the families of the fallen. One woman discovers three letters for three men from the same family. The mother will get all three letters at the same time. The forth son or the Ryan family is still out in France somewhere but the whereabouts are unknown due to the Airborne Division missing its target for the drop off. This whole scene is filmed without any words and the audience still know the extent of what is happening, which is very clever. The letters are brought to the attention of the General, who after reading out a letter from Lincoln based around similar circumstances, demands that his officers find this man and bring him home to his mother. Back in Normandy, three days after the beach landing, Miller meets with his commanding officer and is given the job of finding Ryan. He gathers up what men he can and enlists a Corporal Upham as a translator. Walking through the untouched countryside, Upham tries to talk to some of the men but he finds them insulting and unfriendly, even though he is of a higher rank. A Brooklyn born soldier questions this mission, asking why this guy is so important as to put this groups lives in danger to find one man, when there are bigger battles to be won. Miller has feelings along the same lines but knows that orders are orders and demands the team talk about the mission at hand. The squad arrives at a little village where men are already stationed and fighting German forces. Miller asks about Ryan but no one knows him. They try to cut through the town and find a French family stuck in their home and Caparzo tries to rescue the kids against orders. He is shot whilst out of cover and falls to the ground, still alive, begging the men to take a letter to his father, but to rewrite it as it's covered in his blood. He knows that he won't last. The sniper is in a clock tower and the American sniper, Jackson, spots him and shoots him through his own scope before he can kill again. Miller shouts that this is why they follow order and the men move on, after taking the letter out of the dead soldier's hand. Another part of the village and the men take a breather but one sits down on a plank and it heads into a brick wall, causing it to fall and reveal a squad of Germans. After a standoff, the Germans are blown away by another unit on the rooftops and their Captain, played by Ted Danson. Again, the question about Ryan is asked but this time, the Captain has a James Ryan in his rank, thankfully. The man breaks down, understandably, as he's told that his brothers have been killed in combat. Now I already know this isn't the right Ryan because of the actor playing him, but the scene carries on as this James Ryan tells Miller that his brothers are still in school. Miller tells him that he's sure his brothers are fine and we move onto the next. Poor bastard.
The squad take a rest in a church, as one of the men, Wade, is rewriting the blood-stained letter. Horvath and Miller talk about how many men have been lost under Miller's command, but he puts a spin on it by explaining that it's for the greater good. Later Upham and Miller talk about the betting pool the men have as to guess Miller's actual occupation and come to a silent agreement that when the money pool is big enough, he will reveal it to Upham. They reach a rally point and loads of men lie wounded as Miller talks to the pilot of a nearby crashed glider. He, yet again, doesn't know of Ryan but gives Miller and his men a bag of dog tags to search through. The men pour the bag onto a crate and begin searching as many soldiers walk past. Wade takes offence to this and begins to pick up the tags as the walkers stare on at these cold-hearted soldiers. Miller decides that Ryan isn't in the bag and in a desperate turn, starts questioning the walkers by and finally gets a lead. A soldier who lost his hearing from a grenade tells him that Ryan is in a mixed unit that is guarding a bridge across a river. The bridge is of vital importance to both sides of the war as it's one of the only one that the sides can cross in tanks. As the scene draws to a close, it makes me realise how morale was so important and shown in this movie. Even though his own unit's morale is low in looking for Ryan, Wade makes a move to hide the tags to keep the tags out of sight from the passing men.
Back on the road, the squad comes across another machine gun nest and although Reiben suggests that they go around undetected, Miller wants to close it down so that other men don't get killed. The squad aren't happy with his plans but he hands out their jobs and Upham is to stay behind with the equipment. Upham watches the advance through a sniper scope until he hears the men call out for him to join them with the bags. When he gets there, Wade is lying on the ground surrounded by the other men. He's been shot several times and as he calls out that he wants to go home, the men dose him with morphine, even though they know it's wasted on him. He dies where he lays and one of the Germans is captured alive. The men react badly to him, wanting to punish him for their friend's death, but with his surrender, Upham and Miller know that this isn't right. Miller makes him dig the graves for the dead America's that are already there and Wade, digging an extra for the German himself until. Miller then takes a walk and breaks down, with his right-hand shaking, as we have already noticed from his first landing onto the beach. The nerves as showing in this man, but he won't let his team see. As the rest of the squad finally want to kill the remaining German, Upham, who has mildly become friendly to the German as he was digging, begs for the man's life. We see the German saying that he hates Hitler, signs the American anthem and does anything to save his own life. Miller blindfolds the man as asks him to walk until he can surrender himself to the next allied unit. Reiben, the cocky Brooklyn soldier, is offender that his Captain can just let this man leave. He wants to dessert, explaining that this mission has gotten two of his friends killed. Horvath orders him to fall in line but he continues to pack his things and head off. The sergeant pulls out his gun and threatens to shoot the man, causes the entire squad to argue with each other as Upham begs Miller to stop this. The only way to stop it is to unveil his job back home. He's a teacher and goes on to say that this war will have changed him, which I'm sure it has for many men. He's afraid that his wife may not even recognise him anymore. All men all stop, very surprised by the news. He figures that is finding Ryan will get him home earlier, then that's what needs to be done. With the squad settling down, they carry on burying the men together.
As the men reach their village, they first cross a field and a German tank passes by. Hiding in the grass to let this one pass, explosions get set off but it's not from our men. A small group of Americans pop their heads up and identify themselves as the unit that Miller and his squad have been looking for and there he is, Pvt James Ryan, played by Matt Damon. Back at the village, Miller learns the extent of what they are doing to guard the bridge. Then he heads on to break the news to James Ryan about his brothers. He's obviously devastated by the news but tackles his emotions by having the need to help his team defend the bridge rather than leaving them a man down. He wants to remain with the only brothers that he actually has left. Miller knows he won't be able to change his mind, therefore he decides that his own squad will remain and help them fight too. Gathering the weapons, Miller gives the plan outline for the squad to take on board. They need to lure the Germans into the streets, their sniper will be in the tower, Reiben will ride out on a motorbike as bait and they ultimately try their best. Upham is given the job of running ammo to where it needs to be. As the men wait, Upham seems to have been finally accepted into the team. Ryan is trying to remember his brother's face, with the help of Miller, who tells him to remember something they all done together. Suddenly, the floor begins to rumble as the tanks are getting closer. Jackson signals from up top, that there are a number of tanks and at least 50 German ground troops on their way. One of the soldiers tries to plant a sticky bomb on one of the tanks, but waits to long and blows himself up. We are already one man down. One by one, Germans and Americans are killed in dramatic scenes. They switch positions several times as the Germans advance from all directions with a range of weapons and slowly they start to run out of ammo. Jackson is killed in his tower by a tank, as Melish is attacked by a German soldier in the room he's been shooting from. After some hand-to-hand fighting, the German soldier wins as he drives a knife into the American's chest. As the German leaves, he passes Upham on the stairs. He had heard what was going on, but was too afraid to help his fellow out. The German simple walks past him, knowing that the coward in no kind of threat. Horvath has been wounded and he fights a German soldier, who is also out of ammo, by using his helmet until they finally shoot each other with pistols. After killing the German, he grabs Upham and runs over the bridge as Miller orders everyone across. They plan to make their last stand and blow the bridge so that no one can cross it. The last remaining tank follows them, aiming for the men as it goes. Miller goes to blow the bridge but a shell hits the wall behind him and he drops the trigger. Heading back across the bridge, he gets shot in the chest by the same German soldier that he had let go earlier on. Upham witnesses the shooting from behind some rubble and the Germans are now standing next to his hiding spot. As Miller falls tot eh floor, he sits himself up and shoots with his pistol. He's aiming at a tank, which he obviously won't beat but still, the bloody thing explodes. The camera quickly pans out to reveal a small squad have come to help, along with an aircraft. Reiben and Ryan rush to Miller's side and shout for a medic. Upham, finally finds some courage and reveals himself with a rifle. Asking the small squad of Germans to surrender and the German that killed Miller recognises Upham. Calling him by his name means nothing as Upham shoots the man instead.
As Miller lays dying, he calls over Ryan and asks him to earn the life he has been granted. Many have lost theirs in the search to get him home. In a voiceover that follows, the General read a letter that he is sending to Ryan's mother, letting her know that her son will be heading home. Ryan stands looking at a dead Miller, as the camera zooms in on his face slowly, it morphs back into the elderly man from the start. It's revealed that he is standing over Miller's grave and begs his wife to tell him that he has lived a good life. The film ends as we once again see the American flag blowing in the wind.
This film was brilliant and I'm sad that it took so long for me to watch it. The camera angles included some hand held, to make you feel like you were right in the action. The use of sound as times, including silence to emphasise the importance of the scenes was spectacular. One scene should the rain hitting leaves as they waited in a field and the rain drops slowly turned into the sound of bullets as they crashed against their destination. Graphic violence was not there just because they wanted it, it's to add the realism from what happened at the time. The film is based around a family called the Niland brothers and although one son was sent home, years layer another was found in a Japanese prison camp. The cast was brilliant and each character was different in their own ways. The movie took me out of my seat from the start and Spielberg done an incredible job. The is one of the best war films ever made.
Back on the road, the squad comes across another machine gun nest and although Reiben suggests that they go around undetected, Miller wants to close it down so that other men don't get killed. The squad aren't happy with his plans but he hands out their jobs and Upham is to stay behind with the equipment. Upham watches the advance through a sniper scope until he hears the men call out for him to join them with the bags. When he gets there, Wade is lying on the ground surrounded by the other men. He's been shot several times and as he calls out that he wants to go home, the men dose him with morphine, even though they know it's wasted on him. He dies where he lays and one of the Germans is captured alive. The men react badly to him, wanting to punish him for their friend's death, but with his surrender, Upham and Miller know that this isn't right. Miller makes him dig the graves for the dead America's that are already there and Wade, digging an extra for the German himself until. Miller then takes a walk and breaks down, with his right-hand shaking, as we have already noticed from his first landing onto the beach. The nerves as showing in this man, but he won't let his team see. As the rest of the squad finally want to kill the remaining German, Upham, who has mildly become friendly to the German as he was digging, begs for the man's life. We see the German saying that he hates Hitler, signs the American anthem and does anything to save his own life. Miller blindfolds the man as asks him to walk until he can surrender himself to the next allied unit. Reiben, the cocky Brooklyn soldier, is offender that his Captain can just let this man leave. He wants to dessert, explaining that this mission has gotten two of his friends killed. Horvath orders him to fall in line but he continues to pack his things and head off. The sergeant pulls out his gun and threatens to shoot the man, causes the entire squad to argue with each other as Upham begs Miller to stop this. The only way to stop it is to unveil his job back home. He's a teacher and goes on to say that this war will have changed him, which I'm sure it has for many men. He's afraid that his wife may not even recognise him anymore. All men all stop, very surprised by the news. He figures that is finding Ryan will get him home earlier, then that's what needs to be done. With the squad settling down, they carry on burying the men together.
As the men reach their village, they first cross a field and a German tank passes by. Hiding in the grass to let this one pass, explosions get set off but it's not from our men. A small group of Americans pop their heads up and identify themselves as the unit that Miller and his squad have been looking for and there he is, Pvt James Ryan, played by Matt Damon. Back at the village, Miller learns the extent of what they are doing to guard the bridge. Then he heads on to break the news to James Ryan about his brothers. He's obviously devastated by the news but tackles his emotions by having the need to help his team defend the bridge rather than leaving them a man down. He wants to remain with the only brothers that he actually has left. Miller knows he won't be able to change his mind, therefore he decides that his own squad will remain and help them fight too. Gathering the weapons, Miller gives the plan outline for the squad to take on board. They need to lure the Germans into the streets, their sniper will be in the tower, Reiben will ride out on a motorbike as bait and they ultimately try their best. Upham is given the job of running ammo to where it needs to be. As the men wait, Upham seems to have been finally accepted into the team. Ryan is trying to remember his brother's face, with the help of Miller, who tells him to remember something they all done together. Suddenly, the floor begins to rumble as the tanks are getting closer. Jackson signals from up top, that there are a number of tanks and at least 50 German ground troops on their way. One of the soldiers tries to plant a sticky bomb on one of the tanks, but waits to long and blows himself up. We are already one man down. One by one, Germans and Americans are killed in dramatic scenes. They switch positions several times as the Germans advance from all directions with a range of weapons and slowly they start to run out of ammo. Jackson is killed in his tower by a tank, as Melish is attacked by a German soldier in the room he's been shooting from. After some hand-to-hand fighting, the German soldier wins as he drives a knife into the American's chest. As the German leaves, he passes Upham on the stairs. He had heard what was going on, but was too afraid to help his fellow out. The German simple walks past him, knowing that the coward in no kind of threat. Horvath has been wounded and he fights a German soldier, who is also out of ammo, by using his helmet until they finally shoot each other with pistols. After killing the German, he grabs Upham and runs over the bridge as Miller orders everyone across. They plan to make their last stand and blow the bridge so that no one can cross it. The last remaining tank follows them, aiming for the men as it goes. Miller goes to blow the bridge but a shell hits the wall behind him and he drops the trigger. Heading back across the bridge, he gets shot in the chest by the same German soldier that he had let go earlier on. Upham witnesses the shooting from behind some rubble and the Germans are now standing next to his hiding spot. As Miller falls tot eh floor, he sits himself up and shoots with his pistol. He's aiming at a tank, which he obviously won't beat but still, the bloody thing explodes. The camera quickly pans out to reveal a small squad have come to help, along with an aircraft. Reiben and Ryan rush to Miller's side and shout for a medic. Upham, finally finds some courage and reveals himself with a rifle. Asking the small squad of Germans to surrender and the German that killed Miller recognises Upham. Calling him by his name means nothing as Upham shoots the man instead.
As Miller lays dying, he calls over Ryan and asks him to earn the life he has been granted. Many have lost theirs in the search to get him home. In a voiceover that follows, the General read a letter that he is sending to Ryan's mother, letting her know that her son will be heading home. Ryan stands looking at a dead Miller, as the camera zooms in on his face slowly, it morphs back into the elderly man from the start. It's revealed that he is standing over Miller's grave and begs his wife to tell him that he has lived a good life. The film ends as we once again see the American flag blowing in the wind.
This film was brilliant and I'm sad that it took so long for me to watch it. The camera angles included some hand held, to make you feel like you were right in the action. The use of sound as times, including silence to emphasise the importance of the scenes was spectacular. One scene should the rain hitting leaves as they waited in a field and the rain drops slowly turned into the sound of bullets as they crashed against their destination. Graphic violence was not there just because they wanted it, it's to add the realism from what happened at the time. The film is based around a family called the Niland brothers and although one son was sent home, years layer another was found in a Japanese prison camp. The cast was brilliant and each character was different in their own ways. The movie took me out of my seat from the start and Spielberg done an incredible job. The is one of the best war films ever made.
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