Saving Private Ryan, Lecture notes of History

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Film Assignment: Saving Private Ryan Christy Tran History 1700 Section 22 Spring 2013

My heart was pounding as I’m on the edge of my seat virtually throughout the entire movie. The film I chose for this assignment is Saving Private Ryan directed by Steven Spielberg. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that these gory war scenes actually happened, and soldiers witnessed first-hand their friend’s violent death. I’ve always been appreciative of our country’s soldiers, but after this film, I especially look up to them and am truly grateful for their loyalty and honor to defend our country. Saving Private Ryan starts out with the battle scenes from the invasion of Normandy at Omaha Beach, it immediately captured my attention. Though, I must say I didn’t care to see the mass slaughtering of American soldiers and the beach splashing waves of blood rather than seawater. I guess the violence was necessary in order for me to comprehend just how tragic this event was though. The invasion of Normandy, also known as D-day, occurred on June 6, 1944. 160,000 Allied troops marched into the beaches of Normandy, France to fight Nazi, Germany. After D-day, eight men were ordered to find a fellow soldier, Private James Ryan, who’s three brothers died in battle. Their mission was to not only find Private Ryan but bring him home alive to his mother who’s mourning over the loss of her three sons. Private Ryan is her last son alive, and that is why it’s so important that he makes its it home safely. There’s this scene where his mother receives the news of her sons death, no words were needed to be said during this scene, just the slow fall to the her knees as if her legs had been cut from under her was enough to make my heart drop ten feet into the ground. It made me imagine myself being in that same position, hearing that three of my sons are gone, I honestly don’t know how I would be able to handle news like that. I think this scene was an accurate portrayal of the heartbreak families went through when hearing about their loss.

This movie ties in with what we’ve discussed in class in the aspect of the battles scenes. The wars between the english and colonists were similar to the battles between the Allies and the Germans. Although there were different types of weapons and techniques used in World War 2 than in the Revolutionary War, in both instances, many lives were tragically lost. We also discussed the need for a good captain in class, in order to lead a successful army. I don’t know how the eight men would have made it to Private Ryan without the leadership of Captain Miller. Just as I don’t know how well the colonists would have done in battle without the leadership of George Washington and other great commanders during the revolution. Although at first, Washington did not know much of battle and how to lead one, his heart was in it, just as Captain Miller’s was. I also noticed another small detail that ties in with what we’ve discussed in class, in the movie, there was a man assigned to go with Captain Millers troops to help translate and this made me think of during the French and Indian War and how the the French and Indian communicated, I wonder whether or not there were translators for them as well. It makes me curious of the importance of communicating with the enemy, maybe it’s just better to kill than to talk. While doing my research on the history of D-Day and the battles in Normandy, I found that Saving Private Ryan is not a true story. I learned that there was no such person as Captain John H. Miller or Private Ryan. However, there was a Sergeant Frederick “Fritz” Niland who’s family, like Private Ryan’s, suffered the loss of three brothers. One of my favorite parts of the movie is how they age Private Ryan’s face at the end of the movie. It was probably one of the coolest transformations I’ve ever seen! I was surprised they had that kind of skill back in 1998! All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. I never imagined

Tom Hanks playing a role of a military captain, and honestly I didn’t know how well he would do, because the whole time I just kept think of the corny chick-flick Sleepless in Seattle. But I must say, I thought his performance as Captain John H. Miller was wonderful! I also thought Edward Burns did a great job as Private Reiben, he had that passion any soldier should have, the kind of passion that I didn’t really see in Matt Damon as Private Ryan, he just seemed a little “blah” to me. I can never really know for sure what life was like for those serving in World War 2, but I think Saving Private Ryan was a powerful and excellent portrayal of the horrifying events that occurred during the war. I can’t imagine the aching feeling of having somebody I love in the military, but then again, I couldn’t imagine how incredible the pride it brings either.