Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writer:

Robert Rodat

Stars:

Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore

Top Rated Movies #28 | Won 5 Oscars. Another 74 wins & 74 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hanks	...	Captain Miller
Tom Sizemore	...	Sergeant Horvath
Edward Burns	...	Private Reiben
Barry Pepper	...	Private Jackson
Adam Goldberg	...	Private Mellish
Vin Diesel	...	Private Caparzo
Giovanni Ribisi	...	T-4 Medic Wade
Jeremy Davies	...	Corporal Upham
Matt Damon	...	Private Ryan
Ted Danson	...	Captain Hamill
Paul Giamatti	...	Sergeant Hill
Dennis Farina	...	Lieutenant Colonel Anderson
Joerg Stadler	...	Steamboat Willie
Max Martini	...	Corporal Henderson (as Maximilian Martini)
Dylan Bruno	...	Toynbe

Storyline

Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother...

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Plot Keywords:

rescue mission | d day | world war two | normandy | army | 

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Taglines:

In the Last Great Invasion of the Last Great War, The Greatest Danger for Eight Men was Saving... One.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for intense prolonged realistically graphic sequences of war violence, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German Czech

Release Date:

24 July 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Saving Private Ryan

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,576,104, 26 July 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$216,540,909, 15 June 2012

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$481,840,909, 15 June 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

169 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie contains four actors, who were also directors, in the cast: Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Adam Goldberg, and Vin Diesel.

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Goofs

Pvt. Ryan incorrectly regarded the P-51 "Mustang" as Tank Busters, P-51 Mustangs are not effective at attacking ground targets as it is designed to counter enemy aircraft.

Another aircraft referred to as the P-47 "Thunderbolt", should have been more accurately been referred as a "Tank Buster" as it is designed to destroy enemy vehicles, including "Hard Skinned" German Panzers.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ryan's son: [running to comfort his father] Dad?
[flashback to D-Day]
LCVP pilot: [shouting out the soldiers on the raft] CLEAR THE RAMP! THIRTY SECONDS! GOD BE WITH YA!

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Crazy Credits

The DreamWorks and Paramount logos play in complete silence.

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Alternate Versions

German television-version is heavily cut, missing most of the violence particularly during the landing-scene at the beginning of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Psych: In Plain Fright (2010)

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Soundtracks

Tu es Partout
Music by Marguerite Monnot
Lyrics by Édith Piaf
Performed by Édith Piaf
Courtesy of Mercury Records, France
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Music

User Reviews

America saves the world - again!

Very good film - the landing sequence at the start was phenomenal. The acting was of a uniformly high standard. A couple of things spoiled the film a bit for me.

The Germans are treated as 'Nazis', even when most Wermacht soldiers were just serving their country like everybody else. Also they seemed to be targets that got mown down in droves and were generally portrayed as less than human. I thought that went out in cinema a few years after the war ended.

Finally the only mention of the other allies is one disparaging comment about Montgomery's failure in front of Caen. Firstly he was facing most of the German armour that was dug into strongpoints, and secondly on D-Day and for a period after the British and Canadian troops out numbered the Americans. I wouldn't normally bother but Americans seem to view these films as historically accurate representations.

With the release of U571 this trend is getting even worse. The capture of the Enigma machine was carried out by a British destroyer crew - before America even entered the war!

The new Colditz movie is following this path. There were very few American POW's held there, and none of those escaped by the war's end.