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 #25 | Won 5 Oscars. Another 74 wins & 75 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 | year 1944 | d day | 1940s | world war two | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pvt. Jackson killing the German sniper by firing a shot through the man's scope and into his eye was based on a true incident, though not in World War II and not by a Pvt. Jackson. It was accomplished by US Marine GySgt Carlos Hathcock during the Vietnam War. Hathcock was a sniper who was being fired at by a concealed North Vietnamese Army (NVA) sniper. He finally managed to catch a glimpse of the man's sniperscope, and put a round through it, killing him. The incident pictured in this film is a tribute to Hathcock, who has been regarded as one of the US military's top snipers.

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Goofs

When the unit finds the first Private Ryan, after he hears his brothers are dead, he leans towards his superior officer as he cries, but in the next scene he has his face buried in the officer's chest.

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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 Policías, en el corazón de la calle: Los errores de los otros (2000)

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Soundtracks

C'était une Histoire d'Amour
Music by Jean Jal
Lyrics by Henri Contet
Performed by Édith Piaf
Courtesy of Mercury Records, France
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Music

User Reviews

Fictional yes but combat authenticity was genuinely real.

21 years ago this movie was released and I finally watched it in 2019. I really struggled to watch and I cried and I wept through most of the movie. I did two tours in Nam. This movie was like being back in country. I will never watch it again. It's just eats my guts out.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German Czech

Release Date:

24 July 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Saving Private Ryan

Filming Locations:

Calvados, France

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,576,104, 26 July 1998

Gross USA:

$217,049,603

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$482,349,603

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dreamworks Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

169 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1