Ryan's wife at the end always kills me... the way she reads the tombstone, the way she reacts to when she's asked, "Tell me I led a good life, tell me I'm a good man" and looks back at the tombstone... she built a life with Ryan, had kids, had grandkids... and in those 30 seconds, she shows that he never talked about any of that, even with her, in all those years. She never heard of Miller, had no idea that man had such an effect on her husband. The shortest but most critical performance.
Generally, the WWII vets didn't share their experiences with family. They'd join the VFW, or they'd stay in contact with their war buddies, but around family would only nod at each other while they smoked their cigarettes in the backyard. However, at my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, my dad's nephews (my first cousins) got him drunk enough to answer the question, 'what was it like?' "Harrowing and Sublime" Dad answered, but I expected that answer, since I'd spent a significant part of my life trying to figure out what happened to my parents in WWII. Now I'm the family historian (I'm old and retired and wanted to know who my orphaned paternal grandfather's family were), so I get to be the one who adds the service history to people in my trees and send messages to DNA matches. 'Did you know your grandfather played a crucial role during this famous battle?' or 'Our great grandfathers were in the same place in Ohio because Revolutionary War Vets from both Massachusetts and Virginia had served together in several battles?' I'd like to think that a story could move people to research their families (which helps all of us), but I'm including military service because it's crucial that everyone understands the moral hazards of war. Especially now, at the beginning of WWIII.
I think I was 21 when I first saw this movie. The story Wade tells about pretending to sleep so he didn't have to talk to his Mom floored me. I had never felt so sympathetic to anything in my life than I did to his guilt. He wasn't being malicious or petty. He was just tired and wanted to get to sleep. But he regretted not giving his Mom that five minutes. I'm pushing 50 now. I recently lost my Mom after she endured a prolonged illness. I wish I had given her those five minutes. We're all busy. We all have jobs and responsibilities. It's easy to get caught up in our day to day routines or become embroiled in unexpected life events. We promise ourselves we'll catch up with our parents or other loved ones when we have the time. Unfortunately, it's also easy to keep kicking that promise down the road. Give your parents that five minutes. Hell, give them 10 or 15. It's time well spent.
❤ I just read your story. I relate. I am 62, and suffered alot growing up. It took along time to realise my mother at least tried, unlike my dad. . I always suffered severe PTSD, but it wasn't a thing in the eighties when I got into law enforcement. I wanted to tell her how thankfull I felt for her just trieing. But she came down with dementia-like state, and could no longer talk. The mind of a child. We live states apart. It breaks my heart. ❤
@@peterruiz6117 I know exactly what you mean. Dementia was a symptom of my Mom's illness and it got progressively worse during the last six months of her life. It takes its toll on the whole family. You become frustrated because of them, frustrated for them. You keep waiting for the person they were to show up. But those lucid moments become more and more rare. You said it. It's heartbreaking. All I can say is try your best to be there for her any way you can, even if she doesn't know you're there. At the very least it will give you some peace of mind. And make sure you take care of yourself, too.
@@nathannewman3968 that quote is still resonating brother. Call my mom every day at age 38 and I’ll never stop. Life is just too short. Wish I had more positive people like yourself in my life. Thanks again for such a solid comment
18:00 There's another aspect to Wade's second shot of morphine, in that the squads usually only had 1 syrette per soldier, if not less, so the group agreeing to his second shot to ease the pain of his inevitable death meant that the surviving members of the squad knew there was the potential of them getting hit later, but not having morphine since they doubled Wade's. It's another example of the sacrifices these men made for their friends; to ease Wade's death was, more than likely, going to mean painful death of the survivors in later engagements due to not having enough morphine left, but they did it anyway. Heartbreaking, but clearly illustrated the love and devotion they had for their fellow soldiers, their brothers...
@@paladinsix9285 Not after Wade treated the injured paratroopers and glider crew injuries. His supplies would have been extremely low after treating so many injured, that he hadn't planned on, as he seemed to be the first and only medic to find and treat the group.
One of the details I noticed most is when they land, Cpt Miller starts out on dry land but when he comes out of his daze, he's back up to his waist in water. I think it's a nod towards how long the battle for Omaha actually took. 20 minutes in screen time but in reality it was more like 8 -12 hours. It shows that the tide had come in by the time he was able to figure out a plan.
@cb5117 Thanks! I always assumed it was a continuity error but when I learned more about the landings it made sense that it was intentional - a lot of accounts from the soldiers that were there say they were using the rising tide for cover from the incoming fire to make progress up the beach because unlike in the film, in reality bullets lose momentum very quickly in water and it was the only protection they really had
Actually, that really was just an error. The battle across all 5 beaches lasted hours, but the first wave, at certain sectors, were able to gain control in an hour or so. The entire Battle of Normandy lasted about 12 weeks.
@ryannolfe9051 Apologies, I may have been a bit unclear in how I wrote it - yes the battle for Normandy was a months long one, I'm talking specifically about the landing on Omaha beach that's depicted in this film, that took almost all day from the first wave to capture the beach and the bluffs above.
@rockstarJDP I know what you mean. I'm saying in the movie where Tom Hank's character is wet, then not wet, really is just an editing error. The movie is full of them. The battle to control specifically the beaches ended in only an hour or so. It was the overall battle to establish a beachhead that took up to 12 hours.
Tom Hanks character going off alone to cry alone always hits me, he has to break down but he’s professional enough that he doesn’t let his men see him show vulnerability.
Saving Private Ryan is one of those war films which is just timeless. An absolutely bleak, gritty, sorrow filled gem. I think films like this should be shown in schools. A typical school day is about 6 or 6 hours minus a couple of breaks, so two long films in one day.
Funny you say that I remember in high school I suggested to my history teacher we watch it in class. He was all for it. I think we watched it over a few days because of the run time, but I was so happy our class watched it because of just how raw and real it looked. The film doesn’t sugar cost how violent WW2 was in bathes it in blood. The film is a timeless classic.
@@audreyquinn73 Band Of Brothers is another one, which could be watched in history class over a half term. Der Untergang / Downfall is another cracking film, just with subtitles. It's been meme'd to death now though with people making humorous videos by putting their own subtitles in 😆😅
As a audio engineer that has toured with Broadway musicals, I have to point out that it also won a Oscar for Best Sound Design! The audio in this film is amazing! Anyone that has not watched this film with a full surround sound system is missing out. The audio team did a amazing job!
You are of course correct. The sound design, the cinematography, the set dressing, the costumes, etc. are all top notch. They paid very careful attention to the uniforms, weapons and accoutrements of US soldiers, unit badges of the uniforms and helmets, how officers and NCO's were identified, etc. Those folks researched the hell out of this film and I can't think of another war movie in which soldiers are more accurately depicted. I'll forgive the ludicrous fake Tiger in the final scene because it isn't as though there are many of them about to just roll into a movie scene.
Tech moment here, screw 5.1 pro logic all that crap, take two identical speakers for the rear, run both negative together (or thru a 100 watt potentiometer for volume) then take both speakers plus up to your main amp to each plus (one for left one for right) any two Chanel audio can then be "decoded" with this linear matrix, providing your FOH amp can source current (most if not all decent ones can) congratulations you now have better surround sound than your neighbors
..Had the DVD playing thru a 360box to a still working 24yrs later logitech z-5500 thx-certified 5.1system, nearly forgot to Breath during most of the Battle Scenes, wasn't till the second time i watched it with the volume up (as it should be) The Neighbour found where the battle was coming from. Had watched this film in a cinema in Arnhem, some vet's were in the audiance - some also left early & never returned. As for context to the film Omaha's slaughter was in great part down to Grandcamp-Maisy, France, buried straight after capture & has an amazing story on being found & excavated in recent memory, From a old map in a German uniform pocket.
So when I was in 6th grade we had to interview someone who was alive in ww2. Everyone interviewed their bad ass grandpa. But I didn't I interviewed my great grandma. She was the person who had to type up all the letters. It was so heart breaking and I was so grateful that I was able to help tell her story. People forget people like her. My grandfather said that in his entire life she never once spoke about it until I came along. That made me feel special and blessed. It really made realize how war effects Everyone. They don't make movies about the depressed emotionally destroyed lonely women constantly writing these. Worrying the next one could be her own son.
I’m retired from the Army and the first movie that I noticed that really focused, partially, on what was also happening at home was We Were Soldiers. Everyone else interviewed their bad ass grandfathers…but your interview with your bad ass grandmother is such an important part of the story of war. It’s not bad ass…it’s heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing.
18:00 - Morphine given to medic scene: I was a Navy Corpsman, a medic for the Marine Corps. Wade asking for even one dose of Morphine is a sign he thinks he's going to die, that's why they were even hesitant to give the 1st one. Typically you want a wounded combatant to feel pain, it's something they can focus on to stay conscious. Now, too much pain can make someone go into shock and pass out. Morphine is what's called a vasodiolator, it makes vessels open up, and when you lose blood you're blood pressure goes down, so opening up your vessels some will make it drop even further. In combat, pain killers are typically given to help a dying combatant, not for pain management but to ease their suffering when death is guaranteed
In the context of where the platoon was and what they were doing, basically any serious injury would would have resulted in a mission-ending outcome, so even if by some miracle there was a way to repair a punctured liver and severed spinal cord on the field in WWII, Wade's injury was necessarily fatal. Remember, they were out in a field behind enemy lines with absolutely no hope of evacuation, no available medical knowledge, equipment or treatment options. When I think about it, more and more I think Spielberg took the easy way out here. Killing off Wade is much easier for Spielberg than to have him sustain a life-threatening, but not necessarily fatal wound (think of something like a perforated bowel or lung or something similar) which would become more and more debilitating over time and eventually result in Wade's death. What would Miller have done in that scenario? Would he abandon the mission to save one man in order to save a different man? Would he have just administered a double dose of morphine syrettes and gotten on with the mission? Would he just have left Wade to his own devices out of an inability to decide at all? Remember that even in WWII, even with the enhanced lethality of modern armaments compared to earlier conflicts, most wounds did not result in immediate death - roughly the ratio of wounded to fatal battle injuries is somewhere between 2 and 3 to one. Spielberg had the opportunity to explore this dreadful paradox that Miller might have faced and instead chose to have Wade quickly perish in order to move the plot along and save Miller from having to have to make a morally repugnant Hobson's choice.
I'm in healthcare and I thought the same thing. He just wanted to go in a way least traumatizing to his team. He didn't want to give the team the task of trying to save him, especially if they aren't trained in it. The "What if" is something that gets worse with time, because you always find a new way that person could have been saved.
I'm a opiate addict.(still am, but now I have to be for pain) I got into a horrible car accident and lost a limb. I almost bled out faster than normal because of heroin. But it probably saved me at the same time, because I was able to crawl out of fire without passing out from pain.
That pain still makes me quiver. Something about the burning feeling I can't let go. It's long deep throbbing pain with a burning feeling you can't imagine. And every heartbeat you feel weaker and weaker. You get cold, you start to forget your name, your life. Than you get very calm, almost happy. Then I woke up in a hospital in a body cast and one eye one arm and numb feet lol. Crazy. For the curious, my arm got ripped off at the shoulder by the other car going through the windshield. Luckily I was forced into the left side of the car by inertia. Basically the seat kept me there but my right arm was caught by th3 car and ripped off. I thought I had it when I crawled out. Shock is crazy. All I remember was crawling out.
Seeing this film in theaters was an incredibly moving experience. A packed theater and everyone sobbing at the end. You left the theater in absolute shock.
I wish I'd seen this in a cinema. I remember watching it at my dad's house. By the end of the beach scene we were in utter silence. We've spoken about our horror since.
I saw this in a cinema in England the day it came out. Watched it with my girlfriend. The lights came up at the end, and I quickly made for the door. My girlfriend didn’t understand why I left so quickly without her. She got into the car and asked if I was alright and I burst into tears. It was a good five minutes before I composed myself enough to drive. An extremely powerful film.
As a retired Army vet, this movie makes me cry every single time. Ryan asking his wife if the sacrifices for him were worth it is absolutely soul crushing. Great breakdown and I wasn’t expecting or prepared for you to do this movie. It will affect the rest of my night. But thank you for great work as always.
the most proliferous voice actor Phil LaMarr, had his first gig as Marvin, who was told to STFU Samuel L Jackson and then just got shot in the face by John Travolta in the movie pulp fiction lol guy has a insane resume nowadays
@mcake1234 the bullet is supposed to have passed through him and then the canteen, he's bleeding into the canteen and the canteen is spilling out of the other side.
I remember when Saving Pvt Ryan came out in theaters and my college roommate went to see it. When he came back home he looked like he'd been to war himself. I asked what had happened and he only replied with three words. "Watch that movie"
When SPR came out I started to understand my father. When I saw the Great Raid with him in 05 I came to know him even better. The trauma never really goes away it just faded to his subconscious and was hidden.
The part where The medic cries for his mom really hits home with me. My mother seen me get shot in the gut by a man with a .357 mag from about 5 feet away. I remember as I was on the ground fading out and calling for my mom. I cant watch that part without breaking down in tears and a flashback.
Well your not my friend Bill Reilly because he's dead, but did survive the 357 to the gut and had a clostemy bag in high school. Both you and he pretty tough I imagine
Another story from my own family. My paternal grandfather was one of 6 brothers that all served in WWII. Paul (one of the brothers) had been told that Russell had been killed in Omaha Beach. Paul ended up fighting through Italy and ended up in a small town in southern Germany in a mortar hole being pinned down by a sniper. They heard running footsteps behind them, and he glanced back to see that they were Americans approaching the 'fox hole' from the rear. As these guys jumped into the pit, he turned to ask the new guy next to him for a cigarette. It was his brother Russell who had lost his ammo bag on Omaha, and some other soldier and picked it up before being blown apart and they used the bag to identify what was left of the body. It was old home week while a sniper kept shooting. All 6 of the brothers made it home without so much as a wound. If you wrote that into a movie, no one would believe it, but I heard them recount the tale all through my childhood. My grandfather was the last living member of 17 children born on their farm in Kentucky. We lost him in 2020 at 98 years old.
Funny how brothers meet. My uncle was in the Big Red One and was hit in the chest by shrapnel, he woke up in England and the medical tech was his own brother! My dad was a P-61 gunner in the Pacific an other brother was a ball turret gunner in the 8th AF. They all came home, my mother lost a brother in the Pacific and one in Korea.
My grandfather had 6 brothers and a brother-in-law that fought in the War, and all 7 of them made it home without a physical wound as well. I believe they are all dead now as my grandfather is 93 now and was the youngest child
Wade’s cries for Mamma always gets me and it got me in your breakdown! His story is heartbreaking on a somewhat personal level as I don’t consider myself to be close to my own mother. I can barely talk to her so his story of ignoring her and regretting it hurts deep. And in the end all he wanted was her presence sends me right over the edge every time. Amazing film from start to finish.
My grandpa landed at Normandy (day 3 luckily for me) and fought across France into Germany as a radio operator for a AAA battalion. I remember watcging this with him, and him saying the never-ending rain and trudging though muddy streets and hedgerows in France was extremely accurate, the feeling of being soaked head to toe, all the time.
@@TheRealBatCave Mine didn't get emotional, though he did instantly list off the models of tanks and planes that were in the film, like it was yesterday for him. I know he didn't have an easy time there, and lost people, and "eliminated enemies" (thanks algorithm) in combat, because that was the only part he refused to talk about when he told me stories.
I walked around Normany in June. It was a wet, cold and windy day. It must have been terrible doing it for weeks while engaging the enemy. I feel bad for both sides in Ukraine.
I can still vividly remember seeing this in the theater opening weekend as a kid and having a row of ww2 vets sitting in the theater sobbing at the end. Amazing film I can’t imagine seeing your history on screen
Wade’s death hit me harder than any of the other death scene’s. Him calling for his mama killed me and I couldn’t help but shed tears. Thanks for diving into that one.
Agreed. That death also made me realize that A LOT of these soldiers were kids. I mean...18, 19, even 24 year olds! I'm 40 and I'm certain even I would be yelling for my mom
I remember the first time I watched that scene. It was such an intense scene and at this point I was so involved with the character; I got physically sick when he was dying and calling for his Mama...
The "psychological" framing of having him be a Medic and so, aware of the extent and reality of his wounds, was a particularly effective touch. Devastating death for the audience Expertly performed, too
My grandad was a Royal Marine Commando and fought on D-Day. He let us into very little about his experiences, but the few stories he did tell were all horrendous. I cannot imagine going through this.
My grandfather was on that beach. The only story he told me was him talking to a friend in a foxhole. They’d chat between mortar shelling. Then he realized his friend no longer had a face. The fact that gore was actually in the movie made it real for me. Also knowing that battle lasted three weeks and my grandfather eventually had to scavenge corpses for ammunition. I’m awe of the horrors he faced and thankfully survived, but he came home a changed man, broken by seeing the worst of humanity
That's horrific. It's wild that your grandfather was able to even tell that traumatic story. The damage that humans deal to humans us horrendous and we never seem to learn.
Great grand parents were medics in the French resistance during France's occupation. Great grand mother used to tell me stories about rescuing woundeds on the battlefield and hearing Nazi's plane above them. Never fully understood what they really went through until seeing the first 20 mins of that movie
Jesus, that’s grim. No wonder it affected him so much in later life. I used to beg my grandad, who was a Sapper in Burma, to tell me war stories. He never told a soul. Not even my Nana. A shame those details died with him, but he no doubt had his reasons.
@@warrencrawfordart They were good reasons. Probably one of them was that those tales aren’t heroic, they’re horrific. He spared you a lifetime of nightmares he had to live so that your nana and everyone else could focus on everything else that goes into life 💜
Wade’s death is made even more heartbreaking (and interesting IMO) because they made it very realistic. He goes through what’s know as the death diamond, formerly the lethal triad. As he’s bleeding more, he gets colder, which he says out loud how he’s cold. Then your body starts to realize that enough oxygen and co2 are not being moved through the body thanks to the lower volume of blood and so hyperventilation begins which we of course witness in his last few moments. The scene always hit me hard before but after going through Army medic school and having an instructor point out the medical science of the scene to us, I’ve never watched it the same.
The moment where the doors go down on the landing craft and the guys standing in front get hit with the machine gun fire and get absolutely obliterated is still one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever seen in a movie. It was so jarring and unexpected.
I agree, and the soldier stumbling around looking for his arm that was just blown off in the middle of all that chaos added power to the insane horror in that whole sequence. I felt numb after watching the landing in that movie.
My Dad was a Vietnam Vet, and died of Brain cancer related to his exposure to Agent Orange. I will always feel like WE, all of us, are Private Ryan. It is our veterans who make the sacrifice for all of our freedom, we are all soldier who gets to be home because of their sacrifice. Thank you to all our vets, and everything you sacrificed at the altar of Freedom.
My deepest condolences on your dads passing. Not only were Vietnam vets poisoned by their govt, they were denied recognition of the lasting, life ending injuries it caused for decades. As an Aussie, with Both gt grandads fighting at Gallipoli, then on to the western front WW1, Grandad & his brother ,Nth Africa, Malaya & New Guinea WW11, Uncles in Vietnam I feel the same. Every ANZAC day, ill ride in, then stand (in pouring rain if need be) as respect and thanks for what those Men, and many tens of thousands more from many nations faced, so our world could be a better place. We Are what they fought & sacrificed much for. Lest We Forget.
@colb9916 I am truly touched, and thank you so much. I rarely mention my Dad as ive receive cruel comments about how im faking it for, idk, youtube credit, I dont listen to those morons though. Vietnam vets were not celebrated when they first came home, they screamed baby killer at my father and many other Vietnam vets. He got his respect and acknowledgement later in life after his 50s, but the war cost him his life in the end. He talked about watching the drop planes dropping agent orange over the jungle, then the wind changing and the mist coming and hitting all of them. He said they had to use motor oil to bond to it, then soap to the oil, and that was the only way to wash it off. It's like the war killed him, but he took an extra 50 years to die from it. When he went, he went fast. Thank you for your understanding and kind words, I don't share for that, but it's is very much appreciated. I am also deeply sorry for your loss and family that suffered and you are so right, those who know, know how it was for our Vietnam vets. I am forever greatful for the time I had with my Dad and for the sacrifice of all Veterans.
It's not about one man's life." It's about a mother...a family...that sacrificed 3 soldiers being given the opportunity to salvage SOMETHING (Ryan). The cost of that was great, for sure.
A friend told me I had to see this movie in a local theater that had just upgraded its sound system. Doing so resulted in triggering my PTSD from incidents I had experienced while a Marine. One of the greatest movies ever made.
@@heavyspoilers Brings up those moments as a child when you tried to hurt the one that loves you the most....and for what reason, but to do it. I am glad you mentioned that, thanks for the Vid
@@SolidMikeP Yeah... I did the same thing as him. It was so stupid. It was a buried memory for about 10 years until I saw the movie when it came out and was like, "wtf was I thinking? Why?" I hated myself immediately. I actually told my mom about that (and the scene which reminded me) and she started crying, and then I started crying. Humans are amazing, terrible creatures...
@@furiousapplesackWe falling beings in a messed up world. We do things we shouldn't even though we know deep down they're wrong. And yeap, I did this same thing before.
Excellent film but I swear you had me rolling at “Is that…” insert cameo here. More cameos than the Oscars mate. Brilliant. Never expect to see Walter White in the military either.
@@heavyspoilers I’ve seen it 4/5 times & he’s the ONLY one I missed out on as well. I’m usually the one going “insert DiCaprio OUATIH Meme” every time I see random actors before they got well known 😂
@@heavyspoilers I was hoping for a Leland Orser shout. Oh well you can´t win them all. He almost broke his arms keeping the glider steady for one general, one man.
This was shown in my 6th grade history class. Made a huge impact on my life and I’ve never had more respect for a generation of men than I do that had to live through this hell.
I wish that lesson was a mandatory one given to every student. It agitates me to no end with the many that have very limited knowledge as to why they are living free. What sets me overboard is when disrespect is show for vets and makes me fighting mad. My dad💜 and all my uncles fought in WW II and Im a twenty yr veteran that fought in VN.
21:12 I always thought he started missing his shots because he stopped saying his prayer. Saying his prayer kept him calm and centered and when he stops saying it he loses his cool and misses his shots.
I have always assumed that Jackson was missing because A) they were the first targets which were running and actively dodging, and B) Jackson was under intense fire from multiple sides and could not take a steady, planned shot, and C) target overload. I don't think his accuracy was affected significantly by the change in scopes since they were all taken at very close and the point of impact from that short a distance would not have varied that greatly from scope to scope.
@@chuckschillingvideos I think it's definitely a combination of all those factors. Even the best snipers miss shots in this sort of situation. Good points/comments :)
One thing that is certain, it had absolutely nothing to do with his scope usage, it had to do with small moving targets and straight up human error. Sometimes snipers miss, they're not 100% accurate, nobody is.
@@chuckschillingvideosexactly this. I think because there was an overload in targets and pressure he loses his cool which leads to him missing targets. I kinda feel like in the end in doesn't matter anyway. He's in a last stand position which can't be good for a sniper once you're spotted.
Yea just because you have a zero set doesnt mean you dont know where to hold. It also has nothing to do with why someone would miss so often given the circumstances. and at those distances its not as if its as drastic as this channel thinks.
Him crying for his mother and the guy being stabbed slowly kills me every single time. Even all these years later. Especially him crying for his mother. Makes me cry every time b
The slow stabbing was the part that was super disturbing for me. To be there with him, seeing it go from his advantage to him being on his back, seeing the blade coming towards him, then realizing it was really going to happen is just terrifying to me... It makes it so real and intimate vs the quick and brutal deaths normally seen in movies. It really got past my emotional distance and brought me into the terror of that experience. Hell, just writing this made me shudder, since i can replay it in my head so clearly.
Also... Love your username. I was watching that news broadcast here in SF when it first aired. I couldn't believe it and had to rewatch it multiple times
Hands down the greatest war film of all time. You were correct in your defense of it on Amazon Screen Test. Thank you for taking the time to breakdown this exceptional work of art. I managed a cinema when it was released and despite the R rating, I never checked a single ID because I feel everyone should see this film. Cheers, Paul!
At 13 yrs old wades death was so terrifying an humbling to me. The scene really shed a light on war an death as well as love an embracing family while you have the time I hadn’t fully realized at that age.
I forgot this movie came out in 1998. For some reason I remember it coming out in 2000 or 2001 then that's just me thinking of Band of Brothers series. I love your take on one of my absolute favorite movies and I will be subscribing to this channel. As a veteran everything about this was top notch
Honestly, one of the greatest films in existence fullstop. I loved it as a kid because of the war scenes, I love it as an adult because of the emotional content. And the war scenes.
Great video Paul! One of the incredible details of this movie that I always loved is when after Miller and the troops take the machine gun nest before they capture Steam Boat Willy, you can hear the heavy machine gun "ticking" as the metal cools. Same noise your car makes shortly after you park it. It always sold the continuity of the scene and added to the realism.
My wife rented out an entire theater and screened this movie for me, during the pandemic . I was too young when it came out in theaters. It was incredible, especially the sound design.
Watched this with my pops when I was super young. Remember the stabbing scene really fucked me up for a while. I can still hear the noise of the knife cutting through his chest :(
Great Breakdown! 9:03 As a war veteran myself (Gulf War 1991) Unfortunately, fake surrender happens in war in order for deceivers to get in closer range of the enemy. It was difficult as a 19 year old soldier to see and hear about these situations in real life in real time.
The most beautiful thing in this movie is Carparzo's letter. How it goes from soilder to solider and it wasnmade sure to get delivered. Absolutely amazing.
1. Another great cameo that was missed was Dennis Farina. Notice that during his encounter with Miller, right before he gives Miller his next assignment, he really focuses his attention on Miller's demeanor. It's like he's checking on him to see if he's okay, given what they've just endured. 2. Look at how Upham's swagger and demeanor shift after his first or only kill. He's more than a desk jockey now. 3. When Horvath dies, his eyes are fixed on the bridge. 4. When each soldier died, a buddy would pull out a letter. I honestly thought it was that specific soldier's letter home to his own family, not necessarily Carpozo's letter. 5. I thought Miller's last words to Ryan were, "Live earnest... earnest," which would make for great last words. Apparently, the last words were, "Earn this... Earn it." Either way, I appreciated how Future Ryan wanted validation that his life honored Captain Miller. It was a beautiful ending for the sacrificial price of freedom.
I really didn't think I'd be laughing so much to a Heavy Spoilers video about Saving Private Ryan xD Those - 'wait is that ...' moments are hilarious 🤣🤣
9:37 Mellish is killed with his own bayonet, not an HJ knife. You can tell its a bayonet for an M1 as it has the muzzle ring. The Mauser K98 bayonet was secured with a long rail and groove in the handle of the knife. 18:40 He's not unloading them to deprive specifically SBW from having a weapon, its a standard procedure for disabling an M1 Garand by pulling out the entire trigger group and magazine floorplate- as the rifles are being used as grave markers, you would disable the weapons to prevent their use by the enemy and to ensure that as a useless rifle they are left in place until graves registration could arrive and catalog the graves. Also the rifle sling thing with Jackson- where do you come off saying that's specifically for execution? Its a way of bracing a rifle against the non-firing arm for making a shot in the kneeling or standing position. Jackson was doing that because he presumed he'd be taking a shot at SBW at long range after they let him wander off- he'd probably ditch the blindfold and make a break for the treeline- Jackson was getting ready with a marksmanship technique, not an executioner's technique. Executions are hardly made at long range. 21:28 His two scopes are a Weaver 330 and an Unertl 8x not "Ureti". No sniper would change scopes in the field without having to make adjustments- its an excellent point made- though moving targets and the adrenaline of the situation would contribute more to missing, as well as his scopes being zeroed for longer range and Jackson shooting at targets closing within 100m making the scope ill-suited. He's relying on "kentucky windage" with a crosshair devoid of stadia lines for reference. I'll speak from experience on this one as I was a designated marksman for a period in the 101st Airborne in 2012. Another thing that bugs me about his scopes- he starts adjusting the objective lens of his Unertl (for some reason) talking about "two clicks" as if that has something to do with a range of "450 yards"- his Weaver 330 would have been more than adequate in the first place as "450 yards" is well within the capabilities of the iron sights of any rifleman around him.
I never saw it. But your breakdown makes it look so interesting. I remember when it was in theaters and all I kept hear about it was people leaving the cinema within the 1st 15 minutes. I assumed it was bad. But i'll definitely check it out now.
When Miller is hopelessly shooting at the tank with his 1911 45, and it explodes, Ryan calls the planes "P51 tank busters". Although all front line fighters were used to attack ground targets ,at one time or other, P51s were never called that. Heavy fighters, higher tech, you might call them because of the biggest most powerfull engines like the P47 Thunderbolt, Hawker Typhoon, allowed them to carry lunatic amounts, like eight 50 cal heavy machine guns or four 20MM cannon, bombs, and bazooka rocket launchers, or rockets...Those were called "tank busters". The P51s in the movie was known as a great high altitude escort fighter. Great video, ma' man
Giovanni Ribisi’s death hit me the hardest everytime I watch this movie. Tom Seizmore’s is rough as well. He was perfect in these kind of movies. Black Hawk Down, Heat.
One inaccuracy/goof that everyone seems to overlook is the photograph of the four Ryans in uniform on their mother's hutch. That photograph is an impossibility. If you remember, in the scene where the youngest Ryan relays the story about the barn incident to Miller, at the conclusion of the story Ryan tells him that that night in the barn was the last night the brothers had all been together, which clearly was long before all of them had enlisted or been drafted and been through basic training. And the odds of them all being able to pose for a photograph during wartime when they were in different service branches in different theaters of war makes it that much more unbelievably improbable. This is one of several examples in the film of Spielberg succumbing to his recurring urge to make emotional points at the expense of historical accuracy to the extent that he concocted a completely impossible and internally contradictory event in his film.
That inconsistency was created by Matt Damon improvising the whole story of the last time he was with his brothers...Spielberg liked the story so much, he left it in, and made the picture an issue.👍
Disabling a weapon that has to be left behind (18:36) is standard practice in the field. The idea being to deny its use to the enemy. It was not specific to this particular soldier. He isn't unloading it, that has already been done, his is removing the trigger assembly to prevent it being used. At 18:55, not wearing a wedding ring was common for men of that period. From the depression to the late 40's, many men didn't wear wedding rings. The odd thing about Jackson in the bell tower is that none of the German infantry use suppressing fire of any type on his position. The confusion between the two different German soldiers can also been clarified when we see that the man who killed Malish has an SS rune on his collar and Willie has the standard German army collar insignia. Last bit of trivia, the Tiger tank is actually a wood mock up of a Tiger on top of a WW2 Soviet T-34 tank chassis.
Willie is actually alluded to in the film. When they're having the intense argument about to release him or not, one them says that if they do, he'll just fill in with the closest German unit he meets. This proves to be correct, that is the first friendly unit he finds.
When I was a child, I was really confused by the premise of the movie, but as an adult you realize it’s really the only way to show what WAR actually is. You’re not fighting for any other reason then the guy to the right and left of you, Your Brothers.
I have spoken with many soldiers who fought in both theaters. They all have stated that it was not prudent to wear one's wedding ring. One fella insisted on wearing his and, during a retreat, that ring finger -- with a wedding band -- was shot off and it rolled down a hill they had just climbed. Screaming for his buddies to save his ring, two guys slid back down the hill, toward the enemy, and retrieved the finger & ring. The soldier was not able to have the finger reattached, but was able to keep custody of his wedding band until he got back to the States.
Paul, first off I love the channel and have been watching your videos for a long time. SPR is one of my favorite films so this was great to see a breakdown on. A couple technical mistakes though. At 9:48 you state the Hitler Youth knife taken off a dead German and given to Melish is the same knife he’s killed with during the final battle but if you look closely the German soldier who stabs Melish is using a rifle bayonet as evidenced by the barrel ring on the crossguard for attaching to the muzzle end of a service rifle. Also at 18:23 you state that Jackson tying his sling off to his bicep is a technique used for executions which is incorrect, it is a basic rifle marksmanship technique taught in boot camp for shooting a rifle more accurately utilizing a leather shooting sling to stabilize the rifle for more precision shots than regular offhand/unsupported shooting. Otherwise it was an excellent video! Keep up the great work.
I laughed a little bit when he mentioned that about the sling. We learn that at boot camp for rifle quals. But it’s definitely not something we do in the field of course. Nowadays it’s different because the slings are so different than the stuff we got in the early 2000’s even. It’s a small detail the video got wrong, but when you’ve lived that life it’s easy to pick out little mistakes like that. 🤷🏻♂️
and ill add another small detail, he said he "unloads the M1 so it can't be used to shoot the group" but he doesn't unload it he removes the trigger and tosses it away so no one can use the weapon later
It was Melish's issued bayonet that was used against him. Brief moment in the film where you can see him reach into his waistline and produce the bayonet.
This was one of the first movies that employed DTS surround sound. Others might have done it before but it was really noticeably different for SPR. Surround sound technology is so common now we take it for granted. I remember being in the theater in and wanting to duck over and over again because it felt like bullets were landing and firing from every direction. I was completely immersed. I'm glad to have grown up during the implementation of great technologies and a lot of their first (or best uses of the time) were done by Spielberg. The first time I saw a living dinosaur was Jurassic Park. The first time I entered a war zone was SPR. The first time I saw a shark eat a man was in Jaws and I fell in love with my first alien in E.T.
@5:15 the thing about garand thumb is you cannot get it if loading a full enbloc clip as your thumb would ride along the top of the topmost bullet missing getting pinched. The bolt slamming forward tends to be slower because of the force needed to extract the bullet from the top of the clip, this sliding also tends to sweep your thumb out of the way. You get GT if you are stupid enough to push down on the follower with your thumb. @18:22 lol using the sling as provided has zero to with execution but is part of early marksmanship training. It creates extra stabilizing force, now whether or not he would do it when they are about to shoot him is irrelevant especially that close.
How can Jackson get Garand Thumb when he is armed with the 1903 Springfield? The M1 Garand was a gas operated semi-automatic internal magazine fed rifle while the 1903 Springfield was bolt action with an internal 5 round magazine.
@@ralphalvarez5465 That was my thought, too, but surely he had experience on the Garand, as well. I like the detail, even if it isn't perfectly accurate.
- At 1:02 you can see (what could be) Mellish's grave behind Old Ryan, on the screen's right edge. - Regarding weapons, the 1911 pistol in WWII was carried with an empty chamber, hammer down. Both times Sgt. Horvath's draws it, he racks the slide first, I figured it was a pretty neat detail.
We can all agree this movie’s impact on society cannot be overstated, not to mention its entertainment value speaks for itself. However its historical accuracy is a real shortfall. It gets a total F, and it would take over an hour in a RUclips video to explain all the historical and technical/tactical errors. American Hollywood has very little respect for historical accuracy.
Bro, get out of my head. You keep doing these on movies I've watched in the last 48hrs and I have the same feeling about the wade scene in the church. I'd definitely have a beer with you lol
13:49 -- A MAJOR detail you missed was Carparzo was protected by his cross... when he gives the cross to the girl, he is immediately shot and killed after he is unprotected.
Couple things. First, you mention Jackson has a thumb injury from “Garand Thumb”. His sniper rifle is a Springfield ‘03-A4 bolt action rifle fitted with scope rings. It is highly unlikely he had his thumb snapped in the action as it is manually operated, unless he had an M1 earlier in the film, which the only other time he does not have his sniper rifle is during the radar assault where Miller told Jackson to swap rifles with Upham. Further, Jackson is left handed so if he had an M1, he would loaded the rifle with his other hand. Riflemen were taught to load the M1 with the edge of the palm holding the bolt back in case it released early and to push down with their thumb parallel to the bolt to prevent the bolt closing with their thumb in the way. Second, sniper scopes do not lose zero unless the dials are messed with or the scope was not properly secured to their mounts. There are likely a few factors to why Jackson was missing like being impatient and jerking the trigger or taking a breath during a shot, which can screw up your point of aim. Last, I want to mention Jackson managed to fire about 7 shots from what is typically a 5 shot rifle during his final scene. Even "barney" loading (extra round in the chamber with full magazine) you only get 6 and we do not see Jackson reloading between that.
20:01 the tiger tank depicted in the film wasn’t actually a tiger. They used a T34-85 and converted it to look like a Tiger. A noticeable comparison is the road wheels, a actual tiger tank had interweaving wheels. Another one is the turret is very forward of the hull in the film.
For a video on the attention to detail, you completely missed that Sgt. Miller said that he taught English composition. His hand shook from shell shock, which was common for combat vets who have been in a battle, even a small battle can cause the nerves to be shook.
It’s amazing they could do such a tremendous job with accuracy and then make such a silly mistake pointing the shore obstacles the wrong way. No worries though, still the best WWII representation ever.
USMC Veteran here - 18:16 is not a sign of a rifleman getting ready for an execution specifically, it's how you use a two point sling to steady your rifle for taking longer distance shots in a standing position. I have no idea why anyone would do this if they were about to execute a man at point blank range.
I pretty sure the paperwork/letter they carried in the top left pocket is life insurance policy, family or named person would get $10000 in the event of being K.I.A , each soldier filled one out.
My Grandfather was a gunner in the Air Force, my Dad and uncles were in Vietnam. For some reason this movie resonated with me - I've never been truly tested like they were. I would have been so very afraid. Not sure I would have had the guts to do what they did.
1.) except for the fact that the scope shot is 100 % impossible in this movie. bullets don't travel in straight lines they travel in arches. there is no way, at that distance that he could shoot upwards and send a round Stright through a scope that was pointing down at him. also, the fact that he somehow removes the army sniper scope and replaces it with a marine sniper scope which also wouldn't be interchangeable, and even if they were the scope wouldn't have been zeroed. 2.) Miller didn't unload the rifles at the radar site he removed the trigger groups so they couldn't be used by the enemy. 3.) again, it would be impossible for Jackson to change scopes they are two completely different scope and mount systems. and he was missing the shots because he was panicking and trying to run the gun faster than he could shoot it, the rifle is set up for a right-handed shooter and he's shooting it left-handed. 4.) steamboat willy is a German army regular. the other soldier is waffen SS.
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Bro Is YT trying to push people away from your channel? They have the same credit card commercial running every few minutes. Maddening.
No.
Don't get me wrong, good for you for getting sponsored, but I couldn't care less
Buddy, “East company?”
Easy company. Easy.
CoW is actually pretty good.
At heavy spoilers I always thought Ryan was a metaphor for us the audience or for everyone someone's brother,father, son or daughter
Ryan's wife at the end always kills me... the way she reads the tombstone, the way she reacts to when she's asked, "Tell me I led a good life, tell me I'm a good man" and looks back at the tombstone... she built a life with Ryan, had kids, had grandkids... and in those 30 seconds, she shows that he never talked about any of that, even with her, in all those years. She never heard of Miller, had no idea that man had such an effect on her husband. The shortest but most critical performance.
yeah so good, incredible way to end it
@heavyspoilers Vin diesel is in this too. I didn't realize it until this recap
"Well Ryan, truth is: you sucked. "
Generally, the WWII vets didn't share their experiences with family. They'd join the VFW, or they'd stay in contact with their war buddies, but around family would only nod at each other while they smoked their cigarettes in the backyard. However, at my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, my dad's nephews (my first cousins) got him drunk enough to answer the question, 'what was it like?' "Harrowing and Sublime" Dad answered, but I expected that answer, since I'd spent a significant part of my life trying to figure out what happened to my parents in WWII. Now I'm the family historian (I'm old and retired and wanted to know who my orphaned paternal grandfather's family were), so I get to be the one who adds the service history to people in my trees and send messages to DNA matches. 'Did you know your grandfather played a crucial role during this famous battle?' or 'Our great grandfathers were in the same place in Ohio because Revolutionary War Vets from both Massachusetts and Virginia had served together in several battles?' I'd like to think that a story could move people to research their families (which helps all of us), but I'm including military service because it's crucial that everyone understands the moral hazards of war. Especially now, at the beginning of WWIII.
My favorite bit about that scene is that Matt Damon has actually turned into the actor that plays the older Ryan.
I think I was 21 when I first saw this movie. The story Wade tells about pretending to sleep so he didn't have to talk to his Mom floored me. I had never felt so sympathetic to anything in my life than I did to his guilt. He wasn't being malicious or petty. He was just tired and wanted to get to sleep. But he regretted not giving his Mom that five minutes.
I'm pushing 50 now. I recently lost my Mom after she endured a prolonged illness. I wish I had given her those five minutes.
We're all busy. We all have jobs and responsibilities. It's easy to get caught up in our day to day routines or become embroiled in unexpected life events. We promise ourselves we'll catch up with our parents or other loved ones when we have the time. Unfortunately, it's also easy to keep kicking that promise down the road.
Give your parents that five minutes. Hell, give them 10 or 15. It's time well spent.
Much respect. That part got me as well
@@joeyfung-i Thanks, man.
❤ I just read your story. I relate. I am 62, and suffered alot growing up. It took along time to realise my mother at least tried, unlike my dad. . I always suffered severe PTSD, but it wasn't a thing in the eighties when I got into law enforcement. I wanted to tell her how thankfull I felt for her just trieing. But she came down with dementia-like state, and could no longer talk. The mind of a child. We live states apart. It breaks my heart. ❤
@@peterruiz6117 I know exactly what you mean. Dementia was a symptom of my Mom's illness and it got progressively worse during the last six months of her life. It takes its toll on the whole family. You become frustrated because of them, frustrated for them. You keep waiting for the person they were to show up. But those lucid moments become more and more rare. You said it. It's heartbreaking. All I can say is try your best to be there for her any way you can, even if she doesn't know you're there. At the very least it will give you some peace of mind.
And make sure you take care of yourself, too.
@@nathannewman3968 that quote is still resonating brother. Call my mom every day at age 38 and I’ll never stop. Life is just too short. Wish I had more positive people like yourself in my life. Thanks again for such a solid comment
18:00 There's another aspect to Wade's second shot of morphine, in that the squads usually only had 1 syrette per soldier, if not less, so the group agreeing to his second shot to ease the pain of his inevitable death meant that the surviving members of the squad knew there was the potential of them getting hit later, but not having morphine since they doubled Wade's. It's another example of the sacrifices these men made for their friends; to ease Wade's death was, more than likely, going to mean painful death of the survivors in later engagements due to not having enough morphine left, but they did it anyway. Heartbreaking, but clearly illustrated the love and devotion they had for their fellow soldiers, their brothers...
However wade being the medic may have had extra morphine in his medic bag
Well said, I didn't even think of that though I've seen this many times.
They had already lost 1 KIA to the Sniper, so they had an "extra" morphine styrette.
@@paladinsix9285 True - I didn't think of that at all. Well spotted.
@@paladinsix9285 Not after Wade treated the injured paratroopers and glider crew injuries. His supplies would have been extremely low after treating so many injured, that he hadn't planned on, as he seemed to be the first and only medic to find and treat the group.
One of the details I noticed most is when they land, Cpt Miller starts out on dry land but when he comes out of his daze, he's back up to his waist in water. I think it's a nod towards how long the battle for Omaha actually took. 20 minutes in screen time but in reality it was more like 8 -12 hours. It shows that the tide had come in by the time he was able to figure out a plan.
Wow, that’s a helluva pickup. Thanks for sharing.
@cb5117 Thanks! I always assumed it was a continuity error but when I learned more about the landings it made sense that it was intentional - a lot of accounts from the soldiers that were there say they were using the rising tide for cover from the incoming fire to make progress up the beach because unlike in the film, in reality bullets lose momentum very quickly in water and it was the only protection they really had
Actually, that really was just an error. The battle across all 5 beaches lasted hours, but the first wave, at certain sectors, were able to gain control in an hour or so. The entire Battle of Normandy lasted about 12 weeks.
@ryannolfe9051 Apologies, I may have been a bit unclear in how I wrote it - yes the battle for Normandy was a months long one, I'm talking specifically about the landing on Omaha beach that's depicted in this film, that took almost all day from the first wave to capture the beach and the bluffs above.
@rockstarJDP I know what you mean. I'm saying in the movie where Tom Hank's character is wet, then not wet, really is just an editing error. The movie is full of them. The battle to control specifically the beaches ended in only an hour or so. It was the overall battle to establish a beachhead that took up to 12 hours.
Tom Hanks character going off alone to cry alone always hits me, he has to break down but he’s professional enough that he doesn’t let his men see him show vulnerability.
Honestly that moment defines his entire character for me. It makes the few moments he actually loses his composure that much more genuine.
@@PodyTheCirate 100% agree
You have to show the team that you have it all together in the amidst of uncertainty. Heavy is the head who wears the crown.
"going off alone to cry alone"...
If you can't speak, don't
@@AI_and_I_Lyrics chill out
Saving Private Ryan is one of those war films which is just timeless. An absolutely bleak, gritty, sorrow filled gem. I think films like this should be shown in schools. A typical school day is about 6 or 6 hours minus a couple of breaks, so two long films in one day.
Funny you say that I remember in high school I suggested to my history teacher we watch it in class. He was all for it. I think we watched it over a few days because of the run time, but I was so happy our class watched it because of just how raw and real it looked. The film doesn’t sugar cost how violent WW2 was in bathes it in blood. The film is a timeless classic.
Two films in one day: Saving Private Ryan / Schindler's List
@@audreyquinn73 Band Of Brothers is another one, which could be watched in history class over a half term. Der Untergang / Downfall is another cracking film, just with subtitles. It's been meme'd to death now though with people making humorous videos by putting their own subtitles in 😆😅
As a audio engineer that has toured with Broadway musicals, I have to point out that it also won a Oscar for Best Sound Design! The audio in this film is amazing! Anyone that has not watched this film with a full surround sound system is missing out. The audio team did a amazing job!
You are of course correct. The sound design, the cinematography, the set dressing, the costumes, etc. are all top notch. They paid very careful attention to the uniforms, weapons and accoutrements of US soldiers, unit badges of the uniforms and helmets, how officers and NCO's were identified, etc. Those folks researched the hell out of this film and I can't think of another war movie in which soldiers are more accurately depicted. I'll forgive the ludicrous fake Tiger in the final scene because it isn't as though there are many of them about to just roll into a movie scene.
Tech moment here, screw 5.1 pro logic all that crap, take two identical speakers for the rear, run both negative together (or thru a 100 watt potentiometer for volume) then take both speakers plus up to your main amp to each plus (one for left one for right) any two Chanel audio can then be "decoded" with this linear matrix, providing your FOH amp can source current (most if not all decent ones can) congratulations you now have better surround sound than your neighbors
@@jeffreystroman2811 I think giving this type of advice without a Demo video is very dangerous. A novice could fry their amp.....
..Had the DVD playing thru a 360box to a still working 24yrs later logitech z-5500 thx-certified 5.1system, nearly forgot to Breath during most of the Battle Scenes, wasn't till the second time i watched it with the volume up (as it should be) The Neighbour found where the battle was coming from.
Had watched this film in a cinema in Arnhem, some vet's were in the audiance - some also left early & never returned.
As for context to the film Omaha's slaughter was in great part down to Grandcamp-Maisy, France, buried straight after capture & has an amazing story on being found & excavated in recent memory, From a old map in a German uniform pocket.
@@chuckschillingvideos There is only ONE SURVIVING, WORKING, Tiger tank, and it is owned by the Tank Museum at Bovington, Dorset. It was used in Fury.
Fun fact, at 18:33, he is not unloading them. He is disabling them by removing the trigger group.
Ahhh....a fellow garand fan
@@RP-ks6ly If it was a bolt action rifle (i.e., Lee Enfield .303, Springfield .308), the bolt assembly would be taken out.
So when I was in 6th grade we had to interview someone who was alive in ww2. Everyone interviewed their bad ass grandpa. But I didn't I interviewed my great grandma. She was the person who had to type up all the letters. It was so heart breaking and I was so grateful that I was able to help tell her story. People forget people like her. My grandfather said that in his entire life she never once spoke about it until I came along. That made me feel special and blessed. It really made realize how war effects Everyone. They don't make movies about the depressed emotionally destroyed lonely women constantly writing these. Worrying the next one could be her own son.
I’m retired from the Army and the first movie that I noticed that really focused, partially, on what was also happening at home was We Were Soldiers. Everyone else interviewed their bad ass grandfathers…but your interview with your bad ass grandmother is such an important part of the story of war. It’s not bad ass…it’s heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing, it truly moved me.
Ps. Your great grandma was a bad ass too.
Thank you for sharing this. I would love to hear more about her story if you feel like sharing it.
What's with your fascist profile picture?
❤
18:00 - Morphine given to medic scene: I was a Navy Corpsman, a medic for the Marine Corps. Wade asking for even one dose of Morphine is a sign he thinks he's going to die, that's why they were even hesitant to give the 1st one. Typically you want a wounded combatant to feel pain, it's something they can focus on to stay conscious. Now, too much pain can make someone go into shock and pass out. Morphine is what's called a vasodiolator, it makes vessels open up, and when you lose blood you're blood pressure goes down, so opening up your vessels some will make it drop even further. In combat, pain killers are typically given to help a dying combatant, not for pain management but to ease their suffering when death is guaranteed
In the context of where the platoon was and what they were doing, basically any serious injury would would have resulted in a mission-ending outcome, so even if by some miracle there was a way to repair a punctured liver and severed spinal cord on the field in WWII, Wade's injury was necessarily fatal. Remember, they were out in a field behind enemy lines with absolutely no hope of evacuation, no available medical knowledge, equipment or treatment options.
When I think about it, more and more I think Spielberg took the easy way out here. Killing off Wade is much easier for Spielberg than to have him sustain a life-threatening, but not necessarily fatal wound (think of something like a perforated bowel or lung or something similar) which would become more and more debilitating over time and eventually result in Wade's death. What would Miller have done in that scenario? Would he abandon the mission to save one man in order to save a different man? Would he have just administered a double dose of morphine syrettes and gotten on with the mission? Would he just have left Wade to his own devices out of an inability to decide at all? Remember that even in WWII, even with the enhanced lethality of modern armaments compared to earlier conflicts, most wounds did not result in immediate death - roughly the ratio of wounded to fatal battle injuries is somewhere between 2 and 3 to one. Spielberg had the opportunity to explore this dreadful paradox that Miller might have faced and instead chose to have Wade quickly perish in order to move the plot along and save Miller from having to have to make a morally repugnant Hobson's choice.
@@chuckschillingvideos Very well put, I never thought that far into it, but you're exactly right
I'm in healthcare and I thought the same thing. He just wanted to go in a way least traumatizing to his team. He didn't want to give the team the task of trying to save him, especially if they aren't trained in it.
The "What if" is something that gets worse with time, because you always find a new way that person could have been saved.
I'm a opiate addict.(still am, but now I have to be for pain) I got into a horrible car accident and lost a limb. I almost bled out faster than normal because of heroin. But it probably saved me at the same time, because I was able to crawl out of fire without passing out from pain.
That pain still makes me quiver. Something about the burning feeling I can't let go. It's long deep throbbing pain with a burning feeling you can't imagine. And every heartbeat you feel weaker and weaker. You get cold, you start to forget your name, your life. Than you get very calm, almost happy. Then I woke up in a hospital in a body cast and one eye one arm and numb feet lol. Crazy. For the curious, my arm got ripped off at the shoulder by the other car going through the windshield. Luckily I was forced into the left side of the car by inertia. Basically the seat kept me there but my right arm was caught by th3 car and ripped off. I thought I had it when I crawled out. Shock is crazy. All I remember was crawling out.
Seeing this film in theaters was an incredibly moving experience. A packed theater and everyone sobbing at the end. You left the theater in absolute shock.
I wish I'd seen this in a cinema.
I remember watching it at my dad's house. By the end of the beach scene we were in utter silence. We've spoken about our horror since.
I saw this in a cinema in England the day it came out. Watched it with my girlfriend. The lights came up at the end, and I quickly made for the door. My girlfriend didn’t understand why I left so quickly without her. She got into the car and asked if I was alright and I burst into tears. It was a good five minutes before I composed myself enough to drive. An extremely powerful film.
As a retired Army vet, this movie makes me cry every single time. Ryan asking his wife if the sacrifices for him were worth it is absolutely soul crushing. Great breakdown and I wasn’t expecting or prepared for you to do this movie. It will affect the rest of my night. But thank you for great work as always.
Such a burden to have for all those years…
You're okay with the U.S. military using it's own soldiers' as corpse mules to traffic drugs into America, too?
Thanks for your service. I am grateful for all those like you who have served so that this country can be free. 🙂
@@denisrousse5342 what do proxy wars have to do with us? No true patriots have enlisted since the Vietnam draft.
Nathan fillion built his career putting "i played private ryan in saving private ryan" on his resume 😂😂
the most proliferous voice actor Phil LaMarr, had his first gig as Marvin, who was told to STFU Samuel L Jackson and then just got shot in the face by John Travolta in the movie pulp fiction lol guy has a insane resume nowadays
@@drewinsur7321 he was mf excellent in mad tv too.
@@imgrindinMADTV was one of the best shows ever. And I'll never forget Phil playing that UPS driver.
A sad comment on what it takes to build an actor's career. Nathan Filion is really the shiznit, I've seen Dat azz
@@drewinsur7321he’s a great voice actor for family guy too
I've seen Private Ryan lots of times and I've never noticed that water canteen shot filling with blood. Damn.
I watched it last week for the 100th time and noticed it, and it blew my mind.
I noticed that 20 years ago when I was a young lad
It got me too, incredible detail
How can a water canteen fill with blood? I don't get it.
@mcake1234 the bullet is supposed to have passed through him and then the canteen, he's bleeding into the canteen and the canteen is spilling out of the other side.
I remember when Saving Pvt Ryan came out in theaters and my college roommate went to see it. When he came back home he looked like he'd been to war himself. I asked what had happened and he only replied with three words. "Watch that movie"
When SPR came out I started to understand my father. When I saw the Great Raid with him in 05 I came to know him even better. The trauma never really goes away it just faded to his subconscious and was hidden.
The part where The medic cries for his mom really hits home with me. My mother seen me get shot in the gut by a man with a .357 mag from about 5 feet away. I remember as I was on the ground fading out and calling for my mom. I cant watch that part without breaking down in tears and a flashback.
Well your not my friend Bill Reilly because he's dead, but did survive the 357 to the gut and had a clostemy bag in high school. Both you and he pretty tough I imagine
"Mommy...Mommy...mom!" Wimp!
@@gbody2617don't make fun. You won't know how you respond until it happens, which I hope it doesn't.
Another story from my own family. My paternal grandfather was one of 6 brothers that all served in WWII. Paul (one of the brothers) had been told that Russell had been killed in Omaha Beach. Paul ended up fighting through Italy and ended up in a small town in southern Germany in a mortar hole being pinned down by a sniper.
They heard running footsteps behind them, and he glanced back to see that they were Americans approaching the 'fox hole' from the rear. As these guys jumped into the pit, he turned to ask the new guy next to him for a cigarette.
It was his brother Russell who had lost his ammo bag on Omaha, and some other soldier and picked it up before being blown apart and they used the bag to identify what was left of the body.
It was old home week while a sniper kept shooting. All 6 of the brothers made it home without so much as a wound. If you wrote that into a movie, no one would believe it, but I heard them recount the tale all through my childhood. My grandfather was the last living member of 17 children born on their farm in Kentucky. We lost him in 2020 at 98 years old.
Funny how brothers meet. My uncle was in the Big Red One and was hit in the chest by shrapnel, he woke up in England and the medical tech was his own brother! My dad was a P-61 gunner in the Pacific an other brother was a ball turret gunner in the 8th AF. They all came home, my mother lost a brother in the Pacific and one in Korea.
Thanks for shareing. Such a wonderful story in such a dark time.
My grandfather had 6 brothers and a brother-in-law that fought in the War, and all 7 of them made it home without a physical wound as well. I believe they are all dead now as my grandfather is 93 now and was the youngest child
Wade’s cries for Mamma always gets me and it got me in your breakdown! His story is heartbreaking on a somewhat personal level as I don’t consider myself to be close to my own mother. I can barely talk to her so his story of ignoring her and regretting it hurts deep. And in the end all he wanted was her presence sends me right over the edge every time. Amazing film from start to finish.
My grandpa landed at Normandy (day 3 luckily for me) and fought across France into Germany as a radio operator for a AAA battalion.
I remember watcging this with him, and him saying the never-ending rain and trudging though muddy streets and hedgerows in France was extremely accurate, the feeling of being soaked head to toe, all the time.
Mine was a gunner on a tank, when this was on he told us to turn it off and left the room.
@@TheRealBatCave Mine didn't get emotional, though he did instantly list off the models of tanks and planes that were in the film, like it was yesterday for him.
I know he didn't have an easy time there, and lost people, and "eliminated enemies" (thanks algorithm) in combat, because that was the only part he refused to talk about when he told me stories.
I walked around Normany in June. It was a wet, cold and windy day. It must have been terrible doing it for weeks while engaging the enemy.
I feel bad for both sides in Ukraine.
I can still vividly remember seeing this in the theater opening weekend as a kid and having a row of ww2 vets sitting in the theater sobbing at the end. Amazing film I can’t imagine seeing your history on screen
Wade’s death hit me harder than any of the other death scene’s. Him calling for his mama killed me and I couldn’t help but shed tears.
Thanks for diving into that one.
Agreed. That death also made me realize that A LOT of these soldiers were kids. I mean...18, 19, even 24 year olds!
I'm 40 and I'm certain even I would be yelling for my mom
I remember the first time I watched that scene. It was such an intense scene and at this point I was so involved with the character; I got physically sick when he was dying and calling for his Mama...
***scenes not scene’s, which makes it possessive
Your name is appropriate.
The "psychological" framing of having him be a Medic and so, aware of the extent and reality of his wounds, was a particularly effective touch.
Devastating death for the audience
Expertly performed, too
"Is that Matt Damon?" I died.
19:13 lowkey had me dying too.
I'll add your names to the list of letters to send home.
My grandad was a Royal Marine Commando and fought on D-Day. He let us into very little about his experiences, but the few stories he did tell were all horrendous. I cannot imagine going through this.
My grandfather was on that beach. The only story he told me was him talking to a friend in a foxhole. They’d chat between mortar shelling. Then he realized his friend no longer had a face.
The fact that gore was actually in the movie made it real for me. Also knowing that battle lasted three weeks and my grandfather eventually had to scavenge corpses for ammunition. I’m awe of the horrors he faced and thankfully survived, but he came home a changed man, broken by seeing the worst of humanity
That's horrific. It's wild that your grandfather was able to even tell that traumatic story.
The damage that humans deal to humans us horrendous and we never seem to learn.
Great grand parents were medics in the French resistance during France's occupation. Great grand mother used to tell me stories about rescuing woundeds on the battlefield and hearing Nazi's plane above them. Never fully understood what they really went through until seeing the first 20 mins of that movie
Jesus, that’s grim. No wonder it affected him so much in later life. I used to beg my grandad, who was a Sapper in Burma, to tell me war stories. He never told a soul. Not even my Nana. A shame those details died with him, but he no doubt had his reasons.
@@warrencrawfordart They were good reasons. Probably one of them was that those tales aren’t heroic, they’re horrific. He spared you a lifetime of nightmares he had to live so that your nana and everyone else could focus on everything else that goes into life 💜
One of the best war movies of all-time.
Thank you Paul.
cross the "war" and itll be correct
Wade’s death is made even more heartbreaking (and interesting IMO) because they made it very realistic. He goes through what’s know as the death diamond, formerly the lethal triad. As he’s bleeding more, he gets colder, which he says out loud how he’s cold. Then your body starts to realize that enough oxygen and co2 are not being moved through the body thanks to the lower volume of blood and so hyperventilation begins which we of course witness in his last few moments. The scene always hit me hard before but after going through Army medic school and having an instructor point out the medical science of the scene to us, I’ve never watched it the same.
Navy Combat Paramedic here, and you are spot on. The Cheyne-Stokes breathing pattern means it won't be long before he is finally at peace.
The moment where the doors go down on the landing craft and the guys standing in front get hit with the machine gun fire and get absolutely obliterated is still one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever seen in a movie. It was so jarring and unexpected.
I agree, and the soldier stumbling around looking for his arm that was just blown off in the middle of all that chaos added power to the insane horror in that whole sequence. I felt numb after watching the landing in that movie.
I agree. It’s almost like we watch the rest of the film with shell-shock.
My Dad was a Vietnam Vet, and died of Brain cancer related to his exposure to Agent Orange. I will always feel like WE, all of us, are Private Ryan. It is our veterans who make the sacrifice for all of our freedom, we are all soldier who gets to be home because of their sacrifice. Thank you to all our vets, and everything you sacrificed at the altar of Freedom.
No doubt your father was a good man, my condolences.
My father died of colon cancer due to agent orange
One of the most intelligent comment I ever seen.
So true...
My deepest condolences on your dads passing.
Not only were Vietnam vets poisoned by their govt, they were denied recognition of the lasting, life ending injuries it caused for decades.
As an Aussie, with Both gt grandads fighting at Gallipoli, then on to the western front WW1, Grandad & his brother ,Nth Africa, Malaya & New Guinea WW11, Uncles in Vietnam I feel the same.
Every ANZAC day, ill ride in, then stand (in pouring rain if need be) as respect and thanks for what those Men, and many tens of thousands more from many nations faced, so our world could be a better place.
We Are what they fought & sacrificed much for.
Lest We Forget.
@colb9916 I am truly touched, and thank you so much. I rarely mention my Dad as ive receive cruel comments about how im faking it for, idk, youtube credit, I dont listen to those morons though. Vietnam vets were not celebrated when they first came home, they screamed baby killer at my father and many other Vietnam vets. He got his respect and acknowledgement later in life after his 50s, but the war cost him his life in the end. He talked about watching the drop planes dropping agent orange over the jungle, then the wind changing and the mist coming and hitting all of them. He said they had to use motor oil to bond to it, then soap to the oil, and that was the only way to wash it off. It's like the war killed him, but he took an extra 50 years to die from it. When he went, he went fast. Thank you for your understanding and kind words, I don't share for that, but it's is very much appreciated. I am also deeply sorry for your loss and family that suffered and you are so right, those who know, know how it was for our Vietnam vets. I am forever greatful for the time I had with my Dad and for the sacrifice of all Veterans.
It's not about one man's life." It's about a mother...a family...that sacrificed 3 soldiers being given the opportunity to salvage SOMETHING (Ryan).
The cost of that was great, for sure.
A friend told me I had to see this movie in a local theater that had just upgraded its sound system. Doing so resulted in triggering my PTSD from incidents I had experienced while a Marine. One of the greatest movies ever made.
When he talks about his mom, and pretending to sleep....HITS SO DAMN HARD
Genuinely think about that scene once a week
@@heavyspoilers Brings up those moments as a child when you tried to hurt the one that loves you the most....and for what reason, but to do it. I am glad you mentioned that, thanks for the Vid
@@SolidMikeP Yeah... I did the same thing as him. It was so stupid. It was a buried memory for about 10 years until I saw the movie when it came out and was like, "wtf was I thinking? Why?" I hated myself immediately. I actually told my mom about that (and the scene which reminded me) and she started crying, and then I started crying. Humans are amazing, terrible creatures...
@@furiousapplesack agree with everything, it brings out a feeling much deeper and more intense than Sadness”
@@furiousapplesackWe falling beings in a messed up world. We do things we shouldn't even though we know deep down they're wrong. And yeap, I did this same thing before.
This movie is a damn masterpiece.
The real sets look amazing, I can't believe it
Excellent film but I swear you had me rolling at “Is that…” insert cameo here. More cameos than the Oscars mate. Brilliant. Never expect to see Walter White in the military either.
lol I couldn’t believe when I seen Fillion. First time properly noticing him.
@@heavyspoilers I’ve seen it 4/5 times & he’s the ONLY one I missed out on as well. I’m usually the one going “insert DiCaprio OUATIH Meme” every time I see random actors before they got well known 😂
That wasn’t Walter White, that was Hal, the dad of Malcolm in the Middle. Who also moonlighted as Jerry Seinfeld’s dentist.
@@heavyspoilers I was hoping for a Leland Orser shout. Oh well you can´t win them all. He almost broke his arms keeping the glider steady for one general, one man.
Missed
Max Martini
Thumbs up for having a HUMAN narrator.
thoughty2, mr beat, and heavy spoilers have been my favorite historically accurate channels thus far.
Who is not human narator?
@@fiddlethresher6825a lot of people use ai or Robot voices is incredibly lazy and annoying
Very drony, mumbly and hard to follow.
One of the Greatest War movies ever... That's for sure. Great job.
I never got to see it in a theater... I wish I had.
This was shown in my 6th grade history class. Made a huge impact on my life and I’ve never had more respect for a generation of men than I do that had to live through this hell.
Same here, we had to have permission slips signed and ready.
I wish that lesson was a mandatory one given to every student. It agitates me to no end with the many that have very limited knowledge as to why they are living free. What sets me overboard is when disrespect is show for vets and makes me fighting mad. My dad💜 and all my uncles fought in WW II and Im a twenty yr veteran that fought in VN.
Nathan Fillion was great as Private Ryan.
😂😂
21:12 I always thought he started missing his shots because he stopped saying his prayer. Saying his prayer kept him calm and centered and when he stops saying it he loses his cool and misses his shots.
I have always assumed that Jackson was missing because A) they were the first targets which were running and actively dodging, and B) Jackson was under intense fire from multiple sides and could not take a steady, planned shot, and C) target overload. I don't think his accuracy was affected significantly by the change in scopes since they were all taken at very close and the point of impact from that short a distance would not have varied that greatly from scope to scope.
@@chuckschillingvideos I think it's definitely a combination of all those factors. Even the best snipers miss shots in this sort of situation. Good points/comments :)
One thing that is certain, it had absolutely nothing to do with his scope usage, it had to do with small moving targets and straight up human error. Sometimes snipers miss, they're not 100% accurate, nobody is.
@@chuckschillingvideosexactly this. I think because there was an overload in targets and pressure he loses his cool which leads to him missing targets.
I kinda feel like in the end in doesn't matter anyway. He's in a last stand position which can't be good for a sniper once you're spotted.
Yea just because you have a zero set doesnt mean you dont know where to hold. It also has nothing to do with why someone would miss so often given the circumstances. and at those distances its not as if its as drastic as this channel thinks.
Absolutely one of the best films ever made.
Him crying for his mother and the guy being stabbed slowly kills me every single time. Even all these years later. Especially him crying for his mother. Makes me cry every time b
The slow stabbing was the part that was super disturbing for me. To be there with him, seeing it go from his advantage to him being on his back, seeing the blade coming towards him, then realizing it was really going to happen is just terrifying to me... It makes it so real and intimate vs the quick and brutal deaths normally seen in movies.
It really got past my emotional distance and brought me into the terror of that experience.
Hell, just writing this made me shudder, since i can replay it in my head so clearly.
Also... Love your username. I was watching that news broadcast here in SF when it first aired. I couldn't believe it and had to rewatch it multiple times
@@michaelwilliams5506 so wrong but so funny at the same time lol. Laughed so hard when that aired.
Hands down the greatest war film of all time. You were correct in your defense of it on Amazon Screen Test. Thank you for taking the time to breakdown this exceptional work of art. I managed a cinema when it was released and despite the R rating, I never checked a single ID because I feel everyone should see this film. Cheers, Paul!
At 13 yrs old wades death was so terrifying an humbling to me. The scene really shed a light on war an death as well as love an embracing family while you have the time I hadn’t fully realized at that age.
I forgot this movie came out in 1998. For some reason I remember it coming out in 2000 or 2001 then that's just me thinking of Band of Brothers series.
I love your take on one of my absolute favorite movies and I will be subscribing to this channel. As a veteran everything about this was top notch
Honestly, one of the greatest films in existence fullstop. I loved it as a kid because of the war scenes, I love it as an adult because of the emotional content.
And the war scenes.
I remember being a kid and telling adults Vin Diesel was in this movie, but none of them believed me. 😂
Great video Paul! One of the incredible details of this movie that I always loved is when after Miller and the troops take the machine gun nest before they capture Steam Boat Willy, you can hear the heavy machine gun "ticking" as the metal cools. Same noise your car makes shortly after you park it. It always sold the continuity of the scene and added to the realism.
You’re right. The sound design on this movie is as impressive as all the other incredible stuff in it, but often gets overlooked.
Your so right and a good point. I thought that part really added to the accuracy of that scene.
My wife rented out an entire theater and screened this movie for me, during the pandemic . I was too young when it came out in theaters. It was incredible, especially the sound design.
damn...
what a thoughtful gift.
your wife is solid gold, imo.
health, wealth and happiness to the both of you.
❤@@skr6511
Watched this with my pops when I was super young. Remember the stabbing scene really fucked me up for a while. I can still hear the noise of the knife cutting through his chest :(
Great Breakdown! 9:03 As a war veteran myself (Gulf War 1991) Unfortunately, fake surrender happens in war in order for deceivers to get in closer range of the enemy. It was difficult as a 19 year old soldier to see and hear about these situations in real life in real time.
only cowards entertain the idea of taking prisoners on the battlefield
@@jhanks2012 ??? what a bizarre comment
@@jhanks2012-sent from a basement by a dude who couldn't make it past boot camp
The most beautiful thing in this movie is Carparzo's letter. How it goes from soilder to solider and it wasnmade sure to get delivered. Absolutely amazing.
A video I didn’t know I needed. Thank you, sir, for your service and many, many others.
1. Another great cameo that was missed was Dennis Farina. Notice that during his encounter with Miller, right before he gives Miller his next assignment, he really focuses his attention on Miller's demeanor. It's like he's checking on him to see if he's okay, given what they've just endured.
2. Look at how Upham's swagger and demeanor shift after his first or only kill. He's more than a desk jockey now.
3. When Horvath dies, his eyes are fixed on the bridge.
4. When each soldier died, a buddy would pull out a letter. I honestly thought it was that specific soldier's letter home to his own family, not necessarily Carpozo's letter.
5. I thought Miller's last words to Ryan were, "Live earnest... earnest," which would make for great last words. Apparently, the last words were, "Earn this... Earn it." Either way, I appreciated how Future Ryan wanted validation that his life honored Captain Miller. It was a beautiful ending for the sacrificial price of freedom.
I really didn't think I'd be laughing so much to a Heavy Spoilers video about Saving Private Ryan xD Those - 'wait is that ...' moments are hilarious 🤣🤣
9:37 Mellish is killed with his own bayonet, not an HJ knife. You can tell its a bayonet for an M1 as it has the muzzle ring. The Mauser K98 bayonet was secured with a long rail and groove in the handle of the knife.
18:40 He's not unloading them to deprive specifically SBW from having a weapon, its a standard procedure for disabling an M1 Garand by pulling out the entire trigger group and magazine floorplate- as the rifles are being used as grave markers, you would disable the weapons to prevent their use by the enemy and to ensure that as a useless rifle they are left in place until graves registration could arrive and catalog the graves.
Also the rifle sling thing with Jackson- where do you come off saying that's specifically for execution? Its a way of bracing a rifle against the non-firing arm for making a shot in the kneeling or standing position. Jackson was doing that because he presumed he'd be taking a shot at SBW at long range after they let him wander off- he'd probably ditch the blindfold and make a break for the treeline- Jackson was getting ready with a marksmanship technique, not an executioner's technique. Executions are hardly made at long range.
21:28 His two scopes are a Weaver 330 and an Unertl 8x not "Ureti". No sniper would change scopes in the field without having to make adjustments- its an excellent point made- though moving targets and the adrenaline of the situation would contribute more to missing, as well as his scopes being zeroed for longer range and Jackson shooting at targets closing within 100m making the scope ill-suited. He's relying on "kentucky windage" with a crosshair devoid of stadia lines for reference. I'll speak from experience on this one as I was a designated marksman for a period in the 101st Airborne in 2012. Another thing that bugs me about his scopes- he starts adjusting the objective lens of his Unertl (for some reason) talking about "two clicks" as if that has something to do with a range of "450 yards"- his Weaver 330 would have been more than adequate in the first place as "450 yards" is well within the capabilities of the iron sights of any rifleman around him.
I never saw it. But your breakdown makes it look so interesting. I remember when it was in theaters and all I kept hear about it was people leaving the cinema within the 1st 15 minutes. I assumed it was bad. But i'll definitely check it out now.
When Miller is hopelessly shooting at the tank with his 1911 45, and it explodes, Ryan calls the planes "P51 tank busters". Although all front line fighters were used to attack ground targets ,at one time or other, P51s were never called that. Heavy fighters, higher tech, you might call them because of the biggest most powerfull engines like the P47 Thunderbolt, Hawker Typhoon, allowed them to carry lunatic amounts, like eight 50 cal heavy machine guns or four 20MM cannon, bombs, and bazooka rocket launchers, or rockets...Those were called "tank busters". The P51s in the movie was known as a great high altitude escort fighter.
Great video, ma' man
Giovanni Ribisi’s death hit me the hardest everytime I watch this movie. Tom Seizmore’s is rough as well. He was perfect in these kind of movies. Black Hawk Down, Heat.
Ive always been a big fan of Seizmore he was a great actor.
One inaccuracy/goof that everyone seems to overlook is the photograph of the four Ryans in uniform on their mother's hutch. That photograph is an impossibility. If you remember, in the scene where the youngest Ryan relays the story about the barn incident to Miller, at the conclusion of the story Ryan tells him that that night in the barn was the last night the brothers had all been together, which clearly was long before all of them had enlisted or been drafted and been through basic training. And the odds of them all being able to pose for a photograph during wartime when they were in different service branches in different theaters of war makes it that much more unbelievably improbable. This is one of several examples in the film of Spielberg succumbing to his recurring urge to make emotional points at the expense of historical accuracy to the extent that he concocted a completely impossible and internally contradictory event in his film.
That inconsistency was created by Matt Damon improvising the whole story of the last time he was with his brothers...Spielberg liked the story so much, he left it in, and made the picture an issue.👍
It goes to show that accuracy is always forfeited for a positive outcome in emotion with creativity
@@iKvetch558 Great point.
My eyes water every time I hear the theme of this movie.
I’m always impressed with how much information you can throw in while keeping a good pace through the summary.
Disabling a weapon that has to be left behind (18:36) is standard practice in the field. The idea being to deny its use to the enemy. It was not specific to this particular soldier. He isn't unloading it, that has already been done, his is removing the trigger assembly to prevent it being used. At 18:55, not wearing a wedding ring was common for men of that period. From the depression to the late 40's, many men didn't wear wedding rings. The odd thing about Jackson in the bell tower is that none of the German infantry use suppressing fire of any type on his position. The confusion between the two different German soldiers can also been clarified when we see that the man who killed Malish has an SS rune on his collar and Willie has the standard German army collar insignia. Last bit of trivia, the Tiger tank is actually a wood mock up of a Tiger on top of a WW2 Soviet T-34 tank chassis.
Willie is actually alluded to in the film. When they're having the intense argument about to release him or not, one them says that if they do, he'll just fill in with the closest German unit he meets. This proves to be correct, that is the first friendly unit he finds.
@@doesntmatter2341 - And he magically gets his shelter quarter back as well.
I went through most of my youth thinking Edward Burns was actually Ben Aflek lol.
Thanks Paul, I am loving these classic/older revisits. Made me want to watch as it’s been a while.
Mellish isn't killed with a Hitler Youth knife, but instead killed with a standard K-98k bayonet.
When I was a child, I was really confused by the premise of the movie, but as an adult you realize it’s really the only way to show what WAR actually is. You’re not fighting for any other reason then the guy to the right and left of you, Your Brothers.
I have spoken with many soldiers who fought in both theaters. They all have stated that it was not prudent to wear one's wedding ring. One fella insisted on wearing his and, during a retreat, that ring finger -- with a wedding band -- was shot off and it rolled down a hill they had just climbed.
Screaming for his buddies to save his ring, two guys slid back down the hill, toward the enemy, and retrieved the finger & ring. The soldier was not able to have the finger reattached, but was able to keep custody of his wedding band until he got back to the States.
I first heard FUBAR in Tango & Cash (1989)
Great video, so many details; thank you for taking the time to find them all and share them with us all
Watching this on Memorial Day ... May the memory of the brave soldiers that fought and died for our freedoms, forever live on. 🇺🇲
Much respect for pointing out the hidden cameo of actors in the movie... Giamatti, Dom, Castle, Cheers guy...
You put some gd respect on Ted Danson's name. At least call him Sam "Mayday" Malone instead of Cheers guy.
Paul, first off I love the channel and have been watching your videos for a long time. SPR is one of my favorite films so this was great to see a breakdown on. A couple technical mistakes though. At 9:48 you state the Hitler Youth knife taken off a dead German and given to Melish is the same knife he’s killed with during the final battle but if you look closely the German soldier who stabs Melish is using a rifle bayonet as evidenced by the barrel ring on the crossguard for attaching to the muzzle end of a service rifle. Also at 18:23 you state that Jackson tying his sling off to his bicep is a technique used for executions which is incorrect, it is a basic rifle marksmanship technique taught in boot camp for shooting a rifle more accurately utilizing a leather shooting sling to stabilize the rifle for more precision shots than regular offhand/unsupported shooting. Otherwise it was an excellent video! Keep up the great work.
I laughed a little bit when he mentioned that about the sling. We learn that at boot camp for rifle quals. But it’s definitely not something we do in the field of course. Nowadays it’s different because the slings are so different than the stuff we got in the early 2000’s even.
It’s a small detail the video got wrong, but when you’ve lived that life it’s easy to pick out little mistakes like that. 🤷🏻♂️
and ill add another small detail, he said he "unloads the M1 so it can't be used to shoot the group" but he doesn't unload it he removes the trigger and tosses it away so no one can use the weapon later
It was Melish's issued bayonet that was used against him. Brief moment in the film where you can see him reach into his waistline and produce the bayonet.
Came here to say the exact same about it being a Bayonet.
I had to watch this in school and it was one of them where I didn't think I'd like it at all..... but I ended up loving it 👏🏾 let's get through this
This was one of the first movies that employed DTS surround sound. Others might have done it before but it was really noticeably different for SPR. Surround sound technology is so common now we take it for granted. I remember being in the theater in and wanting to duck over and over again because it felt like bullets were landing and firing from every direction. I was completely immersed. I'm glad to have grown up during the implementation of great technologies and a lot of their first (or best uses of the time) were done by Spielberg. The first time I saw a living dinosaur was Jurassic Park. The first time I entered a war zone was SPR. The first time I saw a shark eat a man was in Jaws and I fell in love with my first alien in E.T.
@5:15 the thing about garand thumb is you cannot get it if loading a full enbloc clip as your thumb would ride along the top of the topmost bullet missing getting pinched. The bolt slamming forward tends to be slower because of the force needed to extract the bullet from the top of the clip, this sliding also tends to sweep your thumb out of the way.
You get GT if you are stupid enough to push down on the follower with your thumb.
@18:22 lol using the sling as provided has zero to with execution but is part of early marksmanship training. It creates extra stabilizing force, now whether or not he would do it when they are about to shoot him is irrelevant especially that close.
How can Jackson get Garand Thumb when he is armed with the 1903 Springfield? The M1 Garand was a gas operated semi-automatic internal magazine fed rifle while the 1903 Springfield was bolt action with an internal 5 round magazine.
@@ralphalvarez5465 That was my thought, too, but surely he had experience on the Garand, as well. I like the detail, even if it isn't perfectly accurate.
- At 1:02 you can see (what could be) Mellish's grave behind Old Ryan, on the screen's right edge.
- Regarding weapons, the 1911 pistol in WWII was carried with an empty chamber, hammer down. Both times Sgt. Horvath's draws it, he racks the slide first, I figured it was a pretty neat detail.
This video really helps me appreciate the RUclipsrs that are brave enough to not censor their content
We can all agree this movie’s impact on society cannot be overstated, not to mention its entertainment value speaks for itself. However its historical accuracy is a real shortfall. It gets a total F, and it would take over an hour in a RUclips video to explain all the historical and technical/tactical errors. American Hollywood has very little respect for historical accuracy.
Bro, get out of my head. You keep doing these on movies I've watched in the last 48hrs and I have the same feeling about the wade scene in the church. I'd definitely have a beer with you lol
13:49 -- A MAJOR detail you missed was Carparzo was protected by his cross... when he gives the cross to the girl, he is immediately shot and killed after he is unprotected.
iv been waiting for this breakdown loved it!
*Get's demonetized in Clockwork Orange*
"We don't want that to happen again"
*Shows the exact image that got it demonetized*
Absolute legend move
Couple things.
First, you mention Jackson has a thumb injury from “Garand Thumb”. His sniper rifle is a Springfield ‘03-A4 bolt action rifle fitted with scope rings. It is highly unlikely he had his thumb snapped in the action as it is manually operated, unless he had an M1 earlier in the film, which the only other time he does not have his sniper rifle is during the radar assault where Miller told Jackson to swap rifles with Upham. Further, Jackson is left handed so if he had an M1, he would loaded the rifle with his other hand. Riflemen were taught to load the M1 with the edge of the palm holding the bolt back in case it released early and to push down with their thumb parallel to the bolt to prevent the bolt closing with their thumb in the way.
Second, sniper scopes do not lose zero unless the dials are messed with or the scope was not properly secured to their mounts. There are likely a few factors to why Jackson was missing like being impatient and jerking the trigger or taking a breath during a shot, which can screw up
your point of aim.
Last, I want to mention Jackson managed to fire about 7 shots from what is typically a 5 shot rifle during his final scene. Even "barney" loading (extra round in the chamber with full magazine) you only get 6 and we do not see Jackson reloading between that.
I was thinking this about Garand thumb! Didn’t pick up on the 7 shots tho so props to you my man 🫡
Knock your scope in any way will probably put the sight off
9:46 I'm surprised you didn't talk about what Melish said upon receiving the knife.
Excellent deep dive. Good work.
Man, this movie brings back memories, great breakdown.
you should totally do Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and The Masters of the Air
20:01 the tiger tank depicted in the film wasn’t actually a tiger. They used a T34-85 and converted it to look like a Tiger. A noticeable comparison is the road wheels, a actual tiger tank had interweaving wheels. Another one is the turret is very forward of the hull in the film.
This movie should’ve won best picture
Ive watched this movie dozens of times and i never noticed a lot of the things you pointed out. Awesome video
For a video on the attention to detail, you completely missed that Sgt. Miller said that he taught English composition.
His hand shook from shell shock, which was common for combat vets who have been in a battle, even a small battle can cause the nerves to be shook.
coached baseball too...
It’s amazing they could do such a tremendous job with accuracy and then make such a silly mistake pointing the shore obstacles the wrong way. No worries though, still the best WWII representation ever.
😊 Paul thank you for another great video 😊
Much appreciated mate, thanks for the love
When millers hearing goes out during the invasion is a perfect representation of being in shellshock
Fuck I cried just watching this video. This movie is one of the movies that just breaks me.
Yeah I teared up a bit making it haha. I’m sure you can hear my voice crack a fair bit at the end.
That's all of us.
USMC Veteran here - 18:16 is not a sign of a rifleman getting ready for an execution specifically, it's how you use a two point sling to steady your rifle for taking longer distance shots in a standing position. I have no idea why anyone would do this if they were about to execute a man at point blank range.
I wondered if Jackson was planning on taking him out just when Steamboat Willie thought he was at a safe distance.
I pretty sure the paperwork/letter they carried in the top left pocket is life insurance policy, family or named person would get $10000 in the event of being K.I.A , each soldier filled one out.
My Grandfather was a gunner in the Air Force, my Dad and uncles were in Vietnam. For some reason this movie resonated with me - I've never been truly tested like they were. I would have been so very afraid. Not sure I would have had the guts to do what they did.
A moment in time when freedom was not taken for granted.
A moment in time when freedom was not actively being destroyed.
I always tear up when Ryan squares up and salutes the gravestone.
1.) except for the fact that the scope shot is 100 % impossible in this movie. bullets don't travel in straight lines they travel in arches. there is no way, at that distance that he could shoot upwards and send a round Stright through a scope that was pointing down at him. also, the fact that he somehow removes the army sniper scope and replaces it with a marine sniper scope which also wouldn't be interchangeable, and even if they were the scope wouldn't have been zeroed.
2.) Miller didn't unload the rifles at the radar site he removed the trigger groups so they couldn't be used by the enemy.
3.) again, it would be impossible for Jackson to change scopes they are two completely different scope and mount systems. and he was missing the shots because he was panicking and trying to run the gun faster than he could shoot it, the rifle is set up for a right-handed shooter and he's shooting it left-handed.
4.) steamboat willy is a German army regular. the other soldier is waffen SS.
Tech wizard level achieved.
😆🏆🫡