The horror of battle is given visceral power in Steven Spielberg’s dazzling fusion of audacity, action and human drama
Screenwriter Robert Rodat imagined this colossal second world war blockbuster with absolute seriousness, loosely inspired by the real-life case of Sgt Frederick Niland, recalled to the US from the Normandy campaign on emergency compassionate grounds because all his brothers were believed (wrongly, as it turned out) to have been killed in action.
With this movie, re-released 21 years on, Steven Spielberg created one of his greatest films, an old-fashioned war picture to rule them all – gripping, utterly uncynical, with viscerally convincing and audacious battle sequences. It was a staggeringly effective action film with a potent orchestral score by John Williams, candidly inspired by Elgar’s Nimrod. And it was based on a redemptive, quietist premise: the point of the mission is not to engage the enemy but to rescue an American soldier and spirit him away out of danger. Yet when the time of great trial comes, of course, no one is ducking the fight.
After a gruelling half-hour sequence depicting the beach landings, which reminded a new generation of filmgoers how terrifyingly low the life expectancy was for those in the first wave, we are introduced to our everyman hero, Captain Miller (Tom Hanks), whose mission has been ordered from the very top: find Private Ryan (Matt Damon) on the field of battle, inform him of the terrible news about his brothers and order him home. Miller assembles a crack band of brothers: Horvath (Tim Sizemore), Reiben (Edward Burns), Jackson (Barry Pepper), Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Caparzo (Vin Diesel), Upham (Jeremy Davies) and Wade (Giovanni Ribisi) and they set off behind enemy lines on a desperately dangerous mission whose rationale the men not-so-secretly despise: it is Fubar – fucked up beyond all recognition.
The sweaty, traumatised faces of Captain Miller’s men are unforgettable. Some of these actors have gone on to become more famous than others, but for me, Ryan is a moment of equal triumph for each. There are stunning moments in this film and the biggest comes near the beginning when the Ryan brothers’ mother sees the official army car driving up to the house, and staggers with shock on realising what it must mean. (She is played by Amanda Boxer; the only other substantial woman’s role is Ryan’s wife in old age, played by Kathleen Byron.) It is strange now to recognise other actors – Paul Giamatti, Bryan Cranston – in minor roles.
Revisiting this film after two decades, some things do look a little broad. It’s certainly a traditional Hollywood war movie – right down to making it clear how irrelevant the Brits are. Captain Hamill (Ted Danson) takes time to express to Miller his view that General Monty (the “t” given full derisive pronunciation) is “overrated”. Some of the bonding scenes between the men are a little sugary. Another war film, perhaps even one made well before 1998, might want to contrive a “good German” for humanistic sympathy. But not here. Spielberg and Rodat probably did well to avoid the fence-sitting cliche. War is not glamorised in Saving Private Ryan, but the spectacular inferno is brilliantly created.
Release dateJuly 24, 1998 (USA)
Plot Summary
The film begins with a haunting, present-day frame of an elderly veteran visiting the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. The narrative then shifts to June 6, 1944: D-Day.
The Omaha Beach Landing: A 24-minute sequence depicting the harrowing Allied invasion of Normandy. Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and his men survive the carnage.
The Mission: After the U.S. War Department discovers that three of the four Ryan brothers have been killed in action within a week, General George C. Marshall orders that the youngest, Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), be found and sent home to his grieving mother.
The Search: Captain Miller assembles a squad—including his loyal Sergeant Horvath, a cynical Private Reiben, a religious sniper Jackson, and a bookish, inexperienced interpreter Upham—to track Ryan behind enemy lines.
The Dilemma: Throughout the journey, the men struggle with the moral paradox of the mission: "Why is the life of one man worth the lives of eight?"
The Stand at Ramelle: The squad eventually finds Ryan in the fictional town of Ramelle. Ryan refuses to leave his post at a strategic bridge, leading Miller’s squad to stay and defend it against a massive German counterattack.
Cinematography
Steven Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński used several ground-breaking techniques to achieve a "newsreel" look:
Shutter Timing: They used a 45-degree and 90-degree shutter setting, which stripped away the "motion blur" typically seen in movies, making explosions and movement look crisp, jagged, and terrifyingly real.
Bleach Bypass: This chemical process desaturated the colors, giving the film a gritty, almost monochromatic aesthetic reminiscent of 1940s photography.
Handheld Cameras: To simulate the perspective of a combat photographer, many scenes were shot handheld, often at waist level.
Historical Context: The Niland Brothers
While the film is fictional, it was inspired by the real-life story of the Niland Brothers. Of the four brothers from New York, three were initially reported dead (though one was later found alive in a POW camp). The youngest, Frederick "Fritz" Niland, was pulled out of the front lines by the War Department to be sent home.
Legacy
Academy Awards: The film was nominated for 11 Oscars and won 5, including Best Director (Spielberg's second), Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing. It famously lost Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love, a decision still debated by film historians today.
Veterans' Impact: The film's realism was so intense that the Department of Veterans Affairs set up a specialized hotline for WWII veterans who experienced PTSD symptoms after viewing the Omaha Beach sequence.
Cultural Preservation: In 2014, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
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